Artificial intelligence is taking the world by storm – and to some, it is all a bit scary. So, today, we are focussing on the fun side of AI – interior lighting.
Matthew Currington, Technical Director of The Lighting Superstore, shares his insight into how we can make the most of intelligent lighting as the global smart lighting industry foresees growth of up to $ 27.7 billion by 2026.
Artificially intelligent lighting is illuminating new ways to enjoy simplicity, cosy complexity and convenience within our homes.
Gone are the days when you walked into a room and flipped a light switch that illuminated your living room with stark, one-dimensional lighting.
Instead, developments in smart lighting offer personalised and optimised lighting to suit every need and mood.
Today, there are many ways to manage your lighting from a smart device, fine-tuning it to your desired preferences and needs.
Personalised preferences
Smart lighting has the ability to glean and store data over time about your lighting preferences in your home.
If you prefer to be welcomed home after work to ambient, warm lighting in the entrance hall, and this is how you set your lights every evening, artificially intelligent lighting systems can learn this trend over time and make sure this is how you will find your lighting upon arriving home.
Smart lighting can automatically sense and adjust depending on the time of day. When the sun starts to set, lights will automatically turn on and switch off when it’s light outside. They do this by picking up natural light levels and adjusting brightness or dimness accordingly.
Scientifically, we know that when the sun starts to set, this signals our bodies to produce melatonin and become sleepy. Known as a wind-down routine, lights that dim slowly over time in the evenings might even improve your sleep.
Colour tuning and dynamic ambience
Artificially intelligent lighting, with the ability to adjust the brightness and colour in one single lightbulb, can set the atmosphere and mood within your home.
Bright lights make one feel alert, stimulated and productive, whilst warm and gentle lighting brings feelings of relaxation and luxury.
This allows for dynamic use of rooms within your home. Your open-plan living room can quickly transform from a blue and energetically lit late-night workspace to a relaxing space illuminated by warm orange sunset tones.
Throwing colours into the mix adds another dimension altogether which is completely possible with AI lighting – the rainbow is yours to play with.
Light control
Smart lighting allows you to switch lights off and on based on various factors such as occupancy, motion detection and the time of day.
These features can provide you with safety and security you have at your fingertips.
Smart motion-detecting lighting will provide you with safe passage if you get up in the middle of the dark night.
Or if you’re going away on holiday, you might like to have your lights set to come on when they detect natural light levels dropping, giving any opportunist thieves a reason to think someone is still home. If you’re looking to play your part in being a responsible citizen and lowering your energy usage or want to trim your energy bills, then smart lighting gives you the power to do so.
Convenience is at the pinnacle of smart interior lighting. The ability to command your home’s lighting, ambience and mood with a simple gesture or voice prompt makes life just that much more pleasurable.