Detailed discussions of lighting related technologies.
Protopixel is an interesting RGB lighting control system from a Barcelona-based startup. Beyond the normal dynamic lighting controls, Protopixel is building in some nice functionality for integrating live data inputs to control lighting. Also, I find it interesting to see … Continue reading protopixel
FullControl GCODE Designer is an interesting academic research project developing a purely parametric system for generating 3D printed models (as opposed to traditional 3D modeling software). FullControl is led by Andy Gleadall, a lecturer at Loughborough University. Gleadall’s LinkedIn feed … Continue reading fullcontrol GCODE designer
Lighting for Good is a very interesting initiative from luxury goods conglomerate LVMH and lighting design firm TEMELOY. Lighting for Good aims to drive real sustainability into the manufacturing and specification of lighting products. What a terrific initiative, covering the … Continue reading lighting for good
I came across this fun video of a guy who found the raw, flexible LED “filament” commonly used in old-school style Edison bulbs – which have already been around now a long time. And of course, those LED filament bulbs … Continue reading LED spaghetti
Updating a blog post I wrote waaaay back in 2012, I once again came across Arizona-based Nth Degree and their unique line of LED flexible backlighting technology based on layers of micro-sized LED die – almost like “LED dust” embedded … Continue reading nth degree
The global pandemic has driven video communications to the forefront…and also the need for good lighting for photography and videography. In my office I recently upgraded 4 ancient fluorescent 2’x2’/60×60 troffers (so ancient they still had magnetic ballasts and starters!) … Continue reading using a LED panel as a photography softbox
In case you want to get serious with the science of light guides, I found this excellent document from Agilent Technologies dating back to 2001. A thorough yet approachable technical explanation to the science of designing light pipes or light … Continue reading lightguide tech application brief
LumenCache Lighting is an another interesting entrant to the DC-power revolution, focusing on residential lighting applications. LumenCache has developed a solution with a patch-panel style configuration that can accept a variety of driver or control modules – at the panel … Continue reading lumencache lighting
Microsens is a German company that supplies industrial automation and smart building communications and control equipment. One piece of hardware especially caught my eye, and that is their Central Smart Lighting Controller. I actually think that is a bit of … Continue reading microsens
Copenhagen-based BurnBlock offers an environmentally safe flame retardant additive for wood materials. BurnBlock has achieved a Gold rating for the Cradle-to-Cradle standard and is the first fire retardant to receive a C2C rating. Cradle to Cradle CertifiedTM at the Gold … Continue reading burnblock
GVA Lighting recently launched their Infinity series, which capitalizes on the inherent system-level benefits of using 380V DC-power for long runs of LED fixtures. GVA claims they can achieve over 300m/1000ft long runs from a single power/data connection, which is … Continue reading GVA lighting embraces high voltage DC power
Live rendering technology, originally developed in the gaming industry for achieving photo-realistic interactive gameplay, is sweeping through both Hollywood content creation and the AEC/development industries. Live rendering technologies offer profound technical opportunities in design visualization, collaboration, and innovative use of … Continue reading live rendering in 2020
Thanks to James McHale and the team at Memoori for hosting a great webinar! If you missed it live, listen to it now at your convenience at this link. Really, I should have picked a different title, because the 6 … Continue reading 6 disruptive lighting trends: recorded webinar
Conductive ink continues to offer tremendous creative promise, but it seems industrialization has been slow in coming. Although a few years old, I found a couple of beautiful and creative videos showing off conductive ink: Apparently this video below was … Continue reading conductive ink videos
What happens when your Christmas lights become “smart”, “connected” and “lifi”? Continue reading happy holidays 2019!
Acuity Lighting is launching Modulus, a centralized DC-power system option for their LED lighting fixture lines. The first offering is the Peerless Renna linear pendant line. Acuity stepping into the fray is a great sign for DC power in commercial … Continue reading acuity launches DC power options
DecoChrom is an EU Horizon 2020 funded R+D consortium focused on commercializing color-changing electrochromic materials for a variety of applications. Electrochromics are a printed electronics technology, which opens up opportunity to use these low-fidelity but ultra-low-power displays across applications where … Continue reading decochrom
I’ve been writing now for many years about the importance of adopting a DC infrastructure as a necessary foundation to drive further innovations in architectural lighting and media systems. DC power infrastructure efficiently ties together solar and battery storage in … Continue reading 48 vdc power components
SmartEagle is a Dutch-based spinoff of IoT-development company Evalan that uses camera-based sensor systems and AI to accurately detect and analyze desk usage in office environments. They never blatantly say they use cameras, but it is pretty obvious by the … Continue reading smarteagle sensor solutions
We are at the inflection point of a new revolution: DC-power infrastructure is set to replace AC-infrastructure in many, if not most, commercial buildings. The case is simple: Almost every device in a modern building uses direct-current (DC), including LED … Continue reading the efficiency advantage of DC electrical infrastructure
