Don’t Look Now, But Your Light Bulb is Talking to Your Computer

December 29th, 2010 by Tina Casey

If you spent any time in school over the past generation or so, you probably experienced those old-time overhead flickering fluorescent light fixtures, and maybe you wondered if they were exchanging some kind of secret code with government spies, alien invaders, or maybe just with each other. Well, wonder no more, because a company called LVX Systems has the answer: they were trying to talk to your computer.

LEDs and Wireless Transmission

Well, unfortunately the fluorescent lights got nowehere, but LVX has found a way to embed light signals in LEDs to transmit data wirelessly. Called Visible Light with Embedded Communication, it looks like a standard LED lamp, but it acts like a wireless router. The principal is based on the ability of LEDs to “modulate” so rapidly, there is no flickering or alteration visible to the naked eye.

LEDs and Fluorescent Lights

It’s way too early to count fluorescent lights out as the energy-saving lighting choice of the future, but the benefits of LEDs are piling up fast. LVX’s innovation adds value to a package that already includes a long life cycle, low energy use, and low heat output. New developments like graphite foam could help bring the cost down, and tiny startups like Appalachian Lighting Systems are demonstrating the green jobs potential of LED manufacturing.

Image: Overhead light by oedipusphinx —- the JWDban on flickr.com.

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Tags: computers, fluorescent lights, LVX System, wireless network

About the Author

Tina Casey Tina Casey specializes in military and corporate sustainability, advanced technology, emerging materials, biofuels, and water and wastewater issues. Tina’s articles are reposted frequently on Reuters, Scientific American, and many other sites. Views expressed are her own. Follow her on Twitter @TinaMCasey and Google+.