fake sun
February 13, 2015 4:19 PM Subscribe
An artificial skylight "It looks like the sun... but it isn't. It's a brand new type of artificial skylight called CoeLux which, for the first time, recreates the scientific process that makes the sky appear blue. It also creates an illusion of depth to make the 'sun' appear to be far above. "
Thanks for posting. I bet this might become popular in Sweden and other Nordic nations. I bought a sun lamp the first autumn I lived there because the lack of sunlight was making me depressed, lethargic and sleepy all day long. Stockholm used to have a light cafe in the winter months. Last time I visited Södermalm, it seemed to have disappeared. But there's a light room at one of Sweden's universities and perhaps not the only one. I'm curious about any side effects, though. A little googling suggested that artificial light can be problematic. Then again, what isn't? :-)
posted by Bella Donna at 4:26 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by Bella Donna at 4:26 PM on February 13, 2015
That is amazing.
And I'm terribly proud of great Italian engineering.
posted by lydhre at 4:32 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
And I'm terribly proud of great Italian engineering.
posted by lydhre at 4:32 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I can't really see why reproducing the effect of the atmosphere is any different from putting a filter on a bright light. What am I missing?
posted by rdr at 4:34 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by rdr at 4:34 PM on February 13, 2015
They don't mention much about the power or size of the whole unit. Might be hard to stuff in most ceilings when it takes a meter of height.
posted by nickggully at 4:37 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by nickggully at 4:37 PM on February 13, 2015
I'm getting the sense that I cannot afford this wonderful thing.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:37 PM on February 13, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:37 PM on February 13, 2015 [9 favorites]
Apparently it's no thicker than an ordinary fixture. There is a lot of hand-waving about new materials being developed to not only provide the scattering effect but also to do the shadows and other skylight-like effects.
posted by localroger at 4:40 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by localroger at 4:40 PM on February 13, 2015
Man, I hate videos that only show people talking about a new thing, and don't show so much of the new thing. I know what people talking look like! Show me the damned thing!
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 4:50 PM on February 13, 2015 [21 favorites]
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 4:50 PM on February 13, 2015 [21 favorites]
wow, I could swear I put a hyperlink in that comment. A more detailed report on COELUX technology.
posted by localroger at 4:52 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by localroger at 4:52 PM on February 13, 2015
I have two bathrooms that have no windows so I'd love it! And I am intrigued about building down instead of up. I wonder what that would mean in seismically active areas?
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 4:53 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 4:53 PM on February 13, 2015
Oof. Seems a bit pricey.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 4:58 PM on February 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 4:58 PM on February 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
rdr, you're correct that the atmosphere itself is essentially a filter on a really bright light (here's a graph of what sunlight looks like at the top of the atmosphere and when it hits the ground.) But you can't get bluer (shorter) wavelengths from an incandescent light (e.g. a light that works by heating up a filament until it emits photons) unless it's actually as hot as the surface of the Sun, which is impractical. So you have to use other methods of generating light, like fluorescence or electroluminescence, to get those blue wavelengths. But those kinds of light look weird to us because they don't have the same smooth spectral distribution as sunlight. You can't just stick a filter on them to reproduce sunlight because the problem is that they're not emitting enough light at some wavelengths. White LEDs try to fix this problem by coating a blue or UV LED with phosphorescent material, but they're still not very sunlight-like.
It seems like these guys have figured out a way to more accurately reproduce that sunlight-like spectral distribution. I would love to see a graph of what the light coming out of that thing looks like, spectrally speaking. I wonder if they're trying to keep people from measuring the spectrum because it would give clues to their proprietary process, or if it's just that no one has bothered yet.
The Rayleigh scattering effect they've achieved just allows the light itself to look like a blue sky without having to filter out all the non-blue wavelengths that they've worked so hard to add in.
posted by fermion at 5:05 PM on February 13, 2015 [17 favorites]
It seems like these guys have figured out a way to more accurately reproduce that sunlight-like spectral distribution. I would love to see a graph of what the light coming out of that thing looks like, spectrally speaking. I wonder if they're trying to keep people from measuring the spectrum because it would give clues to their proprietary process, or if it's just that no one has bothered yet.
