Jocelyn Brown

Professional Freelancer Writer

Technology fans are getting excited by the Internet of Things (IoT). Meanwhile, cyclists and homeowners have been slowly cutting costs and improving their lighting by bringing in LED bulbs. The lighting revolution has got under way to such an extent now that not only are businesses making the switch, but governments are turning to LED street lighting and IoT developers are realizing just how useful and flexible this little bulb is to their own ideas.

6 Ways LEDs and IoT have Already Connected

1. Home Lighting: The two combine here to create more flexible home lighting while giving control over to the homeowner. This means they can turn the lights on and off from a distance or in the house and control their brightness.

2. Business Lighting: Similar to above, industrial and retail LED lighting is reducing costs while allowing businesses to remote control which lights are on and how bright they are. This can be a security device too by creating a seemingly random pattern of lights being turned on or off to simulate people in the building.
 

3. Street Lighting: If applied intelligently, LED lights can reduce government expenditure while increasing control. This means it is possible to turn down or turn off some lights late at night when they are not needed or if it benefits local wildlife.
 

4. Democratisation of Public Lighting: The above could be decided by local neighborhoods and clusters of houses to determine the best lighting policy for their hyperlocal area.
 

5. Emergency Lighting: A central controller can now respond to an emergency, such as a car accident, and turn on all government-controlled lights in an area or make them brighter to produce better working conditions for first responders.
 

6. Lighting for Remote Communities: Because LEDs are efficient to run, the IoT can be combined with solar panels or other green energy solutions to provide effective lighting in remote areas without access to power lines.

The Fear of the Dark
 

This article would not be complete without addressing the latest WikiLeaks furore. We live in a world of big data taken from our online habits, shopping habits, and so on. Many of our Apps and devices can track where we are and what we are doing. If WikiLeaks is to be believed, the CIA and others can hack the system to spy on us. If the CIA can hack the IoT, then surely many others can too and this brings us to the big fear of an inter-connected IoT house or business - hackability. What if the system is exploited and controlled from somewhere else, will all the lights be turned off?