New Atlas

Automotive Audio available

Mercedes "cooperative car" uses lights to gain pedestrians' trust

Ben Coxworth February 8, 2019

It was just last month that we heard about an experimental lighting system developed by Jaguar, that lets leery pedestrians know what autonomous cars are about to do. Well, Mercedes-Benz is working on something similar, in the form of its driver-optional "cooperative car."

The cooperative car communicates with pedestrians via a lighting system

Outdoors Review

Innovative van life and car camping gear we got our hands on in 2018

C.C. Weiss December 30, 2018

With the year winding down in a hurry, here's a look at the best camping gear we put through the wringer in 2018. After all, spending time outdoors is what gear innovation is all about, right?

The Traeger Ranger lets you bring wood-fire grilling to the campsite, fishing hole, tailgate and beyond

Automotive

Volkswagen re-thinks external car lighting in the transition to autonomy

Loz Blain October 17, 2018

Self-driving cars can't make eye contact to signal their intentions, so Volkswagen is testing several systems that turn a car into an interactive information display to project information onto the road for drivers and display interactive information to other road users.

Indicator projections can harmlessly mark out space in an area you're planning to move into

Good Thinking

Dutch town goes with bat-friendly streetlights

Ben Coxworth June 8, 2018

A year ago, Philips Lighting (now called Signify) announced results of a study which showed that its ClearField red LED lighting didn't disrupt the behaviour of bats – unlike traditional streetlights. Now, the Dutch town of Zuidhoek-Nieuwkoop has become the first place to use the system.

The lights have been installed in a sustainable housing development

Around The Home

Design your own lamps with Smartbunch LED triangles

James Holloway March 28, 2018

Light bulbs – we all need them, but truth be told, they're just a little bit boring. Smartbunch is hoping to change that with its modular light that lets you design your own table lamps and overhead lights with its LED triangles that snap together to make all manner of 3D shapes.

Though described as a light bulb, Smartbunch is really more a self-illuminating light fitting

Health & Wellbeing

Dim light may be shrinking your brain

Ben Coxworth February 5, 2018

If you've opted to go for low "mood lighting" in your office, you might want to think again. According to a new study from Michigan State University, when rats are exposed to dim lighting for prolonged periods, their brain capacity diminishes. The same could likely be true for humans.

In lab rat tests, prolonged exposure to dim light caused the capacity of the hippocampus to ...

Outdoors

Luminser Lantern turns candlelight into LED light

David Szondy January 23, 2018

Created by Norwegian waste-heat reclamation company ThermTech, the Luminiser Lantern that's currently the subject of a crowdfunding campaign uses a tea candle to power an array of LEDs for up to six hours.

Through thermoelectrics, the Luminiser Lantern uses heat from a candle to power its LEDs

Outdoors

Modular magnetic system works as flashlight, headlamp, lantern, work light ...

C.C. Weiss November 15, 2017

Startup 33 Parallel is trying to help cut the portable lighting clutter with its new Portable Adaptive Lighting (PAL), a modular system that pairs a single light head with various body types, from a flashlight handle, to a headband, to a bike mount and more.

The PAL light pops into the flashlight handle or lantern to give you different styles of ...

Digital Cameras

Modular lighting kit could give subjects stars in their eyes

Paul Ridden September 4, 2017

The folks at Spiffy Gear have developed a modular LED lighting system that's described as being the only lighting modifier you'll need. The Spekular light bars can be used independently or together to form catchlights in a subject's eyes – including a funky star.

Three catchlight effects resulting from different configurations of the modular Spekular LED lighting system

Around The Home

This floating cloud lamp is a mini thunderstorm for your coffee table

Rich Haridy August 7, 2017

Brooklyn-based designer Richard Clarkson has been experimenting with artificial cloud designs for several years now. His latest invention is the Floating Cloud – a magnetically levitating ambient lamp that flickers through different colored LED modes in response to the sound in a room.

The general lamp setting offers a cloud illuminated as if shot by a bolt of lightning