Study Shows the Impacts of Lighting in Our Daily Life Many researches have indicated that lighting plays a critical role for human wellbeing and can significantly affect our productivity. The Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute published a study in 2018*, demonstrating that circadian-effective lighting installed in office buildings can help workers to reduce sleepiness and increase alertness and energy. “Circadian-effective” lighting describes light source delivering effective photic stimulus that suppress melatonin, which often re...

The City of Jersey City in the U.S. is launching the municipal vertical farming program together with vertical farm technology supplier AeroFarms and World Economic Forum. The program is aim to support healthy diet for people living in area and spark awareness. The initiative will establish 10 vertical farms throughout Jersey City located in senior centers, schools, public housing complexes, and municipal buildings. The 10 sites will grow 19,000 pounds of vegetables annually using water mist and minimal electricity. The food will be free to the public. (Image: AeroF...

New display technologies Mini LED and Micro LED are bringing new opportunities to the industry. Many companies are thus trying to develop new strategies and form alliances with the aim to occupy a leading position in the market. Recently, Taiwan-based LED companies Epistar and Lextar announced their integration for leveraging their expertise to accelerate technology development in Mini LED and Micro LED technologies, hoping to win more business opportunities. Apart from LED manufacturers, panel makers have also geared up to push commercialization of the new di...

Signify announced its partnership with the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to support the Smart Street Lighting NY project of the state. The Smart Street Lighting NY program was launched in 2018 with the aim to replace streetlights in New York State. Signify is going to provide its Interact City IoT lighting system to connect LED luminaires and further help cities of the state to reduce their energy consumption and carbon footprint. To date, more than 50,000 LED streetlights have been installed or are currently being installed under the program. (Im...

Scientists at the Circadian Light Research Center published their new finding in the Journal of Biological Rhythms pointing out the narrow band of blue light that synchronizes our circadian rhythms during the day and disrupts them at night. The study could help lighting fixtures and LEDs to be further engineered and designed to optimize human health. Blue light exposure at night is a well-established public health hazard. It suppresses melatonin, causes circadian disruption, and is linked to an increased risk of sleep disorders, obesity, diabetes, and breast and prostate can...

Signify collaborated with the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) at Boston University in the US on a research that validates the effectiveness of Signify’s UVC light sources on the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Since the start of the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Griffiths, Associate Professor of Microbiology at Boston University School of Medicine and his team have been working on developing tools to support scientific advancement in this field. During their research they have t...

Otsaw, the robot manufacturer from Singapore announced that it has launched the world first UVC LED based autonomous robot for disinfection. The robot, named “O-RX,” is created in only eight weeks from conceptualization, design, materials procurement, prototype testing to certification. The UVC LED embedded disinfecting robot also passed safety testing and has been certified by TUV SUD. (Image: Otsaw) Unlike other current UV disinfecting robot using mercury UV lamps, the O-RX utilizes the UVC LED technology that emits only UVC ...

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is investigating the impacts of working from home or quarantining indoors due to the COVID-19 pandemic on individual daily light exposures. The results showed that indoor and outdoor light exposure significantly impacted people’s sleep quality and psychological health. LRC conducted a survey on people who had been staying home due to the pandemic in May 2020. The survey collected 600 effective data and found that daily indoor light exposure and time spent outside had a major impact on all sur...

Panasonic Lighting Americas announced a strategic solution partnership with Pointr, a UK-based startup experts in deep location platforms. The new partnership enables an offering of end-to-end connected lighting solutions, paired with real-time location-based services, to address the convergence of physical spaces with the virtual world. The two parties will integrated their expertise in location based services and lighting solutions to provide innovative offering for customers such as digital ceiling embedded with location-based services. The solution aims to improve efficiency,...

Daktronics and Beijing Indigo have partnered for a new freeform LED video display in the location's winter garden atrium. The display forms a curtain across six arc-arranged steel columns to form the largest display in the Beijing region. The display is comprised of freeform stick LED elements featuring 25-mm line spacing and measuring 9 meters high by 52 meters wide. It is a transparent display that faces inward to create an engaging atmosphere for visitors while people outside can see through the display. (Image: Daktronics) "It was challenging to ensure t...

