Byron, as he burns on ...

[Dave Monroe]

In future, ordinary lights may communicate, boost
health

By MALCOLM RITTER, Associated Press
August 23, 2005

NEW YORK — Scientists have been taking a closer look
at the lighting in our homes, offices and vehicles,
and they're seeing potential for a way to improve
health and a new means of electronic communication.

None of this will happen tomorrow. But if you want a
glimpse of where the field might be heading, listen to
some experts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in
Troy, N.Y., an academic home for lighting research.

Start with engineer E. Fred Schubert, talking about a
new era of "smart" light sources.

"We are looking at lighting systems that provide more
than lighting," he says.

He's talking about light-emitting diodes, or LEDs.
Most people know them as being quite small, like the
lights that form numbers on digital clocks or blink on
answering machines. But recent technological advances
have made them much more powerful, able to illuminate
swimming pools and serve as traffic signals, for
example.

LEDs offer energy savings when compared to standard
lighting, but Schubert is more excited about some
other properties. One is that LEDs can be made to
blink so fast that a person doesn't notice, but a
receiving device can. And that, Schubert says, opens
the door to using lights for electronic communication
as well as illumination.

Of course, fiberoptic cables already transmit lots of
data with light signals. But Schubert is talking about
things like:

— brake lights that tell a closely following car to
stop, even if the driver doesn't notice.

— headlights that tell a red stop light to turn green,
if it's safe.

— road signs that communicate warnings to specific
cars.

— room lights that link your computer to the Internet,
avoiding Wi-Fi signals that can be pirated.

— room lights that transmit messages to devices worn
by only certain people, like particular doctors or
nurses in a hospital, rather than speakers that spew
announcements for everybody to hear.

[...]

... architects and lighting engineers might someday
take body clocks into account when they design
lighting schemes, she said. They may be encouraged to
take steps like providing plenty of natural light
through windows and skylights, and installing bright
blue LEDs near computer screens to give a dose of
clock-adjusting light, she said.

[...]

Over the next two decades it will inspire engineers to
look at "the redesign of virtually all human
environments for lighting," he said. "There's no
question in my mind about that."

http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/neapolitan/article/0,2071,NPDN_14939_4022050,00.html

   "Byron, as he burns on, sees more and more of this
pattern. He learns how to make contact with other
kinds of electric appliances, in homes, in factories
and out in the streets. Each has something to tell
him...." (GR, Pt. IV, p. 654)

http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/gravity/alpha/b.html#byron

http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_byron.html

http://www.ottosell.de/pynchon/byron.htm


		
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