Products + Technology

  Toroidal propellers have potential to impact the fan, ceiling fan, wind turbine, and aerospace industries. They have made the most progress in the marine propulsion market, to-date. Sharrow Engineering, through its marine division Sharrow Marine, is undergoing major expansion in 2025 after introducing new versions of its proprietary propeller in 2024. This expansion includes [...]

  Cornell University researchers have pioneered a groundbreaking method to watermark videos using light, addressing the urgent problem of video manipulation in an era dominated by generative artificial intelligence and rapidly spreading misinformation. Their innovation, named “Noise-Coded Illumination for Forensic and Photometric Video,” involves embedding a secret, unique code directly into the light emitted by [...]

  Sengled, once a prominent name in smart lighting, is facing significant turmoil, as of Summer, 2025: Critical outages: Starting in June and recurring through July, Sengled’s Wi-Fi-enabled smart bulbs and app suffered major outages, leaving users unable to control their lights via the Sengled app, Alexa, or Google Home. Complaints flooded forums as users [...]

  Researchers have developed a low-cost visual microphone that listens using light rather than sound, advancing remote audio capture by turning tiny surface vibrations into audible signals. This innovation applies single-pixel imaging to sound detection, marking the first time the technique has been used for this purpose. Unlike traditional microphones, which rely on mechanical diaphragms [...]

  Researchers from the University of St Andrews and the University of Cambridge have achieved a breakthrough in wireless optical communications by using OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes)—commonly found in smartphone screens and televisions—as fast, long-distance transmitters for visible light communication (VLC), also known as Li-Fi. VLC uses light waves rather than radio frequencies to send [...]

I was impressed to read about the lengths to which display makers were going to improve eye comfort for users. Let’s look at the new TCL NXTPAPER 11 Plus 11” tablet, as an example. First introduced in 2020, NXTPAPER is a hardware and software combination designed to manage blue light output from devices “while maintaining excellent visual [...]

By Adam Reeder, President at LightArt & VP at 3form When designers think about lighting, the first question they typically ask themselves is, “How does it look?” and, “How does it illuminate the space”? For much of my career, cleanability was a footnote in lighting conversations and typically an afterthought, not something designers sought out [...]

  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER) program is bringing futuristic visions closer to reality by achieving record-setting results in long-distance, wirelessly beamed power. This initiative aims to revolutionize the delivery of electricity, particularly for military and humanitarian operations where the logistics of providing energy across challenging terrain are [...]

Glamox, a leading global lighting company, has introduced a novel method of naval communication, drawing inspiration from Morse code but updating it for the twenty-first century. This breakthrough was officially announced in Oslo on June 24, 2025, signifying a major shift in how navies can achieve secure communication, even when satellite or radio channels might [...]