Tag: Lighting

I’ll start out by saying that the Wicked Lasers LaserCube is one of the coolest gadgets I’ve tinkered with in a while. This compact metal box is capable of putting on full color laser light shows in concert with an easy-to-use Windows, Mac, or Android app, and offers capabilities unlike anything I’ve seen in its price class.

If you enjoy products that give you cool lighting options, you’ll want to check out the Illumi Smartstrip. It’s basically a bunch of multi-color LEDs on long ropes that will provide those versatile lighting options you desire. They will allow you to add cool lighting anywhere you want, and can be controlled wirelessly via a smartphone app.

UFO researchers are not having an easy time these days. Between photos and videos that are easily doctored, the “truth” has never been harder to find. It makes matters worse when drones can just pretend to be UFOs.

The Splyt Light is the bonsai of lighting. You can grow or trim it according to your needs or style. As long as your needs or style can be solved by Y-shaped modules and tiny light bulbs. Splyt uses Y pieces that each have one male bulb socket soldered to two female sockets.

One of the advantages of LED bulbs over incandescent ones is that they generate significantly less heat. Product designer David Graas capitalized on that benefit by creating lamps with 3D printed “bulbshades”, which are diffusers that sit directly on the LED bulb. David’s newest bulbshade design features inverted Art Deco skyscrapers, hence their name Stalaclights. While I appreciate the novelty of Stalaclights, I actually think that they’re more pleasing to look at when they’re upright.

Nowadays you can emulate Philips’ Ambilight technology on different TVs or monitors using third–party or custom alternatives. The old Ambilight tech that is. The company recently unveiled an updated version of Ambilight that uses pico-projectors instead of LEDs. The new system debuts in the AmbiLux, a 65″ 4K LCD TV with nine Ambilight pico-projectors at the back.

Over the last few decades, computer graphics have become a more and more essential part of industrial design – especially in the automotive industry. The ability to visualize designs digitally has given designers and engineers the freedom to test and refine concepts and functionality prior to expending time and money on physical prototypes. Ford is definitely on the leading edge of using virtual reality techniques to visualize new vehicles.

Thanks to their RGB LEDs, Hand make’s Millennium Falcon and AT-AT lamps can shine in your favorite lightsaber color. Well, probably not the obscure ones like brown or bronze. The lamps’ LEDs shine through the acrylic sheets, illuminating the carved design.

There are times when a honk is not enough. MotorMood is a stick-on rear light for cars. Using its infrared remote control, you can flash it momentarily to reveal a smiley face and acknowledge a fellow motorist’s good deed. I wouldn’t be surprised if a reverse MotorMood – something that let you scold or piss off fellow motorists – would sell like hotcakes, but that’s exactly why devices like this should exist.

Photographers looking for an affordable and portable lighting solution should check out the Relio. It’s a microUSB-powered LED light with a high color rendering index (CRI) in a very small package. Relio’s outputs over 200lm of light with a CRI rating between 90 to 96.

Custom lighting maker Luke Kelly came up with a clever way to turn anything that makes light shine through into a decorative lamp. Luke’s Baselamp is a dimmable LED light pointed upwards. Just place a transparent or translucent object over the LED and you have a one-of-a-kind lamp. Baselamp has a walnut or bamboo case, a 4W LG LED light, a polycarbonate diffuser, a touch-sensitive dimmer switch and an aluminum heatsink. If you don’t have patience for overly dramatic product pitches, skip the video. Pledge at least $99 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive a Baselamp as a reward.

Product designer Sam Granger has been into photography ever since he was a child. He says he’s disappointed by existing lighting equipment on the market because it’s cumbersome and expensive. So he designed the Adaptalux, a portable, modular and relatively affordable lighting rig for macro and product photography. Adaptalux has three main parts: the control pod, the lighting arms and the effects. The control pod powers and controls up to five lighting arms at once.

This is far from the first Philips Ambilight alternative that we’ve seen, but Flytron set its AmbiLED HD apart by making it much easier to install and adjust. That’s because this ambient lighting system for PCs uses a thin strip of LEDs with a reusable adhesive back. Like many ambient lighting solutions, AmbiLED HD connects to your computer via USB to analyze the colors being displayed on your monitor and emit similar colors. The difference is that AmbiLED HD sets you free from managing the cords that would otherwise pile up behind your monitor, because its LED strip only needs one three-pin connector for up to 512 LEDs.

Make light meet your eyes at night with the Transformers Autobot light. It grabs power through USB, so you won’t need to look for Energon cubes. The lamp measures about 8 “x 8″x 3”, is made of plastic with a brushed silver finish, and has non-slip feet to help it stay upright. We cannot let the Autobots pay for this merch.

Many indoor parking areas use lights so you can see if a spot is vacant or taken way before you get there. A company called Tooshlights figured it could install the same system in public restrooms.

There are already lamps and bulbs that can somewhat emulate sunlight, but CoeLux is on another level. Assuming it’s the real deal, that is. Founded by University of Insubria associate professor Paolo Di Trapani, the company’s eponymous lighting looks exactly like a sunny blue sky.