#futureoflight

©Disney

How do you bring an iconic childhood character to life on screen? With light, of course.

In Disney’s most recent hit movie_ Cinderella_, actress Helena Bonham Carter’s character, the fairy godmother, is bedecked in a gown that undulates with the shimmering beauty of 400 LED lights. In order to best effect the magical transformation from beggar to fairy godmother, costume designer Sandy Powell created an ephemeral gown by integrating individual programmable Philips LED lights into the design of the dress.

Connected thermostats, connected home security, connected pool control  . . . The Internet of Things is making the home an intelligent, responsive, remotely controllable environment that’s more comfortable, safer, and easier on the environment.

Connected lighting is already a big part of today’s “rocket cottage.” Imagine this:

It’s still pitch dark outside when the full-color LED lamps in your bedroom start to glow, gradually brightening through the colors of the sunrise. You’ve set up this “good morning” sequence using an app on your smartphone. With the same app, you’ve also set the LED vanity lights in the bathroom and the recessed track lights in the kitchen to turn on in sequence, timed to your typical morning routine. This scheme helps reduce your monthly energy bill, while creating an appealing, dynamic ambiance that helps you comfortably transition into your active workday.

You’re the last person to leave the house for the day. When you walk out the front door, an IFTTT (If This Then That) recipe that you downloaded for free from the IFTTT website uses the location services on your smartphone to send a “turn off the lights” command to the connected lamps in your house. All of the lamps in the house are linked together over a local wireless network, ensuring that they can all work in unison.

These are only a few examples of how connected lighting is changing the way people use light at home. Personalization, scene setting, geofencing, mood enhancement, even notification -- when dinner’s ready, when an important e-mail has arrived, when the weather changes.

The connected home is a rapidly evolving technology space with many contenders for standards that will allow all of your smart devices to talk and work together. But no matter how it shakes out, connected lighting is going to be at the heart of any smart home vision.

Next stop: Hue town!

Follow Anita, a successful professional living in a forward-looking urban community, as she goes about a typical day in the connected world. See how connected lighting systems are transforming home life, work life, shopping, and recreation today.