Smart LEDs that are tailored to our physiology, from the researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute:
“Smart” solid-state light sources now being developed not only have the potential to provide significant energy savings, but also offer new opportunities for applications that go well beyond the lighting provided by conventional incandescent and fluorescent sources, according to E. Fred Schubert and Jong Kyu Kim of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
In an article published May 27, 2005 in the journal Science, the authors describe research currently under way to transform lighting into “smart” lighting, with benefits expected in such diverse fields as medicine, transportation, communications, imaging, and agriculture. The ability to control basic light properties– including spectral power distribution, polarization, and color temperature–will allow “smart” light sources to adjust to specific environments and requirements and to undertake entirely new functions that are not possible with incandescent or fluorescent lighting.
For example, “smart” solid-state light sources have the potential to adjust human circadian rhythms to match changing work schedules, to allow an automobile to imperceptibly communicate with the car behind it, or to economically grow out-of-season strawberries in northern climates, according to Professors Schubert and Kim.
More in the press release…
(hat tip: Treehugger)