Lighting system and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10440794-B2
Application number	US-201715801600-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2017
Priority date	Nov 2, 2016
Publication date	Oct 8, 2019
Grant date	Oct 8, 2019

Abstract

A controllable dynamic lighting system including a lighting element device with a set of controllable zone and a controlling means. A method for controlling a lighting system including: receiving lighting system operation inputs, determining operation instructions for one more controllable zones based on the operation inputs, and controlling controllable zone operation based on the respective operation instructions.

First claim

We claim:

1. A modular system for displaying diffuse colored light, comprising:
a lighting system, comprising:
a plurality of light emitters, wherein each light emitter is configured to display light in a plurality of colors;
a housing encasing the light emitters, wherein the housing defines a first face parallel to and proximal an active surface of the plurality of light emitters, wherein the first face comprises a light-diffusive material;
a touch-sensitive surface mechanically mounted to the first face, wherein the touch-sensitive surface is aligned with and overlays a majority of a projection of the plurality of light emitters onto the first face, wherein the touch-sensitive surface is configured to receive a region selection;
a connector integrated in an edge of the housing, wherein the connector mechanically and electrically couples the first lighting system to a second lighting system; and

a controller connected to the touch-sensitive surface, the connector, and the lighting system, wherein the controller is configured to:
determine layout information for a modular assembly based on information determined from the connector, the modular assembly comprising the lighting system, the layout information comprising a number of lighting systems cooperatively forming the modular assembly and a distance between said lighting systems;
receive a region selection based on the layout information and a color selection corresponding to said region selection;
identify indices of controllable zones corresponding to the region selection; and
assign the color selection to the light emitters corresponding to the region selection.

2. The modular system of claim 1 , wherein the connector comprises a cable comprising nonzero length.

3. The modular system of claim 1 , wherein the controller further comprises an application executable on a user device, wherein the application is configured to:
determine the layout of the modular assembly;
present a virtual representation of the layout; and
receive a color selection for a region within the virtual representation of the layout.

4. The modular system of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to:
generate a series of light pulses;
measure a current draw from each light pulse; and
determine the number of lighting systems coupled to the controller using the measured current draw.

5. The modular system of claim 4 , wherein the application is further configured to receive an animation designation, wherein the animation designation prescribes a dynamic pattern for the modular assembly, the dynamic pattern comprising a temporal parameter and a color selection assignment for each of the light-emitting units in the modular system, wherein the temporal parameters are determined using the virtual representation of the layout.

6. The modular system of claim 1 , wherein the touch-sensitive surface is further configured to receive the color selection.

7. The modular system of claim 1 , wherein the lighting system consists of no more than two hundred controllable zones per square foot of the first surface.

8. The modular system of claim 1 , wherein the diffusive material has an optical transmittance of ninety percent or less.

9. A method for displaying an arrangement of diffuse colored light, comprising:
receiving a region selection;
receiving a color selection in association with the region selection;
mapping the region selection to a virtual representation, wherein the virtual representation comprises a set of controllable zones, wherein the mapping determines a regional set of controllable zones;
assigning the color selection to the regional set of controllable zones;
blending color selections assigned to each of the controllable zones within the regional set, comprising:
identifying a first controllable zone within the regional set associated with a first color selection;
identifying a second controllable zone proximal to the first controllable zone, the second controllable zone associated with a second color selection, wherein the second color selection is different from the first color selection;
determining an edge controllable zone, wherein the edge controllable zone is located between the first and second controllable zones when the first controllable zone is non-adjacent with the second controllable zone; and the edge controllable zone is the second controllable zone when the first controllable zone is adjacent with the second controllable zone; and
assigning an edge color selection to the edge controllable zone in the virtual representation, wherein the edge color selection comprises an averaged color between the first color selection and the second color selection;

identifying light emitters, within the arrangement, that are assigned to each controllable zone; and
controlling the light emitters based on a respective color selection assignment in the virtual representation.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising receiving a color selection from a first controller, wherein the first controller is coupled to a first touch-sensitive surface.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving a region selection from a second controller, wherein the second controller is coupled to a second touch-sensitive surface separate and distinct from the first touch-sensitive surface.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein a user device comprises the first touch-sensitive surface, and a modular lighting system comprises the light emitters and the second touch-sensitive surface.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
receiving a first and second distinct set of color selections for a common light emitter;
selecting a set of color selections from the first and second distinct sets of color selections based on predetermined thresholds; and
updating the light-emitting unit assignments with color selection assignments extracted from the selected set of color selections.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining layout information for a modular lighting system, the modular lighting system comprising a plurality of connected lighting system units, each lighting system unit comprising a controller, the layout information comprising a number of lighting system units cooperatively forming the modular lighting system and a distance between said lighting system units, wherein a virtual representation of the layout information is displayed on an application executable on a user device.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the layout information of the modular lighting system comprises:
propagating a series of light pulses through the modular lighting system;
measuring a current draw from each light pulse; and
determining a number of lighting system units electrically connected to each controller based on the measured current draw.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the region selection is received at the virtual representation of the layout information.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising receiving an animation designation from a user, wherein the animation designation prescribes a dynamic pattern to the color selection assignments of the light-emitting units.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising determining temporal parameters of the animation designation based on the layout of the modular lighting system, the temporal parameters comprising a rate at which color selection assignments are changed.

19. The method of claim 9 , wherein receiving the color selection comprises receiving a voice command associated wi

Assignees

• Lifi Labs Inc

Inventors

• Alexander Marc
• Cameron John

Classifications

• F21S2/005

  of modular construction · CPC title

• G06F3/04883

  for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text · CPC title

• G06F3/041

  Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means · CPC title

• H05B33/0845

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H05B37/0272

  Electricity · mapped topic