LG Electronics said on June 11 that its LED Cinema Display has been installed in Taiwan’s movie theater. It is the first commercialized LED Cinema Display of LG and the first LED theater display in Taiwan. The display is 14 meters wide and seven meters high, supporting 4K resolution and installed in a 300-seat theater that is operated by Taiwan’s local cinema chain Showtime Cinema. LG also works with audio tech company Dolby Laboratories to add surround sound to the display, offering an advanced experience with its LED Cinema Display. ...

Display technologies keep progressing with new solutions coming up to tackle Mini LED and Micro LED production difficulties and new materials using to create OLED display. Now, scientists are using recycled human hair to develop flexible OLED displays. Researchers from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Griffith University in Austria have teamed up with a barbershop and develop a method to turn human hair into OLED display. The research was published in Advanced Materials. (Image: Queensland University of Technology) The small hair ...

Japan-based medical equipment supplier Nikkiso has collaborated with the University of Miyazaki and announced that its deep UV LED adopted apace disinfecting device can effectively prevent the spread of COVID-19. The two parties conducted trials by exposing SARS-CoV-2 viruses contained liquid under deep UV LED radiation for 30 second and found that virus infectivity decreased by 99.9%. The experiment went on two months and the effectiveness of deep UV LED for preventing COVID-19 infection is confirmed. (Image: Nikkiso) Researchers said that th...

French research institute CEA-Leti announced that its researchers have broken the throughput world record of 5.1 Gbps in visible light communications (VLC) using a single GaN blue Micro LED. Their data transmission rate of 7.7 Gbps achieved with a 10 µm Micro LED marks another step toward commercialization and widespread use of LiFi communication. (Image: CEA-Leti) VLC, or LiFi (light fidelity), is an emerging wireless communication system that offers an alternative or a complementary technology to radio frequency (RF) systems such as WiFi and...

In April, Atomic Blue, the U.S. LED company, announced that its high power UVC LED has passed the test by NIH for killing 99.9999% COVID-19 virus. Now, the company’s UVC germicidal light has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (Image: Atomic Blue) Atomic Blue's ultraviolet light has been registered with the FDA as a Disinfectant – Medical Device with the product code LRJ under device Class 1. The UVC fixture, known for its ability to eradicate the COVID-19 virus, is now approved for com...

STMicroelectronics announced the extension of its FlightSense ToF ranging sensors by introducing the VL53L3CX which allow measuring distances to multiple objects and increasing accuracy. Meanwhile, the company also introduced a reference design suited for monitoring social distancing and assuring remote operation to protect human health in all environments in response to global or local pandemic conditions. The ToF sensor VL53L3CX measures object ranges from 2.5 cm to 3 m, allowing designers to introduce features like occupancy detectors or reporting the exact distanc...

StarPower Semiconductor and Cree announced that China’s Yutong Group is using Cree’s silicon carbade devices in a module for the powertrain system of electric buses. The use of silicon carbide-based power solutions enable faster, smaller, lighter and more powerful electronic systems for commercial electric vehicles. Cree works jointly with StarPower to accelerate the commercial adoption of silicon carbide-based inverters in electric bus applications. Upon rollout, Yutong Group will deliver their first electric bus in China to use silicon carbide in its powert...

Dr. Hönle, a Germany-based UV technology developer, announced that it has proved that energy-rich short-waved UVC irradiation is highly effective for inactivating SARS-CoV-2 viruses, pathogen of COVID-19. The tests were conducted at the Institute for Medical Virology of the University Hospital Frankfurt. (Image: Pixabay) The results show that, using special Hönle UV units, the new corona virus can be killed reliably within seconds. An inactivation rate of 99,99% was confirmed in the laboratory. The tests were carried out applying different...

Vertical farming company Kalera from Florida, USA, has teamed up with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to conduct a study focusing on the effect of LED lighting by the end-of-production period. The results showed that by exposing lettuce to LED lighting before harvest, the nutritive value would increase. The new study, “Effect of End-of-Production High-Energy Radiation on Nutritional Quality of Indoor-Grown Red-Leaf Lettuce,” was published in HortScience on June 1, 2020. The research found that by using ...

Apart from assisting autonomous driving technology, LiDAR technology is also helping archaeologists to unveil the long covered structures from ancient times with its penetration feature. A research team recently discovered the largest and oldest Mayan monument via LiDAR technology and published their findings in Nature. The team use LiDAR from an airplane to find the monument under the authorization of the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico. Laser beams penetrate the tree canopy and reveal the three-dimensional forms of archaeological features ...

