Lighting

Just last month we looked at the LIFX Wi-Fi enabled, multi-color LED light bulb that could be controlled via a smartphone. With 16 days still to go, the Kickstarter project has exceeded its US$100,000 funding goal 13-fold, suggesting there might just be a market for these things. Looking to claim its own slice of this pie, Philips has just flicked the switch on its own somewhat similar offering called hue.  Read More

With the increasing focus on sustainable urban transport comes an increasing call for proper safety infrastructure and products. We've recently seen LED bicycle helmets, and now a company called Light Bohrd has developed LED helmets and skateboards for commuters that use their feet for pushing rather than pedaling.  Read More

Until we get the ability to accurately control devices with the power of our brains, it seems like the touchscreen display will be the interface of choice for gadget-makers. Touchscreens continue to be added to devices which have previously made do with humble physical buttons, like the external flash, which recently joined the touchscreen fold with the launch of the Metz 52 AF-1.  Read More

The Sagrada Família in Barcelona is a spectacular building in its own right, but when you throw a healthy dose of the latest lighting and architectural mapping technology in its direction, the facade of famous church becomes truly mesmerizing. That dose comes from Moment Factory, a new media and entertainment studio based in Montreal, Canada, that has produced a 15-minute multimedia tribute inspired by the original color sketches and words of the buildings' equally famous architect Antoni Gaudi.  Read More

The Torch T1 bicycle helmet utilizes an integrated LED lighting system to increase a cyclist's night-time visibility. After earning over 50 percent more than its Kickstarter goal just a few months ago, the T1 is now available for pre-order.  Read More

With the release of Baby Plumen 001, a shrunken version of its award-winning Plumen light bulb, Hulger is making a clear statement that the humble fluorescent light bulb isn't ready for the trash just yet.  Read More

Recently the public has become aware of the potential of light field photography through the introduction of the Lytro camera. Light field recording allows an enormous degree of post-processing, letting you create just the image you want to print and display. A print, however, expresses only one aspect, no matter how carefully chosen, of the recorded light field. Can light field information be somehow encoded into a print, so an object can be examined from this side and that, or with different lighting conditions? A team of researchers at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, and 3M have made the first steps toward a positive answer by developing reflectance paper.  Read More

The Light & Motion Solite is a chameleon of outdoor lighting that was born ready to hit your handlebars, helmet, head and hand. The light was introduced in 2011 and is now getting improved with more run time and an enhanced safety light feature.  Read More

A collaboration between Philips and the Kenyan Urban Roads Authority will see the streets of capital city Nairobi being lit up with solar-powered LED lighting. The pilot project is the first of its kind in East Africa and and was launched during the 40th anniversary of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which is headquartered in that city.  Read More