rohinni printable light

ICYMI*: rohinni's printable light will be on the market next year. 

rohinni are based in Coeur d'Alene, ID, and does Idaho deserve these two letters today!

A thin layer of their ink-LED mix can be spread on conductive surfaces, and potentially "lightify" anything. They call it "Lightpaper", but some of its applications can be "paper light".

As rohinni puts it, 'imagine the possibilities'...

To my makers and artists friends: be patient! According to FastCo, the mid-2015 TTM only means when products using the technology will be out there.

Actually, the BtoB / OEM approach shows on their website: a Sony smartphone, an Audi, a wallpaper-lamp, a wristband...

Imagine further: Lightpaper on Side A, solar cells on Side B, a switch, and you get the perfect garden canopy, or the ultimate Moser-lamp-killer app.

mot-bile 2014

* see "Rohinni's Lightpaper Is Incredibly Thin, And Printable" on FastCoLabs

The Bright Side Of Li-Fi

Harald Haas was in Seoul recently, as one might have expected doing some Li-Fi evangelism.

pureLiFi's moto?
"Light becomes data"
(which also reads
"data becomes light")
 website: purelifi.co.uk

Li-Fi is a W-LAN technology transferring data through light (VLC or Visible Light Communication), preferably LED for a capacity similar to Wi-Fi - theoretically, 10 Gps is possible.

No radio frequency, no spectrum, just a spot, a lamp driver, a receiver (e.g. dongle). A bit like IrDA, only sexier because it works better in the dark.

Unfortunately, it's not long range - even shorter than Wi-Fi. So forget about smart semaphore lights. But it works: last time someone flashed their headlights to my car, I could decrypt their curses.

Following his 2011 TED talk, Haas founded pureLiFi to push the technology OEM. Here's the startup-in-the-garage-style demo:



You may feel like a suspect in a police investigation, but when it comes to grilling, LED light is far less harmful than say Wi-Fi waves. And you can see what happens, be sure that no one will sniff your data from beyond your brick walls. That's the beauty of a Li-Fi Hotspot(light).

We're always excited to see dumb objects get smart, particularly when they surround us, like these plugs that a decade ago promised to transform our electric home network into a smart one. VLC can find countless applications, including where we don't expect them (art, toys), but competition is fiercer than ever among short-medium range technologies.


mot-bile 2013