The Rayleigh scattering effect they've achieved just allows the light itself to look like a blue sky without having to filter out all the non-blue wavelengths that they've worked so hard to add in.
posted by fermion at 5:05 PM on February 13, 2015 [17 favorites]
"The first action, already in place, is to keep the technology secret as much as possible."
Well, that's nice. Get back to me when you can show me something I can check.
posted by Devonian at 5:12 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Well, that's nice. Get back to me when you can show me something I can check.
posted by Devonian at 5:12 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
I can't really see why reproducing the effect of the atmosphere is any different from putting a filter on a bright light. What am I missing?
Isn't that pretty much all this is? Just a bright LED lightbulb behind a polarized filter that lets direct light come through full-spectrum and filters the indirect light to blue? They talk vaguely about "nanoparticles," but that seems sorta buzzwordy.
The first action, already in place, is to keep the technology secret as much as possible. To this end all the dissemination and demonstration activities performed in the frame of the project have been covered by strict secrecy and non disclosure policy.
Hmm.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:13 PM on February 13, 2015
Isn't that pretty much all this is? Just a bright LED lightbulb behind a polarized filter that lets direct light come through full-spectrum and filters the indirect light to blue? They talk vaguely about "nanoparticles," but that seems sorta buzzwordy.
The first action, already in place, is to keep the technology secret as much as possible. To this end all the dissemination and demonstration activities performed in the frame of the project have been covered by strict secrecy and non disclosure policy.
Hmm.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:13 PM on February 13, 2015
I'm optimistic that the price of these will come down just in time for our great underground migration as climate change renders surface of the earth uninhabitable. Next they should invent a window that displays an arcadian pasture, and a bathtub that feels like the ocean.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 5:17 PM on February 13, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by mrjohnmuller at 5:17 PM on February 13, 2015 [10 favorites]
"CoeLux: Enabling Subterranean Hive Civilizations Since 2014"
posted by doctor tough love at 5:22 PM on February 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by doctor tough love at 5:22 PM on February 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
If they have a New Thing, then they can patent it and we can all know hot it works and they can make a ton of dosh. If they eschew patents in favour of keeping things a secret, then they're buggered the moment they actually sell one. You do have to keep things secret before patenting, but that sorta depends on keeping things secret, rather than taking the show on the road.
I'll park my excitement for a while, because I don't believe this to be what it says it is.
posted by Devonian at 5:28 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'll park my excitement for a while, because I don't believe this to be what it says it is.
posted by Devonian at 5:28 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
They don't really explain how the illusion of depth would be achieved and the footage they show when they say "infinite depth" is computer generated.
So maybe if I saw it in person I'd be blown away, but I'm skeptical.
posted by RobotHero at 5:32 PM on February 13, 2015
So maybe if I saw it in person I'd be blown away, but I'm skeptical.
posted by RobotHero at 5:32 PM on February 13, 2015
The PDF that was submitted to the European Commission--since this was in part publicly funded--describes that the process has involved a consortium tasked with evaluating a number of possible constructions of this kind of lighting. The nanoparticle-occluded polymer (as buzzy as that word it, it's essentially the principal division of not just materials science but also toxicology right now) development was a big part of the process, but also some software and structure components. It's pretty neat. Especially this bit:
Four types of luminaires have been developed up to the final design. Three of them faithfully reproduce the sky at noon, and differ for the sky size and shape: namely a plurality of small sky spots, a standard 60 x 60 cm2 sky tile and a 200 × 100 sqm large sky aperture, respectively. The fourth luminaire proposes the reconstruction of the sunset sky in a stormy day. Functional samples of all four luminaries have been installed in 1:1 scale testing environment. Direct photometric measurements have proved that standards for general lighting are adequately fulfilled.
