You would think there was enough light in what is often referred to as the sunburnt country, but Australian entrepreneurs appear to have a growing obsession with making our lights smarter. Within months, two Kickstarter projects coming out of Australia are interested in offering us the smart light. Smart lights are lights that are connected to the network, that leverage computational power to bring greater control and color into our lives.
The first project, from a group of Melbourne-based makers and entrepreneurs is called LI-FX. Their offering quickly began to spiral on Kickstarter and so, intelligently, they set a ceiling of backers so that they were able to develop and deliver in accordance with their timelines. It means that their Kickstarter, while still open, is full. However, this is an intelligent approach which hopefully will build a more sustainable business beyond their Kickstarter campaign. The offering are lightbulbs for your existing sockets, with LEDs driven by your phone and connected to the network. A series of bulbs will be able to talk to each other and they are the next element of the internet of things, from phones to watches, fridges and now lights.
Recently launched, Light by Moore's Cloud comes from the mind of adopted (and now naturalized) Aussie Mark Pesce. Mark has a long history of invention, creation and pushing the boundaries from virtual reality in the early 90s to his more recent thinking on networks and web 2.0. This product is similar to LI-FX, in that it is effectively a group of LEDs connected to the network via a computer and wifi, but this Light is more a table lamp than a light for your roof. And as such, it appeals to the coder and tech geeks by being a lamp with a LAMP stack. The Kickstarter site explains:
There appears to be a tactile and playful nature to this smart light. The team designed in an accelerometer which offers other potential for programming and in the spirit of the web it is all open source, so it's perfect for makers and other to play around and link this Light to the rest of the Internet of Things. This makes it a very appealing purchase for those exploring the internet of things. The team have indicated a desire to have Light talk to other Kickstarter successes like LIFX, SmartThings, Ubi and Ninja Blocks.
Light by Moore's Cloud has only recently launched; you can see the Kickstarter video above and if you think that smart lights are the next big thing, then this is one you'll want to back. There are not a whole heap of options. The offer is simple for $99 you pre-order yourself one Light.
