Summary
You have forgotten where you left your keys and you are late. After a few seconds of your frantic search, and without you asking for it, all the lights suddenly are on maximum light level to assist your search.
You are about to leave the house, and the lights above the refrigerator start to flash. You are reminded to grab your lunch.
You are having the in-laws over, and before they arrive, you set the system to "Clean Mode". The lights are dimmed in certain areas, and in a certain way to make the house look as clean as possible...and "Hide the Dirt".
You have trouble sleeping so you ask the system to try and figure out a lighting program that will maximize your sleep. Over a 3 week period the system tries variations and uses motion sensors (toss and turning) as well as your manual feedback to figure out what works best in the hours leading up to sleep...and even what light to use when you go to bathroom in middle of the night.
When you sit in your meditation spot, the lights automatically dim.
And this is just the tip of the ice berg. The only limit is how much data it is fed, and what direction you tell it to go.
Light gives us life, it gives us fuel, it gives us beauty and imagination and hope. Light not only allows our eyes to see, but has a great and subtle impact on our entire mind and body. Light influences us as an individual, but equally important is its influence on culture, imagination and the human condition. In this proposal, I am going to develop the conceptual design of a light system that can do much more than turn on and off at the right time. It is a system that will have a real and measurable impact on life. My design is a light that can influence our body. Calm us down or amp us up. Give us information, and gather information. A light that can almost read our minds.
How it works
So how does a light read our minds, and anticipate the next moment? Well in simple terms, it would do it in the same way a brilliant physic can read our mind and tell us things about ourselves. It anticipates and executes based on our behavior in conjunction with other gathered data. The Behavioral Light will recognize complex patterns over time. It will take input from a variety of sources....and learn what to do. I call it "Behavioral Lighting"
My design is the design of a system as much as the design of the fixture itself. The system is called Behavioral Lighting. The system gathers information. The most basic data collection would be simple motion sensor in each "bulb".
I call the light fixture a Newbulb. A simple Newbulb will have a motion sensor. A more complex Newbulb would have multiple sensors including motion, thermal, video camera, etc. The more sensors it has, the more information it can gather.
Most Basic System
The most basic system would be a single Newbulb screwed into a conventional base. A single basic newbulb would have single LED, a basic motion sensor, a communications brain, and would link to your phone/computer app.
The basic learning process would be for you to turn on, turn off, or dim the light when needed. During this learning process (a learning process that never ends), the Newbulb takes time data (day and time), and motion data (motion and when this motion happens), and the data of you turning on or off the light, and begins to learn. For example, on Tuesdays, after you walk by the newbulb twice after 9pm, with the two motions being within 3 minutes of each other, you always turn the light off. Therefore, the system learns to turn the light off at the right time.
Or, after 9:30pm on weekdays, you dim to 50%, and then at 11pm, you turn off.
The "intelligence" cannot be too complex with a single newbulb, and a single sensor, but as you add more newbulbs, more sensors, feed it more data, and give it more direction, the light system becomes more intelligent.
More Complex System
A more complex system will include a more advanced Newbulb. The Newbulb can still have a traditional bulb shape, and in fact could distribute light in a similar way. But it is far more. The Newbulb can throw light in any direction, in multiple directions, at any intensity, any color, in any combination. It will have narrow as well as wide field motion sensor, thermal sensors, microphone, video camera (for gathering physical movement data), adjustable light lens, gyro data, ambient light sensors, and then link to your digital life (calendar, emails, etc)
The system becomes smarter as you add more Newbulbs and more sensors and data streams. Complex patterns of movement by people in the house can be interpreted. Over time the system will anticipate your exact need of light and give it to you before you even know you need it!
What the Behavioral Lighting System can do is limited only by the data it can gather, and the software that it uses. Here are some examples of what it could do:
Lights flash 3 times when you are 15 min away from needing to leave the house.
When your in a "panic" looking for something you've lost, light level maxes out.
Link lights to your heat-rate monitor, and learn to lower heart-rate by using light feedback.
Lights leads you to your lost phone or keys.
During a party (party mode), lights are dimmed in certain areas of house to create private areas for a couple for example.
Need to catch your cat to take to vet. Lights up areas you don't want it to go. Encourages cat to go to darker area, but area that is easier for you to get her.
Reminder to get lunch. Light flashes over fridge if door opens between 8-8:15.
Amp up mode. Getting ready to go to gym...you need 15 min of amp up before you leave. (strobe lights synced with music)
If you have sleeping baby, and baby moves, you get flashing light where ever you are in the house.
Someone gets close to the front porch, and you are notified.
Dining room lights dim on Sundays after everyone sits down to eat.
Set lights to automatically dim when you and your date sit on your couch.
Calm mode. Someone is on their way over, and visit is always stressful. (lower light or light patterns that affect the brain)
Sync lighting with music for party.
Lower light in hallways to usher people thru..similar to what Frank Loyd Write did physically.
Light mode to hide dirt..make house look cleanest.
Light mode for when you are cleaning.
Light mode for when you are shooting a photo. (BIG difference) Could even tell which direction you are shooting, and adjust.
Auto Lowers light level to save energy during peak kw.
The light can try different combinations, of light before sleep, When the "sleep slight mode" starts, etc.... when you get up in middle of night, and read your movement during sleep to see if there are ways to improve sleep over time.
Conclusion
The possibilities are endless, but we must begin with a simple idea. The idea that our lights can do much more than provide light for us to see when we flip a switch. Our lights can communicate with us. Our lights can help us live a better and more efficient life.
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