Light affects more than our interior environments – it influences our health, well-being and perceptions. Industry topics like these drew thousands of attendees May 5-7 to the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York for Lightfair 2015.
Communicating the need for an effortless end-user experience, Osram Sylvania (Danvers, Mass.) was awarded the Most Innovative Product of the Year for its Omnipoint system, a remotely controlled array-based luminaire featuring a reconfigurable light output, controlled by a wireless tablet. The corresponding tablet program displays a static image of a room (Osram’s booth featured a faux retail environment) and users drag their finger to whichever item or area they want illuminated, and the luminaire responds accordingly.
“We have focused on creating a product that is so simple and intuitive that anyone can use the software, yet is powerful enough that a professional lighting designer can create the best design possible,” said Michael Quilici, senior scientist, Osram.
Osram also snagged this year’s Technical Innovation Award for its Oslon SSL 730 nm, an LED meant for lighting foliage, with wavelengths of 450-nm to 660-nm, and now with a 730-nm “Far Red”; while Hubbel Lighting Inc. (Greenville, S.C.) took home the Design Excellence Award for its Architectural Area Lighting Kick product, a contemporary fixture intended for use at walkways and building entrances.
Tunable white LEDs, as well as color-temperature turning and circadian-benefit products were all prevalent this year, with some companies also showcasing improved LED dimming capabilities, supported by advanced drivers.
Some conference sessions centered on similar health-conscious themes: “Blue Light – Therapy and Risk” explored cases of detrimental brain and eye damage caused by blue light, as well as its therapeutic uses, like the reduction of bilirubin – a waste by-product of the breakdown of old red blood cells – in the blood of premature babies.
The lecture “Tunable White: Expectations, Experiences and Controls,” delved into the benefits of tuned retail, healthcare and residential lighting, and examined the differences between correlated-color tuning, warm dimming, spectral tuning and circadian tuning. During the session, speaker Jill Klores, founder, owner, Essential Light Design Studio (Dallas), reminded the audience: “Understand you’re affecting humans – and be creative!”