Bright Ideas: The Weird and Wonderful High-Tech Lightbulbs of CES 2015
All the major tech companies are tripping over one another to sling wildly impractical 4K TVs and wholly unattractive wearable fitness trackers your way. Meanwhile, a quiet revolution has been taking place around one of the most basic household appliances: the lightbulb.
This year’s Consumer Electronics Show is giving us a peek at all the ways your home’s lighting sources can be reinvented. That means lightbulbs doubling as a home security system, lightbulbs that can strengthen and expand your Wi-Fi, and a lightbulb that can serve as a relaxation aid. Below, a guide to some of the most interesting smart lightbulbs we’ve spied — no cords attached.
(Courtesy of Holî)
This week French startup Holî debuted the SleepCompanion, a $99 bulb that’s designed to help you get better rest. Inside are 20 LEDS that show different colors and intensities of light. As you wake up or doze off, the bulb will emit the best shade for the situation.
For instance, about 20 minutes before your alarm is set to go off (which is programmable with a companion iOS app), SleepCompanion will start emitting a blue light that its creator says helps to stop the production of melatonin in your body.
A special program on the app also allows you to use the bulb to relax before bed. Simply press a button and begin breathing along to the rhythm of the light as it dims and brightens. Over about seven minutes, it’ll prompt you to breathe more deeply and settle your heart rate.
(Alyssa Bereznak/Yahoo Tech)
Of course, if none of that sounds exciting to you, the bulb is also pretty great for mood lighting. It’s shipping now from Holî’s website.
(Alyssa Bereznak/Yahoo Tech)
Snap, a lightbulb security system I wrote about earlier this week, is the latest addition to startup SENGLED’s extensive list of multifunctional lighting sources. It contains a camera that can recognize faces and stream video straight to your tablet. Though it’s set to come out in the summer of 2015, its very available predecessors include Pulse, a bulb that’s also a wireless speaker, and Boost, a bulb that doubles as a Wi-Fi repeater.
(Courtesy of Ion)
Similar to SENGLED’s speaker lightbulb, the Ion Audio Sound Shine System consists of two wireless LED bulbs that you can also stream music through. But rather than just enhance the volume of your music, you can use a companion app to channel stereo sound in your living space. The set will go for $129.99 and starts shipping in March.
(Courtesy of Misfit)
Misfit has strayed from its core business of exercise trackers to develop an affordable, colorful LED lightbulb. The $50 Bolt connects to your smartphone via a Bluetooth LE connection. From there, you can control it with the Misfit Home app, which allows you to tweak the bulb’s millions of colors.
Its coolest feature by far is the ability to download collections of light patterns called “scenes.” These are created by other Bolt owners and easily transferred to your system. So say you’re throwing a party and want a continuous pattern to beam on the wall throughout the night: Bolt will repeat a series of bright colors to recreate a clubby vibe. And just the opposite if you need to relax.
Avi-on
Avi-on’s latest innovation is a set made of a light switch, dimmers, and lightbulbs that are enabled with Bluetooth. (You can buy them separately, or together for about $60 total.) The whole shebang, which will be released with the help of General Electric later this year, is meant to completely eliminate the requirement for in-wall light switch wiring.
Avi-on accomplishes this by using a mesh-based wireless system (much like other emerging startups) to transfer commands from one controller to a whole fleet of lights. This expands upon what you’d usually expect, range-wise, from a Bluetooth-enabled device. You can preorder this nifty kit now.
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