I love the EC's public/private investment structures. It's not just vaccines that can have impacts on quality of life at the scale governments are interested in. I'll take one of the stormy day sunsets, please.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 5:42 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Four types of luminaires have been developed up to the final design. Three of them faithfully reproduce the sky at noon, and differ for the sky size and shape: namely a plurality of small sky spots, a standard 60 x 60 cm2 sky tile and a 200 × 100 sqm large sky aperture, respectively. The fourth luminaire proposes the reconstruction of the sunset sky in a stormy day. Functional samples of all four luminaries have been installed in 1:1 scale testing environment. Direct photometric measurements have proved that standards for general lighting are adequately fulfilled.
I love the EC's public/private investment structures. It's not just vaccines that can have impacts on quality of life at the scale governments are interested in. I'll take one of the stormy day sunsets, please.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 5:42 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm a little afraid my brain will short-circuit sitting under one of these and walking out to a storm or the night time.
posted by Karaage at 5:43 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by Karaage at 5:43 PM on February 13, 2015
Is it too late for them to use them in the Blade Runner sequel? It seems like an "innovation" appropriate to that setting.
posted by The Confessor at 5:45 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by The Confessor at 5:45 PM on February 13, 2015
Could you just pop the filter on the bulb (or around the bulb, whatever) and just have it as a lamp?
Also, putting one of these at the bottom of a pool would be pretty awesome.
posted by BungaDunga at 5:46 PM on February 13, 2015 [7 favorites]
Also, putting one of these at the bottom of a pool would be pretty awesome.
posted by BungaDunga at 5:46 PM on February 13, 2015 [7 favorites]
This sounds a lot like a James Turrell Skyspace, but with fancier materials.
posted by Cash4Lead at 5:48 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Cash4Lead at 5:48 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
We're this much closer to a spaceship that replicates seasons and daylight with its lights as it goes someplace awesome and far, far away!
posted by barchan at 5:50 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by barchan at 5:50 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Sorry, I missed the artificial part of it, so not like a Skyspace at all.
posted by Cash4Lead at 5:54 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by Cash4Lead at 5:54 PM on February 13, 2015
I'm not sure the mood lighting is the hard part of interstellar travel, to be honest.
posted by angerbot at 5:55 PM on February 13, 2015 [13 favorites]
posted by angerbot at 5:55 PM on February 13, 2015 [13 favorites]
Add augmented reality goggles and an infinite mirror room, and you'd never have to step outside again
posted by BungaDunga at 5:56 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by BungaDunga at 5:56 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Anything to help people decrease the time they need to spend in front of ultraviolent light or the amount of fish shits one must consume to stop one from being funny in the head.
posted by herrdoktor at 5:58 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by herrdoktor at 5:58 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
You can't just stick a filter on them to reproduce sunlight because the problem is that they're not emitting enough light at some wavelengths. White LEDs try to fix this problem by coating a blue or UV LED with phosphorescent material, but they're still not very sunlight-like.
The term "phosphorescent" is reserved for materials which emit light after a significant delay when exposed to light:
posted by jamjam at 6:01 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
The term "phosphorescent" is reserved for materials which emit light after a significant delay when exposed to light:
Phosphorescence is a specific type of photoluminescence related to fluorescence. Unlike fluorescence, a phosphorescent material does not immediately re-emit the radiation it absorbs. The slower time scales of the re-emission are associated with "forbidden" energy state transitions in quantum mechanics. As these transitions occur very slowly in certain materials, absorbed radiation may be re-emitted at a lower intensity for up to several hours after the original excitation.While the substances painted on blue or UV LEDs to make white LEDs are generally phosphors, they are fluorescent rather than phosphoresent.