Advanced LED technology enables innovative automotive lighting including adaptive driving beam (ADB) by which each single LED pixel can be control independently for a wider range of applications. Based on similar concept, Japanese LED maker Stanley proposed an innovative way to combine laser and MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) mirror, which allows high precision light and sensing function. (Image: Stanley) Stanly uses blue laser light which can be reflected with MEMS mirror and converted into white light with phosphor to build a headlight system. V...

To enhance UVC disinfecting applications, a new study proposed an alternative transparent conductor that deliver UV spectrum to solve the issue of low efficiency of current UV LED technology. The research provide the approach of using SrNbO3 as an electrode material for UV LED. A joint research group with scholars from The Pennsylvania State University, University of Minnesota from the U.S. and The University of Tokyo and Tohoku University in Japan published their study in Communications Physics suggesting a solution of UV-transparent electrode to de...

Breaking the social activity limitation brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Samsung launched an online virtual lighting exhibition to fill the need for more consumer-facing product presentations with innovative new strategies. The Virtual Lighting Exhibition now offers a 24/7access to Samsung’s updated lighting solutions for manufacturers, supply chain partners and end users. Samsung said that this online booth provides a platform where virtual visitors can access the most current Samsung LED technologies and products. Users can find segmented product lineups grouped...

Fluence by OSRAM announced the launch of four additional spectra on its VYPR top light series. From broad white to high red, Fluence’s extended PhysioSpec™ spectra enable growers to optimize lighting strategies for any crop in any growth stage or geographic location. “In our relentless pursuit of innovative lighting solutions for crop cultivation, we’ve conducted in-depth research on plant response under various spectra with a range of crops,” said David Cohen, CEO of Fluence. “One of the biggest challenges for cultivators around t...

The U.S. lighting company Acuity Brands announced its strategic partnership with Ushio America. The two companies entered into an alliance agreement that Ushio will supply Acuity Brands with its Care222® UV disinfection module, which generate far-UVC light which is safe to human skin but capable of inactivating viruses and bacteria on indoor surfaces. Under the agreement, Acuity Brands will have an exclusive right to use Ushio’s far-UVC disinfecting module for general illumination uses throughout North America and non-exclusive right for the worldwide m...

Apple is reportedly preparing the new iPad and MacBook adopting Mini LED technology coming later this year or later while its progress in Micro LED technology has yet enter the next phase. It was said that the Apple Watch Series will feature OLED screen which is similar to the previous model, instead of Micro LED. An anonymous Twitter account who has revealed several Apple products details accurately twitted on May 31 suggesting that Apple will use display from JDI, who supplies OLED panels for Apple Watch. (Image: Apple) Since Apple initiat...

Worldwide researchers continues to explore the possible ways to defeat the novel coronavirus. UV light is considered one of the effective ways to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection as it deactivates microorganism in air, water and on the surface. A new study from Colorado State University (CSU) found that UV light can also diminish SARS-CoV-2 virus in blood. Researchers at CSU used existing technologies to show that exposing the coronavirus to riboflavin and UV light reduces pathogens in human plasma and whole-blood products. The result was published on M...

In 2020, people all around the globe are living in ways that we would never have thought because of COVID-19 pandemic. Majority of the world population has spent most of their time at home with lockdown policies and to avoid infection in the past few months. Even now that several areas have lifted up the restriction, people’s lifestyle is likely to change forever. Lighting applications, which highly related to our daily life, reflect the changes of people’s behaviors. LEDinside is thus seeing some rising trends in the lighting industry in response to the impact of ...

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred the awareness of disinfection and stimulated demands for related applications based on UVC radiation. UVC LED products have thus become a hit across the world. However, the safety issue of UV light also become a concern as direct exposure of UV radiation is harmful for people and animal. Aim to improve safety of UV disinfection and expand application opportunities, researcher across the world are searching for method to make UV light less harmful. And far-UVC seems to be the solution. A new research carried out by the Univers...

Last week, Samsung announced that it is supporting five startups created by Samsung employees under the C-Lab Inside in-house incubation program. One of the new startups, SunnyFive, builds a window look lighting device delivering artificial sunlight. (Image: Samsung) According to Samsung, the window-shaped lighting created by SunnyFive produces full spectrum of light which is similar to natural light, simulating lighting situation including dawn, sunrise, sunset and dusk. Samsung also highlighted that this window-like lighting device can help users synthesize vitamin D...