Philips lighting design concepts using amazingly simple, gesture based interaction are awarded an honorable mention in the coveted 2010 I.D. Annual Design Review.

‘The Beauty of Interaction’, Philips revolutionary design exploration into combining ambient and functional lighting, was revealed for the first time at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2009. This exciting range of luminaire concepts – tabletop, floor-standing, wall-mounted and a hanging chandelier – uses a tantalizingly thin, aluminum ‘light blade’, applying conventional LED and organic LED (OLED) technology and have now been awarded an honorable mention in the coveted 2010 I.D. Annual Design Review.
The concepts represent an exploration into how emerging OLED technology can be applied in familiar, everyday objects. “OLEDs give a diffuse, subtle and soft light that is sometimes described as a ‘light cloud’,” says Oscar Pena, Senior Creative Director for Lighting.  “Combining this with the brighter, functional lighting provided by LEDs means the lighting can be easily changed, such as switching from ambient lighting to a directional beam.  The concepts appearance, behavior and simple, gesture based interaction have purposefully been designed to mirror the ‘lightness of light’. ”

A lighting playground
New OLED technologies bring exciting new opportunities - and challenges - to designers. No longer confined to just designing the light, attention can also be paid to the light effect and the way light is used to communicate a message, trigger emotions or create atmospheres. Using light to reflect – or trigger – subtle emotions is a continuing investigation at Philips Design.  “It would be easy to become sentimental about the demise of the incandescent light bulb but it is now a really exciting time for lighting designers to create solutions to enhance people’s lives in new, surprisiing ways,” says Oscar. “The flexibility that new technologies bring creates possibilities in so many areas – now any surface can be turned into a light source. OLEDs allow us to give new shape to light. The challenges are to find the most appropriate ways to apply them and to ensure that product design, interaction and the light effects are complimentary to one another.”