Products + Technology

  Artificial intelligence infrastructure is moving into a new constraint: communication. As GPU clusters grow to tens of thousands of accelerators, optical interconnects (photonic light-based communications) are becoming a system-level requirement rather than a supporting data-center component, according to Yole Group’s latest photonics analysis. Yole’s white paper, Photonics at the Speed of AI, argues that [...]

  Philips Hue Expands Connected-Lighting Platform With AI, Entertainment and Design Launches Signify is broadening the Philips Hue ecosystem with artificial-intelligence-enabled automations, expanded entertainment synchronization, a Nanoleaf integration and a new generation of decorative indoor and outdoor luminaires. The launches, announced September 3, are scheduled to begin reaching markets this month, with availability varying by [...]

  Reclaimed Blinds Illuminate Circular Design Potential Designer Reza Raeisifar has transformed discarded aluminum Venetian blinds into a modular family of luminaires that reframes an everyday shading material as a tool for directing, diffusing and sculpting artificial light. The Keker Collection uses reclaimed blind slats—components conventionally intended to block or regulate daylight—to create cylindrical lighting [...]

  Loxone is positioning its smart home and building platform as an integrated automation environment in which lighting operates alongside shading, HVAC, energy management, access control, security and audio—not as a standalone connected-lighting application. The company’s central proposition is a building that anticipates occupant needs and manages routine functions automatically through one coordinated system. For [...]

  The national controversy surrounding Flock Safety’s automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras is reshaping the conversation about public-safety technology. It is no longer limited to whether police should deploy roadside cameras. The larger question is how ordinary municipal infrastructure—particularly streetlights—can become part of an always-connected vehicle surveillance network. That issue is directly relevant to [...]

  Lighting is not a peripheral consideration in robotic machine vision—it is a core determinant of inspection accuracy, object-recognition reliability and production uptime. Camera performance and vision-algorithm results depend fundamentally on the quality, uniformity and controllability of illumination. Machine vision gives industrial robots the ability to perceive their operating environment, identify parts and features, and [...]

  Last week, I published a story on Matter expanding from residential smart homes to commercial and industrial applications. The following is a large-scale demonstration of applying Matter-over-Thread to a commercial environment. Silicon Labs has demonstrated a 200-node Matter-over-Thread validation network, providing a significant proof point for the use of Matter in commercial lighting, building [...]

  iGuzzini has expanded its recessed lighting portfolio with Laser Evo, a highly configurable downlight system that’s built on visual-comfort principles. Designed for retail, hospitality and residential applications, Laser Evo combines compact form factors, architectural integration, optical flexibility and connected-control options in a platform offering more than one million potential configurations. The product family follows [...]

  Beijing Betavolt New Energy Technology has announced a compact nuclear coin-sized battery, the BV100, capable of delivering continuous power for up to 50 years without recharging or maintenance, positioning the technology as a potential disruptor in long-duration energy supply for low-power electronics and remote applications. The device, often described as a “nuclear microbattery,” leverages [...]