Looking ahead to the future of lighting design.
The incredibly fast progress of “virtual production” techniques in filmmaking is just astounding and will soon drive radical innovation in the broader built environment. Virtual production uses a combination of large format direct-view LED display walls with live-rendered content and … Continue reading virtual production and its impact on the real world?
Here’s a short video summarizing my “six trends” concepts – using lots of eye-candy from my own previous project work. This video turned out to be a hybrid crossover of thought leadership with my own professional portfolio. A portfolio of … Continue reading six hot trends in lighting
Here’s a short video competition entry that I made a few years ago as a hobby project. A primer on data-driven ambient media communications in architectural spaces. Frankly, I forgot that I even made this video – it was the … Continue reading revelations and resonance
Douglas Steele sent me a most interesting research paper titled “Large-area display textiles integrated with functional systems.” The paper was published by a group of researchers from several universities, including Fudan University Shanghai, University of Darmstadt, UCLA, and the University … Continue reading large-area display textiles
The groups who control the USB standard just announced a major upgrade: USB-C will now support up to 240W at 48VDC. This a huge deal for the building construction industry: USB-C is now poised to potentially replace traditional AC wall … Continue reading usb-c adopts 240w/48vdc standard
Dezeen has been running a design competition with LG for novel uses of LG’s OLED display technologies. One entry in particular caught my attention: Gianfranco Vasselli’s concept for integrating an OLED display into a “shelf” arrangement over a bed. I … Continue reading OLED bedroom concept
Walt Disney Imagineering created a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the development and construction of Hong Kong Disneyland’s castle expansion/retheme. It highlights the aggressive use of prefabricated construction – coordinated via BIM – and how that allowed them to build such … Continue reading disney’s prefab castle
Check out this incredible future-visioning video from Bee’ah, a large UAE-based environmental services company. Bee’ah is building a stunning new corporate headquarters with Zaha Hadid Architects, with ambitious goals of being a net-zero energy site, powered fully through sustainable energy … Continue reading bee’ah’s office of the future
It’s hard to comprehend how fast technology prices plummet and the implications for the built environment. Case in point: 65″ 4K LCDs panels are now cheaper than the cost of typical cubicle workstation dividers. Don’t believe me? Go to Walmart.com … Continue reading the future of office design?
Perception is a NYC-based design firm that creates the amazing sci-fi interfaces used in various movies – most notably the Marvel franchises – along with interfaces for actual real life tech companies. Core77 has a nice post covering some of … Continue reading perception
Large format LED screen technology coupled with live rendering is advancing so fast that it’s going to soon “trickle down” and make a dramatic impact on architectural design and architectural placemaking. Our architectural places will blur the distinction between “real … Continue reading the virtual production of the mandalorian, season two
Researchers Gabe Arnold and Grace Pennell from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory recently released a white paper titled DC Lighting and Building Microgrids: Opportunities and Recommendations. They conduct an excellent review of the advantages of DC-power (which closely mirrors my … Continue reading PNNL report on DC-powered lighting and microgrids
Unreal Engine released some “bonus content” that follows up on my previous post covering the state of live-rendering technology. A fascinating discussion from movie producers, but with clear and profound considerations for the future of architectural lighting: Continue reading unreal engine: virtual production lighting
Wow, this is really profound: Geodesic Games released a plugin that allows Unreal Engine to directly control DMX lighting and accessories. You can watch a complete demo and detailed explanation below: There is unbelievable potential here for architectural lighting and … Continue reading unreal engine now controls DMX lighting
At some point around the turn of the Millennium, it felt like we were at the precipice of a different future than the one we got. Yet 20 years later, there has been no widespread adoption of interactive digital/physical spaces. … Continue reading did the iphone kill interactive environments?
Fusion CI Studios is a multimedia visual effects studio that has a stunning showreel, with a particularly beautiful collection of large, architecturally-integrated video wall designs. They famously did the iconic virtual waterfall for the Salesforce HQ lobby. Large format LED … Continue reading fusion ci studios
Check out Spatial, an MIT Media Lab spin out. Their system is still in the early stages, yet still a very compelling use scenario for augmented/mixed reality for team collaboration. I’m fascinated to see how lighting designers and architects will … Continue reading spatial
I just can’t get enough of seeing the behind the scenes of the Mandalorian, with the production’s use of large-format LED screens and live rendering technologies to create virtual backgrounds (check out my previous posts on the Mandalorian, Jon Favreau’s … Continue reading the virtual sets of the mandalorian (yet again!)
Editors Note: This was an Op-Ed piece I wrote back in 2013 in LEDsMagazine. Sadly, it is still as relevant today as it was over 7 years ago. How do we get the lighting industry to embrace truly sustainable product … Continue reading R+D competitions for sustainable lighting manufacturing
If you’re interested in net-zero energy solutions for commercial or retail facilities, you should consider DC power as the next step. Check out this nicely produced video of my conference presentation and Q&A session at the ISE Smart Building Conference, … Continue reading SBC 2020: The DC-Powered Building – conference video
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