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Lagg writes:
"Philips put out a press release detailing their new retail lighting system, which is designed for the purpose of saving power by tracking subjects in a room, then increasing or decreasing light intensity as needed. Philips also advertises a secondary feature for providing location based sale adverts to the customer directly on their smartphone. This will require the user to install an app to actually receive the sale alerts, but it's unclear exactly how this tracking will be done otherwise.
Any home automation types in the comments have a theory as to how this will work on a technical level? My best guess is that there are infrared LEDs paired with the lighting fixtures themselves that can be picked up by phones with IR sensors in them. Further, what advantages does this sort of system have in terms of lighting efficiency that an electric eye setup wouldn't accomplish just as well?"
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 19 2014, @11:15AM
Is this the first Slashvertisment (Soylertisment?) on this site? Certainly it is not particularly newsworthy otherwise, as similar systems have been in operation for several years
(Score: 1) by Buck Feta on Wednesday February 19 2014, @11:23AM
It's a safe bet that SoyDot isn't exactly chock-a-block with retail-construction planners.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Vanderhoth on Wednesday February 19 2014, @11:25AM
I actually find this a very interesting topic. I know there are wireless LED bulbs that can be controlled by smartphones. I have one in my kitchen and when I'm away I can turn the light on and off. It comes in handy for long vacations where I want to be able to control the lights and make it seem like someones randomly turning the light on.
An application this might be useful for would be security. You can get expensive cameras with built in night vision, but what if you had a motion sensor that would turn your light on so a cheaper webcam could snap a photo? That's essentially what this looks like to me only the motion sensor is built in.
"Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe
(Score: 2) by hankwang on Wednesday February 19 2014, @01:17PM
"when I'm away I can turn the light on and off"
For that I have a EUR 7 digital timer switch that has programs per day of the week with a randomize function. It also doesn't require that I set up vpn access to my home.
p.s. unicode? I can't get an euro sign.
Avantslash: Slashdot+SoylentNews for mobile [avantslash.org].
(Score: 4, Funny) by Vanderhoth on Wednesday February 19 2014, @01:52PM
VPN... Yeah, I should do that...
I guess it wasn't a ghost turning the light on after all. ;)
Actually it was really fun at first. I didn't tell my wife, who's very superstitious, I'd put the light in so she'd get up to go to the kitchen and I'd turn the light on from down the hall and she'd come running back to the bedroom.
I had her really freaked out for a few days. Sometimes I wonder why I'm even still married!?
"Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 19 2014, @07:33PM
Big schlong?
(Score: 1) by unitron on Wednesday February 19 2014, @11:20PM
The question isn't why you're still married, but why she is.
something something Slashcott something something Beta something something
(Score: 2) by Vanderhoth on Thursday February 20 2014, @06:32AM
She's married because she's both attractive and awesome. Seems pretty stright forward to me.
"Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe
(Score: 2) by combatserver on Wednesday February 19 2014, @08:21PM
"It comes in handy for long vacations where I want to be able to control the lights and make it seem like someones randomly turning the light on."
This is another example of a specific use of a technology that seems quite useful, yet for many there will be resistance/lack of acceptance because of the underlying motivations of those producing/marketing the product. After recent NSA revelations, many of us are seeing technology in a new (and more sinister) light--Can this be used to spy on us? Am I trading yet another piece of my privacy so I don't have to flick a light switch? Asking such simple questions--and coming up with the answer "yes"--for some, will be the deciding factor. They will simply refuse to buy the product. I am one of these people (as are most of my extended family, some more than others).
Unfortunately, this really only holds true at the personal level, to any meaningful extent --we can say "no" to the technology only to find ourselves surrounded by it as a result of corporate or governmental decisions to use any particular technology in spite of public resistance.
Are we forgetting who is doing the spending? Have we somehow given up the right to decide where we spend our money (and thus our time, for that is really all money is--an indicator of value for someone's time, and a means by which that time can be transferred to another)?
Think before you spend--it can quite literally determine our future.
(There is such a thing as a "randomizer"--looks like a regular mechanical-switch wall timer, but it alters the schedule randomly to do exactly what you describe--make it appear that someone is home. And yes, I just opened the one I had in my garage to verify it is indeed mechanical--it is (or was--damned sonic-welding))
I hope I can change this later...
(Score: 2, Informative) by Lagg on Wednesday February 19 2014, @11:44AM
http://lagg.me [lagg.me]
9467 6082 8A35 2E1E 2D6B 76C4 5E9A ED56 076F 9E89
(Score: 5, Informative) by Dopefish on Wednesday February 19 2014, @12:20PM
Not quite. The reason this post is on SoylentNews is twofold.
This is not a product that is geared towards consumers or can even be purchased by consumers, and this piece was designed to highlight the possibilities of home/office/retail automation, or the possible privacy implications thereof.
(Score: 1) by _0111000001100100 on Thursday February 20 2014, @12:16AM
No I think they are trolling for the first "all hail our new ... Overlords" meme.