Lighting The Way Toward a Smarter Tech Future Experience

 

    The mechanical age is nearing an end. While this time may never truly become extinct, the dependence on mechanical devices is on a downward trajectory. We are seeming to be going through a rapid transition to devices that have a more electronic basis. The simple lightbulbs we use every day are a prime example of this transition.  The old incandescent forms of these used to use a filament that slowly burns away creating light. Now we have progressed to light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to produce light with many of our lighting fixtures substituting these bulbs in for incandescent variants. The LEDs are the electronic features that are replacing the mechanical burning of these old bulbs. If one assumed that was as far as we could go with modifying one of the earliest inventions, they are severely mistaken. We are scratching the surface of what we can do with them. Light bulbs are now making the transition to being smarter. Chips and sensors are now being inserted into the design of these bulbs. Some bulbs now can illuminate in multiple different colors. They connect to Wi-Fi and smartphones. These features are controlled by chips that communicate with either a home base setup or through the user's phones communicating through the Internet of Things (IoT). This is just the baseline of the smartness these bulbs have evolved. Gaining traction are now bulbs that use motion sensors to turn themselves on and off when approached. In addition, light bulbs sense lighting conditions and determine the level of brightness needed to provide sufficient light to an area. Soon, these bulbs will be making their pass toward learning habitats and situations and lighting rooms using a combination of their own judgment, communicating with other devices, and external user commands. With this being just the rapid progression of the simple lightbulb, it makes us wonder what the future holds for the much more complex devices we see and use every day.

Citations:

TEDxTalks. The Internet of Things. YouTube, YouTube, 21 May 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=574&v=mzy84Vb_Gxk&feature=emb_logo. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.

Wolske, Martin. “1A: Programmable Electronics, Smart Technology, and the Internet of Things.” Person-Centered Guide to Demystifying Technology: Working Together to Observe/ Question/ Design/ Prototype/ and Implement/Reject Technology in Support of People's Valued Beings and Doings, Windsor & Downs Press, Urbana, Ill, 2020, pp. 53–59.