Commonly seen examples of phosphorescent materials are the glow-in-the-dark toys, paint, and clock dials that glow for some time after being charged with a bright light such as in any normal reading or room light. Typically the glowing then slowly fades out within minutes (or up to a few hours) in a dark room.[1]
posted by jamjam at 6:01 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Ha, definitely not, angerbot, but it's one of those little problems that'd be important to solve for the health of those on board. Every step helps!
posted by barchan at 6:01 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by barchan at 6:01 PM on February 13, 2015
I'm optimistic that the price of these will come down just in time for our great underground migration as climate change renders surface of the earth uninhabitable. Next they should invent a window that displays an arcadian pasture, and a bathtub that feels like the ocean.
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"CoeLux: Enabling Subterranean Hive Civilizations Since 2014"
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Add augmented reality goggles and an infinite mirror room, and you'd never have to step outside again
--------
Jokes, jokes, I know, I know, buuuut as a joking response: let's not forget that, barring very aggresive population control measures, we as a civilization have to figure out how to happily and peacefully live in much denser quarters than we currently are - suburban sprawl, not innovative city planning, contributes to ecosytem destruction. I think it's a mistake to conflate the thinking behind this "skylight" with something you read in Gibson or Huxley.
posted by stinkfoot at 6:03 PM on February 13, 2015
--------
"CoeLux: Enabling Subterranean Hive Civilizations Since 2014"
--------
Add augmented reality goggles and an infinite mirror room, and you'd never have to step outside again
--------
Jokes, jokes, I know, I know, buuuut as a joking response: let's not forget that, barring very aggresive population control measures, we as a civilization have to figure out how to happily and peacefully live in much denser quarters than we currently are - suburban sprawl, not innovative city planning, contributes to ecosytem destruction. I think it's a mistake to conflate the thinking behind this "skylight" with something you read in Gibson or Huxley.
posted by stinkfoot at 6:03 PM on February 13, 2015
Oof. Seems a bit pricey.
I'd take one at any cost. The sky's the limit.
posted by hal9k at 6:10 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'd take one at any cost. The sky's the limit.
posted by hal9k at 6:10 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
But can they do THIS?
OMG, it's an outdoor cat scanner.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:50 PM on February 13, 2015 [8 favorites]
OMG, it's an outdoor cat scanner.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:50 PM on February 13, 2015 [8 favorites]
I have no idea how these people got their cats wedged into their CoeLux, or why.
posted by dephlogisticated at 7:14 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by dephlogisticated at 7:14 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
That's a pretty cool item for winter if you live north of the 40th parallel.
My brother lives in Sweden and I dunno how he deals with winter there when it gets light around 1000, then is dark again about 1500.
Wait about 5 years and perhaps the price will come down to non-millionaire level?
posted by CrowGoat at 7:39 PM on February 13, 2015
My brother lives in Sweden and I dunno how he deals with winter there when it gets light around 1000, then is dark again about 1500.
Wait about 5 years and perhaps the price will come down to non-millionaire level?
posted by CrowGoat at 7:39 PM on February 13, 2015
Imagine what this could do for sufferers of SAD! And I thought that the sunlamps and giant mirrors we had were already pretty good (and pricey...)!
posted by gemutlichkeit at 7:42 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by gemutlichkeit at 7:42 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hot damn! I had this open in a tab and was going to post it!
If I had that kind of cash laying around, I'd buy one. No question.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:44 PM on February 13, 2015
If I had that kind of cash laying around, I'd buy one. No question.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:44 PM on February 13, 2015
Well making it involves a lot of specialty materials and there are no economies of scale yet, so yeah pricey. Call me from 10 years ago and ask about white LED lighting.
