'Talking' street lamps

Imagine a street lamp that knows you are coming from a distance and lights up to illuminate the road. Or are you having a date, lights that can change colors help you express 'words to say'. It can also ring the New Year with bright light effects, changing the color and lighting times you want, even announcing the results of the ongoing sports game . System Luminaires invented by Dutch designers do not stop at saving electricity.

Save 80% of energy

The streetlight system called Tvilight was invented by designer Chintan Shah since he was a student at Delft University of Technology. During his overseas trips, he noticed that there were many street lights still shining on the streets, even at night, the street was empty without a single person. 'I started researching and discovering an amazing number' - Chintan Shad said. And he found that Europe had to spend more than $ 13 billion a year on street lighting, accounting for more than 40% of the government's energy bill. This also means about 40 million tons of CO ₂ emissions per year - equivalent to 20 million cars.

Chintan Shad's solution is to create an 'on demand' smart lighting system , using wireless sensors. Street lights only light up when there are people, bicycles or cars, and at other times, it's only dim. The Shah designer also developed the technology so that the lamp could differentiate between humans and other smaller animals to avoid unnecessary lighting. 'I was wondering, why would every citizen have to pay through paying taxes for street lights they didn't use? And now, we have a solution to this problem, " he said.

With the encouragement and assistance of the professors, Shah brought his patent ideas to the competition in the school scale and won. After that, Delft University has facilitated and supported financially to manufacture experimental models on campus. Since then, Tvilight has been implemented in 4 cities of the Netherlands, 1 city in Ireland and soon to be many other cities in the world.'We have received orders from Israel, Turkey, USA, Australia, India and Japan' - Shah said.

Artistic effect

This system will help cut energy costs by up to 80% and reduce CO2 emissions through integrated wireless sensors, allowing lights to alert a center to control when it is time to recover. case, need lighting. Tvilight's main purpose is to conserve energy, but not merely. Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde gave an advice as a mentor to the Shah, emphasizing the artistic potential of this technology.'How do we use technology to make the human environment more sustainable and natural? We want to make it more like interaction between friends. It is not merely a machine with a feedback loop that can 'communicate' with humans. '

Tvilight only illuminates when needed

For example, an ambulance or fire truck can 'communicate' with lamps so they flash red before they drive . 'The lights can be forewarned, helping vehicles give way to ambulances. Specifically, the light color will inform everyone that a priority vehicle is coming, and other vehicles will have enough time to quickly cross the road to give way, ' said Shad.

Designer Roosegaarde also suggests lighting can be 'practical or romantic' . 'Imagine I can write a software, so when I take my girlfriend out for a walk, the interactive lights will create a special effect that will help you express your mood. Depending on the occasion, street lights may flicker and change colors to create any design ' - Roosegaarde said. Shad also envisions that, in a live sports event, the match score can be shown on the street, thanks to the lighting system. ' This is not just about saving electricity, it's not only about protecting the environment but also the message and what you want the lights to convey' - Roosegaarde said.