Gestured Based Lighting Control

We are entering an area where it is possible to control electronic devices through hand gestures alone. A example of this in use can be found in an upcoming version of the Android phone OS (http://www.pcworld.com/article/198552/touchless_gesture_control_coming_to_android_devices.html). The Xbox Kinect is another example of this technology being put into practice. The company that developed the hardware for the Xbox Kinect is planning on eventually releasing a version for interacting with a PC.

Once this technology becomes more mainstream there will likely be a flood of ideas for potential uses. However, I would like to take this moment to discuss an idea that I don't think is an immediately obvious application, gesture controlled lighting.

It is important to keep in mind that most new input technology is 'buggy.' Voice control is still iffy at best. Anyone who has called a customer support line that utilizes speech recognition likely knows that there is plenty of room for improvement. It is important to keep this in mind. The best use cases for this technology would involve simple gestures and few commands. To control a light you only need one command, a command that switches the light between on and off.

Ultimately, I would want to be able to turn a light on and off with just a flick of the wrist. Using gesture recognition technology, I should be able to a light on across the room by snapping my fingers at it (using sound recognition and listening for a snap could actually improve the accuracy).

To make such a system a reality all that would be required would be a camera somewhere in the room (possibly attached to a lamp) and a computer system to process the video feed captured by the camera. The price (initially) would likely be high for individual lights. It would likely be more economical if it was installed into a room as part of a home automation system.

Now some people might say that wanting something like this is lazy. I say its wanting convenience. Being able to turn a light on and off (instead of needing to unplug it) is another similar convenience. For that matter, wall mounted light switches so that you do not need to use the lamps switch is similar as well. This is simply an extension of that idea.

People still buy 'clap ons' and touch activated lights. Its obvious that people wish to pursue convenience where it is available, and I think that in the near future that this should be one way in which our lives can be more convenient, even if it's only by a small amount.

Snap in Light Bulbs

Screwing in light bulbs generally works just fine. You twist a bit and then the bulb stays in. The process has also given us hundreds if not thousands of "how many blank would it take to screw in a light bulb" jokes. However having to screw in light bulbs is not always ideal.

This thought came to mind while looking at a celling fixture. To change the bulbs I need to stretch out and stand on the tip of my toes. I can certainly accomplish this task. However, it is an uncomfortable pose to maintain while unscrewing the old bulb and screwing in the new one.

It occurred to me, why can't the light bulbs simply snap in? If the sockets were designed with a ridge, the bulb could just latch onto it. The bulb would be constructed with a plastic base (or one of flexible metal if melting is a problem). To remove the bulb a person would just squeeze the base. It would become 'thinner' and be able to move past the sockets ridge. At that point the bulb could slip back out.

People could be concerned that the base of the bulb would become distorted over time causing a bulb to slip out. This is only likely if a person is installing and removing the same bulb multiple times. In the vast majority of cases, light bulbs are installed once and then left until they burn out.

Where this really has potential is in light fixtures in tall ceilings that normally require a poll to change. The poll would still be needed (you have to be able to reach the fixtures after all), but there would be no twisting required.

As mentioned, modern light bulbs are no sort of terrible tragedy, but this seems like a simple redesign that could make changing them a little bit less work.

Glow in the Dark Lampshades

So this idea could be annoying, but I could also see it being pretty cool.

I would like to see some lampshades that could glow in the dark. Either the whole thing could glow, or patterns (that would be invisible under regular light) would glow.

It is basically a way that your lampshade could 'store' some light that might be wasted otherwise. Then when you turn off the lights they could provide a 'nice' ambient lighting. It could also be a helpful way of finding the lamp in the dark.

Artistically you could even do some interesting things on the lamp shade. For example you could have a normally visible floral paten of unblossomed flowers. The glow in the dark patter would then show the flowers unfolding.

Though as I said, it could be annoying. Sometimes when you turn off a light, its because you want it to be dark. But in limited situations, I could see such a thing being a nice addition to a home.