The two main things are that I suspect the "sun" probably remains in the same part of the window no matter where you're looking at it from, and the "hour" of the "day" is probably fixed at the point of manufacture. The first is probably something we either won't notice or can readily overlook. The fact that it's always 3 PM might be a bit dicier.
posted by localroger at 7:45 PM on February 13, 2015
The two main things are that I suspect the "sun" probably remains in the same part of the window no matter where you're looking at it from, and the "hour" of the "day" is probably fixed at the point of manufacture. The first is probably something we either won't notice or can readily overlook. The fact that it's always 3 PM might be a bit dicier.
posted by localroger at 7:45 PM on February 13, 2015
And our proprietary technology is very inexpensive and scalable...it basically just requires a saw and a piece of glass!
posted by sexyrobot at 7:47 PM on February 13, 2015
posted by sexyrobot at 7:47 PM on February 13, 2015
The two main things are that I suspect the "sun" probably remains in the same part of the window no matter where you're looking at it from, and the "hour" of the "day" is probably fixed at the point of manufacture.
Yes, if you go to their web page, there are three option for angles: 65 degrees (which they call tropical) 45 (Mediterranean) and 30 (Nordic). But once you plunk down your tens of thousands of dollars, that angle is fixed forever.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:48 PM on February 13, 2015
Yes, if you go to their web page, there are three option for angles: 65 degrees (which they call tropical) 45 (Mediterranean) and 30 (Nordic). But once you plunk down your tens of thousands of dollars, that angle is fixed forever.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:48 PM on February 13, 2015
If only Italian scientists could put sunshine in my heart.
posted by jimmythefish at 7:58 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by jimmythefish at 7:58 PM on February 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
While the substances painted on blue or UV LEDs to make white LEDs are generally phosphors, they are fluorescent rather than phosphoresent.
Ahh, thank you for the correction! I know something about the solar spectrum but not so much about lighting chemistry.
posted by fermion at 8:11 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Ahh, thank you for the correction! I know something about the solar spectrum but not so much about lighting chemistry.
posted by fermion at 8:11 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
For $68k it better actually fuse hydrogen.
posted by ryanrs at 9:05 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by ryanrs at 9:05 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
We're this much closer to a spaceship that replicates seasons and daylight with its lights as it goes someplace awesome and far, far away!
Actually, this is spot on and the first thing I thought.
Working on space travel and space exploration and space migration—even just contemplating it, much less actually working on it—one of the very first problems/challenges is sunlight. At best right now, it is 8-months to Mars. And while sun is theoretically available, radiation is already one huge problem to deal with for any extensive time in space. If this technology/cleverness indeed functions to convince the senses that sunlight is being experienced, just the advantages for mental health alone would do wonders for such a trip.
Speaking of Mars, because of living conditions (cold, poisonous, radiation) living on Mars surface is pretty much out of the question for earth humans. The solution (if there is one) is to live underground. And that sounds grim. (In fact, contemplating the aesthetics of life on Mars for human beings is one of the reasons I recently asked this question on AskMeFi. Sunlight, rain and bodies of water, thunder, these are experiences I would miss/require from Earth.)
Therefore, in terms of sunlight, something exactly like a CoeLux is mandatory for health and happiness of human residents on Mars.
Like angerbot points out, "mood lighting" is not "the hard part of interstellar travel". But human space exploration and long distances does not need imply interstellar distances. For that matter, something like this would work in another sort of space travel: Deep sea habitats. How exciting the possibility of living under the sea made more real simply by making the environment more sensually hospitable to human beings!
Yet deep sea habitats are stepping stones to deep space habitats. Whether or not the science is there to call this revolutionary, in terms of the mandates of space exploration for human beings CoeLux is certainly a breakthrough.
posted by Mike Mongo at 9:21 PM on February 13, 2015
Actually, this is spot on and the first thing I thought.
Working on space travel and space exploration and space migration—even just contemplating it, much less actually working on it—one of the very first problems/challenges is sunlight. At best right now, it is 8-months to Mars. And while sun is theoretically available, radiation is already one huge problem to deal with for any extensive time in space. If this technology/cleverness indeed functions to convince the senses that sunlight is being experienced, just the advantages for mental health alone would do wonders for such a trip.
