Technology Ceiling lights in Minn. send coded Internet data

The Helper

Necromancy Power over 9000
Staff member
Reaction score
1,688
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Flickering ceiling lights are usually a nuisance, but in city offices in St. Cloud, they will actually be a pathway to the Internet.

The lights will transmit data to specially equipped computers on desks below by flickering faster than the eye can see. Ultimately, the technique could ease wireless congestion by opening up new expressways for short-range communications.

The first few light fixtures built by LVX System, a local startup, will be installed Wednesday in six municipal buildings in this city of 66,000 in the snowy farm fields of central Minnesota.

The LVX system puts clusters of its light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, in a standard-sized light fixture. The LEDs transmit coded messages — as a series of 1s and 0s in computer speak — to special modems attached to computers.

 
Last edited:

Samael88

Evil always finds a way
Reaction score
181
This is good until:
A, Someone get's an epilepsy attack.
B, They start flickering in a pattern that makes the people crazy:p
 

esb

Because none of us are as cruel as all of us.
Reaction score
328
What about 'interference' from other lights?
 

Dan

The New Helper.Net gives me great Anxiety... o.O;;
Reaction score
160
what advantage does this actually have...?
 

Wummi

Just Relax and Smile!
Reaction score
58
So, basically we're talking about a super fast version of Morse Code detectable by other machines.
 

Samael88

Evil always finds a way
Reaction score
181
What about 'interference' from other lights?
That is the beautiful thing about light, with a proper filter it can be set to pick up a specific color of light thus minimizing the interference.

what advantage does this actually have...?
1. It will not bust out due to a microwave in the same way as our current wireless network does.
2. Light is faster than radio waves.
3. Light does not damage your brain in the same way as micro waves and radio waves do.

One problem with this is that to get the the full advantage of the light they would have to use glas fiber cables to get the signal to the lamp, and that will be expensive.
Another would be that it is not as convenient as a wireless router is since the light can't pass through objects, even dust on the lens can off the signal.

If you have a IR mouse like me try putting a hair over the middle of the lens and use the mouse and you will see what I mean^^
 

Slapshot136

Divide et impera
Reaction score
471
Why? o.0
Either way, all we'd really see is one continuous stream of light because of how quickly it's gonna' flicker.


because what if someone turned off the lights/wanted dark.. say.. for a power-point presentation (where everyone looks at a projector), but they also need internet?

2. Light is faster than radio waves.
false. light travels at the same speed as other EM waves
 

Samael88

Evil always finds a way
Reaction score
181
false. light travels at the same speed as other EM waves

No, it does not. I take it that you have never experimented with this so I will tell you how we tried it out when I was in school.
We put one radio emitter and a IR emitter next to each other and a couple of hundred meters from that we put a radio emitter and an IR emitter, we sent the same signals over them and we timed it down to milliseconds and we got a tiny difference on them. The light was a bit faster than the radio waves.
Most likely because the light was not interfered by other sources as the radio waves where, but we still got a different result.

There are so many pros and cons with this stuff that I really can't decide whether or not it is a good or bad thing.
I can with absolute certainty say that keeping the light in optical cables will be better in the long run.
 

BlowingKush

I hit the blunt but the blunt hit me.
Reaction score
187
Light travels the same speed as other EM waves.
Light IS an EMW wave itself.
Your experiment was incorrect.

Thousands of scientist over the last 70 years have confirmed this.

Einstein has confirmed this.

CERN has confirmed this.

Tesla has confirmed this.
Maxwell has confirmed this. In fact, Maxwell is the father of EM, envied by even Einstein.


And almost every fucking communication company since the 1930's has confirmed this.
 

esb

Because none of us are as cruel as all of us.
Reaction score
328
EM waves (Light included) can have varying speeds under certain circumstances. Such as going through objects.
 

Samael88

Evil always finds a way
Reaction score
181
Light travels the same speed as other EM waves.
Light IS an EMW wave itself.
Your experiment was incorrect.

They travel the same speed under perfect conditions, but all of those physicists knew that there is no such thing in reality as a perfect condition.
There are differences and the experiment was correctly performed. As I said above, the Radio Waves traveled slower probably due to interference and that was what I meant to say in the first place so I don't see why you have to come with such a demonstration:eek:

Another funny thing is that it is actually called Electro Magnetic Radiation since none has been able to prove that EMR is either waves or particles^^
 

Slapshot136

Divide et impera
Reaction score
471
They travel the same speed under perfect conditions, but all of those physicists knew that there is no such thing in reality as a perfect condition.

they also travel at the same speed through the same medium - i.e. if you tested the speed of red light vs the speed of blue light in the same medium, you would find that they are the same - same applies to all the waves

also, radiation is generally used for "ionizing radiation" i.e. only the high energy stuff, thus I thing it is proper to have wave apply to light/radio more so then radiation
 

phyrex1an

Staff Member and irregular helper
Reaction score
446

Samael88

Evil always finds a way
Reaction score
181
Of course they travel the same speed in the same medium, but how damn often is anything on earth on the same medium at the same exact time as any other place? Even the air you breathe is a mixture of I don't know how many different elements.

Take led for example it protects you from most gamma radiation because it can't get through but a piece of paper don't protect you from gamma radiation, the paper do however protect you from the light.

Say if you have light on 50Hz and the radiation at 100Hz, and the air was consisting of mostly paper molecules, then the light would have a harder time getting to the target since it would bend and bounce a bit on the papers to get to the target while the radiation would pass right through right away and thus reach the target a bit earlier since they have the same speed through the rest of the air molecules.

Do you get what I mean now with interference and what I mean with different speeds?

Yes phyrex1an, you got it right away, thank you^^ That was exactly what I tried to explain above here:D
 
General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.

      The Helper Discord

      Staff online

      Members online

      Affiliates

      Hive Workshop NUON Dome World Editor Tutorials

      Network Sponsors

      Apex Steel Pipe - Buys and sells Steel Pipe.
      Top