“sticky” information
I found a nice treasure trove of academic papers from Eric Von Hippel, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Business, regarding user-centered innovation. I particularly like his concept for describing “sticky” information: The author’s point is that economists too easily discount the cost of “information transfer”. Connecting the critical information of an end user’s problem to a problem solver/problem solving organization is complicated by how difficult or costly it is to transfer the required key information. http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/papers/stickyinfo.pdf “The need to transfer information from its point of origin to a specified problem-solving site will not affect the locus of problem-solving … Continue reading “sticky” information
Femto Photography: Capturing Pulses of Light
Check out this great TED Talk: Ramesh Raskar – Imaging at a trillion frames per second http://on.ted.com/h42N Ramesh uses a new technique called femto-photography that is so fast is captures beams of light traveling in mid-air; aggregating the photographs into … Continue reading Femto Photography: Capturing Pulses of Light
copycats
“They are not just copying our products; they are copying our way of doing business.” This was a comment recently made by a colleague in the lighting industry, referring to the endless small startups attacking the lighting business. It was an astute comment. In one quick phrase he summed up why the lighting industry desperately needs service innovation. LEDs are cool, and there are several other technologies driving change in the industry. But nowadays, any technology is easily copied by any hack company. Customer service on the other hand, particularly excellent customer service, is a very, very difficult thing to … Continue reading copycats
construction site roll-formed fixtures
There is a long-standing, latent demand for the incorporation of luminous surfaces into architectural spaces. Servicing this demand has been difficult, because fundamentally the only available light sources have been incandescent point-sources and fluorescent linear-sources. It is extremely difficult to … Continue reading construction site roll-formed fixtures
The Holst Centre
The Holst Centre is an independent research organization located at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven that tries to bridge the gap between academia and industry. The center has a variety of big name industrial partners and strong connections to … Continue reading The Holst Centre
cinimod studio – oled moon chandelier
An elegant OLED chandelier project from Cinimod Studio, a creative design firm that brought to life the innovative lighting solutions for the SNOG chain. OLED panels from Philips Lumiblade are cast directly into acrylic orbs and animated with some subtle … Continue reading cinimod studio – oled moon chandelier
ingo maurer – candles in the wind
Famous light artist Ingo Maurer and technical fabricator Moritz Waldemeyer have created an art piece that uses what I will call “micro pixel displays” with monochromatic warm-white LEDs to create simulated candle effects. Especially nice are the directly exposed circuit boards, finished … Continue reading ingo maurer – candles in the wind
mini in the box
Came across this site for Chinese imports: Mini In The Box. Based on what I’ve seen at the tradeshows, engineering and production quality will be all over the map and has to be studied product by product. But what impresses … Continue reading mini in the box
nth degree
Glowing ink. The concept is sexy, isn’t it? Just plug in the “LED” cartridge into your printer and watch it print you a pattern of light emitting surface. Or even better: Imagine combining glowing ink into a 3D printer: Voila! … Continue reading nth degree
acuity’s OLED canvis + lightfair presentation
Acuity seems to be making slow but steady progress on OLEDs (see my previous posts): Acuity’s OLED Lighting Design Center is showing an interesting new product design called the “Canvis” series. Although I did not attend, Acuity has posted to its … Continue reading acuity’s OLED canvis + lightfair presentation
random international
rAndom International is a UK-based design studio that has a nice collection of lighting installations, including interactive systems and 3D “swarm” style pieces. They developed the Lumiblade Interactive Wall in 2009, which Philips’ OLED venture has since displayed in numerous locations. Continue reading random international
crystal bulbs by lee broom
Via Dezeen, a post about bespoke light bulbs made in similar fashion to crystal decanters from designer Lee Broom. Continue reading crystal bulbs by lee broom
leo villareal – interview + volume
Found this great interview by the National Gallery of Art with lighting artist Leo Villareal. Leo discusses his influences and techniques. NGA – Leo Villareal Also available on Art Babble Also found this great 3D installation Leo completed last year called “Volume” … Continue reading leo villareal – interview + volume
fabric-braided cable
I just simply love fabric-braided cable. Any fixture looks a touch higher-class using a braided cable instead of cheap PVC cords. Here are some suppliers that I’ve found: FabricCable is a UK manufacturer that in addition to a full range of … Continue reading fabric-braided cable
scraplights by graypants
Via Dezeen, some very cool recycled cardboard pendants from Seattle studio Graypants. Continue reading scraplights by graypants
levitating wireless LED
So many times I’ve found myself in a meeting with an impossibly demanding architect who is essentially asking for a wireless light fixture. Usually I break the stalemate by saying “I’ll just spec a wireless floating light bulb!” I guess I’m … Continue reading levitating wireless LED
additive manufacturing conference
Additive Manufacturing is a conference in Nottingham, England, exploring the state of the art in 3D printing. Continue reading additive manufacturing conference
colorkinetics turns 15
“Oh man, Color Kinetics…those guys were just from another planet compared to everyone else!” Color Kinetics, one of the leading innovators in the LED lighting industry, turns 15 this August. I had the privilege to work in Product Marketing at CK from … Continue reading colorkinetics turns 15
infusion systems
Infusion Systems makes interactive sensing systems for creative projects. Their I-Cube product was highly inspirational for my own thesis project examining interactive controls for retail lighting, way back in 1999. Here is a brief history: I-CubeX arose out of a … Continue reading infusion systems
flexible edge-lit lighting
The big question in the lighting world: When will the gigantic number of “no-name” Asian entrants into the lighting field move from emulating — to put it nicely — to actually innovating and differentiating themselves? It won’t happen all at once. Buried … Continue reading flexible edge-lit lighting
Lucept 