Speaking of Mars, because of living conditions (cold, poisonous, radiation) living on Mars surface is pretty much out of the question for earth humans. The solution (if there is one) is to live underground. And that sounds grim. (In fact, contemplating the aesthetics of life on Mars for human beings is one of the reasons I recently asked this question on AskMeFi. Sunlight, rain and bodies of water, thunder, these are experiences I would miss/require from Earth.)
Therefore, in terms of sunlight, something exactly like a CoeLux is mandatory for health and happiness of human residents on Mars.
Like angerbot points out, "mood lighting" is not "the hard part of interstellar travel". But human space exploration and long distances does not need imply interstellar distances. For that matter, something like this would work in another sort of space travel: Deep sea habitats. How exciting the possibility of living under the sea made more real simply by making the environment more sensually hospitable to human beings!
Yet deep sea habitats are stepping stones to deep space habitats. Whether or not the science is there to call this revolutionary, in terms of the mandates of space exploration for human beings CoeLux is certainly a breakthrough.
posted by Mike Mongo at 9:21 PM on February 13, 2015
The obvious next step is the artificial window whereby the room is not only realistically lit but is also airconditioned from the skylight. Put a screen on it with animations of tree branches and flying birds (perhaps even add a sound track of a meadow with a brook?)
For the final touch of reality, add a small passage that leads to a room where your cat can play and shit. Because cats.
posted by Autumn Leaf at 10:06 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
For the final touch of reality, add a small passage that leads to a room where your cat can play and shit. Because cats.
posted by Autumn Leaf at 10:06 PM on February 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think it's a mistake to conflate the thinking behind this "skylight" with something you read in Gibson or Huxley
Not to be pedantic, but I'd appreciate a cite to anything that Gibson or Huxley wrote about underground human hive civilizations. Seriously: Forster, Bass, Lucas, that russian fellow who wrote We, Wells - it's kind of a pet obsession. If Gibson and / or Huxley wrote about them, I somehow missed it (and I'd like to catch up).
posted by doctor tough love at 10:34 PM on February 13, 2015
Not to be pedantic, but I'd appreciate a cite to anything that Gibson or Huxley wrote about underground human hive civilizations. Seriously: Forster, Bass, Lucas, that russian fellow who wrote We, Wells - it's kind of a pet obsession. If Gibson and / or Huxley wrote about them, I somehow missed it (and I'd like to catch up).
posted by doctor tough love at 10:34 PM on February 13, 2015
potsmokinghippieoverlord: "Oof. Seems a bit pricey."
"CoeLux currently costs £40,000 (~$61,000) to buy and up to £5,000 (~$7,600) for installation."
A bit pricey. I'm trying to figure out how a flat panel could possibly cost $8000 to install. That's got to include the renovation price to get the angled recess mount.
posted by Mitheral at 10:48 PM on February 13, 2015
"CoeLux currently costs £40,000 (~$61,000) to buy and up to £5,000 (~$7,600) for installation."
A bit pricey. I'm trying to figure out how a flat panel could possibly cost $8000 to install. That's got to include the renovation price to get the angled recess mount.
posted by Mitheral at 10:48 PM on February 13, 2015
I'm guessing you need to buy off the upstairs neighbours to put a massive triangular lump in their floor.
posted by grahamparks at 12:21 AM on February 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by grahamparks at 12:21 AM on February 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I live in Seattle, and I want six of these in my house. And a big one outside.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 2:25 AM on February 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 2:25 AM on February 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Just my personal impression...
As an Australian I'm not sure I'd like this too much. After a lifetime of classical conditioning, I associate direct sunlight and clear blue skies with high temperatures and physical discomfort, though intellectually I know this would in fact be a cold LED light. It would take a bit of getting used to for me to associate bright sunlight coming through a window with pleasant feelings! I like things a bit dark inside and have heavy curtains and blinds for that purpose.
