Many of us remember the days when the majority of people used their phones to, um... talk. Voice quality was critical to market leader Nokia– who had over 50% of the share of the mobile phone market. Yet the market leaders of voice quality such as Nokia, Nortel, or Motorola are no longer relevant in the phone market today.The transition from “dumb” devices to “smart” devices usually takes a few years – so today, “phones” mean Apple and Samsung smartphones with apps like Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter. Like the phones of old – most room lighting today is “dumb” and only designed to turn on and off. However, with ilumi’s Bluetooth mesh (a.k.a. MeshTek)– each ilumi Smartbulb is transformed into miniature data repeater that can not only turn on a light, but can also control projectors, digital signage players, and other cool functions still on the drawing board.
What does this mean? Traditionally, the $100B lighting industry thinks of bulbs as mechanisms to provide light to a room or space, controlled by a switch or dimmer. But with Bluetooth mesh smart bulbs, your lights will be “talking” (technically speaking - passing data) to multiple devices in your rooms. Each meshed smart light would be able respond to a room sensor, tracker, smart lock, or could even tell your blinds or garage door to open or shut. ilumi lights can pass data from one device to another over 15 different “hops”, enabling control over long distances such as a large house, or even a school building.
Now that the Bluetooth mesh interoperability standard has been published, Bluetooth mesh enabled smart lights like ilumi Smartbulbs, will be a critical part of the IoT infrastructure in both homes and commercial spaces. Plus, as data rates increase over the mesh network, new consumer and commercial functionality (“apps”) can be added and deployed – at practically no cost.
In the future, having a light bulb that can only provide light – could look a lot like a cellular phone that will only make phone calls.
