Virginia Tech’s FutureHAUS Dubai, the winner of the 2018 Solar Decathlon Middle East, is more than a net-positive solar house, it is a prototype that proposes how we will live and how we will build in the near future. Signify combined with a smart home control system, contributes in a big way to our exploration by allowing for advanced research on how to use lighting to live more efficiently and with ultimate flexibility.
The house prototype includes 873 Color Kinetics iColor Flex LMX and iW Flex Compact Flex Compact nodes (RGB and IntelliWhite) that are installed in a grid above a suspended translucent glass ceiling. The API controlled field of lights allows for complete customization through our various smart home interfaces. The controls are truly multi-modal with nine touch screen tablets integrated into the walls, an app and voice control. The tunability of the lights allows infinite possibilities. The team has imagined modes specific to every use throughout the day and night.
For example, in the morning, the user is awakened with gradual light guided by circadian rhythm theory. When working in the home office, a customized work setting is selected that gives task lighting more focus. Various motion sensors installed throughout the house lets the lighting follow the user. When rooms are not in use, the lights automatically fade to off.