I guess it would be different if I came from somewhere less sunny. If I lived somewhere with proper blizzards during long, dark winters I might crave a bit of sunlight, even fake stuff.
posted by Mokusatsu at 5:29 AM on February 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
As an Australian I'm not sure I'd like this too much. After a lifetime of classical conditioning, I associate direct sunlight and clear blue skies with high temperatures and physical discomfort, though intellectually I know this would in fact be a cold LED light. It would take a bit of getting used to for me to associate bright sunlight coming through a window with pleasant feelings! I like things a bit dark inside and have heavy curtains and blinds for that purpose.
I guess it would be different if I came from somewhere less sunny. If I lived somewhere with proper blizzards during long, dark winters I might crave a bit of sunlight, even fake stuff.
posted by Mokusatsu at 5:29 AM on February 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
"The first is probably something we either won't notice or can readily overlook."
I think it would be difficult to overlook. This is the problem with simulated windows, too.
I also am curious about the spectrum. As I understand it, they're somehow coming close to the Sun's spectral distribution and then diffusing the blue portion throughout the surface, while presenting the rest of it directly (like what happens in the atmosphere with Rayleigh scattering). I'm curious about whether this is really that important.
I guess that perceptually it probably would be, given that what's happening outside is that we're actually getting that blue portion through the whole of the sky leaving the Sun itself to be relatively yellow. So the illumination of an outdoor scene is going to be "white" because of all that blue through the whole sky, but when we look at the Sun it will look (sort of) yellow. A regular light source that has the Sun's spectrum will end up looking very blue when we look at it directly in a way that the Sun never does -- that's maybe why those special light bulbs seem so blue and it's not just in contrast to the normal reddish spectrum of incandescent bulbs. So I can see how this could be important.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 8:02 AM on February 14, 2015
I think it would be difficult to overlook. This is the problem with simulated windows, too.
I also am curious about the spectrum. As I understand it, they're somehow coming close to the Sun's spectral distribution and then diffusing the blue portion throughout the surface, while presenting the rest of it directly (like what happens in the atmosphere with Rayleigh scattering). I'm curious about whether this is really that important.
I guess that perceptually it probably would be, given that what's happening outside is that we're actually getting that blue portion through the whole of the sky leaving the Sun itself to be relatively yellow. So the illumination of an outdoor scene is going to be "white" because of all that blue through the whole sky, but when we look at the Sun it will look (sort of) yellow. A regular light source that has the Sun's spectrum will end up looking very blue when we look at it directly in a way that the Sun never does -- that's maybe why those special light bulbs seem so blue and it's not just in contrast to the normal reddish spectrum of incandescent bulbs. So I can see how this could be important.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 8:02 AM on February 14, 2015
Maybe I'm missing an important link but it feels like directional light and "sun" image is created by something simple, like the interference pattern from a couple of moire screens but at nano-tech scale.
posted by bonobothegreat at 10:30 AM on February 14, 2015
posted by bonobothegreat at 10:30 AM on February 14, 2015
How does it integrate with the Cloud?
posted by srboisvert at 12:03 PM on February 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by srboisvert at 12:03 PM on February 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'd love to see more straight video, but I'm picturing it as similar to the way reflections in brushed metal can sometimes have a sort of stereoscopic 3d effect. I was a little thrown by how all of the pictures on their website are done up like Generic CG Portfolio Architecture Rendering #4 though.
posted by lucidium at 4:59 PM on February 14, 2015
posted by lucidium at 4:59 PM on February 14, 2015
Not to be pedantic, but I'd appreciate a cite to anything that Gibson or Huxley wrote about underground human hive civilizations. Seriously: Forster, Bass, Lucas, that russian fellow who wrote We, Wells - it's kind of a pet obsession. If Gibson and / or Huxley wrote about them, I somehow missed it (and I'd like to catch up).
Sorry- only using those names as a reference to dystopian futures!
posted by stinkfoot at 7:15 PM on March 1, 2015
Sorry- only using those names as a reference to dystopian futures!
posted by stinkfoot at 7:15 PM on March 1, 2015
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posted by Lemurrhea at 4:25 PM on February 13, 2015 [3 favorites]