Products + Technology

  MushLume Lighting biofabricates sustainable lamp shades from hemp and fungus mycelium (the root structure of fungi). The mycelium shades give the appearance of concrete. They even have begun adding colors (see second image below). MushLume describes the process this way, “In just a few days, the mycelium grows, cultivating a thick network of hyphae [...]

iLamp is a self-powered, feature-packed, smart streetlight and pole, manufactured by Conflow Power Group. Functions include: Solar self-powered, off-grid or on-grid. Lights stay on when the grid goes down. Wi-Fi hotspot built in, and 4 & 5G towers optional. iLamp can become a communications hub for the community. 360 degree camera produces a live feed [...]

  LumiAdd is a UK-based manufacturer of 3D-printed luminaires. The company has recently pioneered the use of discarded coffee grounds as a raw material for making spotlights and downlights. The waste coffee grounds are combined with polylactic acid (PLA). The company uses plant-based polymers, primarily PLA, to print all of its luminaires. 3D printing on [...]

  A former SpaceX executive plans to keep solar farms running at night, using sunlight from space, reflected off an array of orbiting satellites. The startup is aptly named Reflect Orbital, and the company would provide short periods of “Sunlight-as-a-service from space.” Ben Nowack is the CEO of Reflect Orbital, a former propulsion engineering intern [...]

  By Dr. Jonathan Melman & David Shiller Japanese researchers led by Osaka University have published the discovery of a family of significantly more efficient organic, rare-metal-free, phosphorescent materials: thienyl diketones. Room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) without using rare metals has been an area of intense research. Most commercial RTP materials today utilize iridium or platinum, [...]

  In May, LightArt launched the industry’s first optically clear, 3D-printed pendants, the Clear Coil Collection. The collection upcycles discarded materials like clothing, carpet fibers, dense plastic containers, and packaging into beautifully designed, long-lasting, clear light fixtures. The collection comprises six new pendant shapes, expanding the multi-award-winning Coil family. The company also offers a Coil [...]

  A group of German researchers have created a new metamaterial that is more transparent than glass, diffuses sunlight, adds privacy, is anti-reflective, self-cleaning, reduces glare, and increases radiative cooling. The new thin film is a polymer-based micro-photonic multi-functional metamaterial or PMMM, that can be applied onto a pane of glass. The impressive collection of [...]

Aqua Creations has unveiled its Iris Pendant Light. Inspired by the human eye, the Iris Pendant Light creates diffuse lighting for the home. The Iris Pendant is only 15mm thick and produces significant up light and down light from the double-sided silk panels. The Iris Pendants are available in 3 sizes: Petite 24”, Medium 35”, [...]

  Leather is not a dominant material in light fixtures, but it is sometimes used in decorative lighting. For several years, articles have been published about alternative leathers coming to interior design (furniture) and industrial design, but none of these alternative leathers have been commercially available for production until now. First  though, what is alternative [...]