“On and off like a light switch.” That’s the saying, anyway. But what if a light switch could do so much more than simply switch lights on and off? What would the saying be then?
Right now most tech commentators agree that it’s mobile devices that are set to become the new universal controller for the home. But what if the standard light switch, with its apparently out-of-date offerings of ‘on’ and ‘off’, could be brought firmly into the 21st century?
With domestic lighting products (such as the Hue) now offering homeowners the opportunity to do more with their lights, the traditional, binary switch needs to adapt or die. With products offering more than 16 million colors and thousands of functional operations, you might be forgiven for thinking this is the end – but it’s only just beginning.
In between smartphones with their millions of options and the humble light switch, a third option has emerged for homeowners – which is great news for those of us who aren’t quite ready to make the leap to controlling our lights using smartphones.
The Philips Hue Tap works with existing hue systems to control lights automatically, in the same way you can already do using the smartphone app. By replacing your existing light switch, you’ll not only be able to turn your lights on or off with a simple tap, you’ll also be able to change the light colors on demand to a pre-programmed scene just by tapping the button. A bit more than just ‘on and off’, then.
Now we can change the colors of lights with a tap, imagine what else might be on the horizon for the light switch. In the future light switches will be able to sense when you’re leaving one room and entering another, turning off or adjusting the lights in each room accordingly. We’ve already seen Wi-Fi enabled wooden houses and lamps that light up when our loved ones and friends across the globe are online; imagine how we could connect those with our light switches, tapping out messages to say ‘hello’ and ‘good night’ wordlessly.
The rebirth of the light switch also means the birth of great energy-saving solutions. The Philips Hue Tap operates with no energy consumption whatsoever, running entirely on kinetic energy from your fingers. It doesn’t even need wires or a power source. Are we looking at a future where the ‘light switch’ is no longer on the wall, but instead is as synonymous with ‘remote control’ as turning your TV on? Now, that really is the future calling.
“On and off like a light switch.” It’s time to come up with a new saying.
If you could do more than just turn lights on and off with your light switch, what would you do?
This post was contributed by: The Future Of Light – Philips Lighting
“We’ve been in the lighting business for over 100 years but if someone told us in 1891 that one day light would be controlled from the palm of our hand, we wouldn’t have been surprised. That’s because we’re always looking to tomorrow to understand how light will improve and influence our lives in the future. We know that the world needs more light but how this will be achieved and what it will look like is still undecided. Through the Future of Light, we will explore the global trends that are shaping innovation in lighting. We believe that smarter lighting will ensure a brighter future.”
