Lighting for real life
Human centeric lighting
The award-winning BIOLUX Human Centric Lighting (HCL) Control Unit is a controller for HCL luminaires, a modern concept in lighting, which centers around people and positively impacts general health and wellbeing.
Client: LEDVANCE
Product DNA
ID & UX Design
Engieneering
Proof of Concept
Tooling & Production
Final Assembly
Packaging
The human body has the ability to adapt its biological functions in a 24-hour cycle. This circadian rhythm allows us to perform recurrent actions like eating and sleeping. The HCL system positively influences this natural biological rhythm. It uses integral lighting design to deliver the benefits of natural light to users, with proven positive impact on health and well-being. The innovative controller is a product of LEDVANCE, a spin-off of the German lighting company OSRAM.
Besides stabilizing the internal clock, the HCL system can be further tailored with the control unit. The user can easily choose from different lighting moods like BOOST when a brainstorm meeting takes place end of the day and there is extra stimulation needed in order to be active and productive or RELAX after the job is done.
This was probably the biggest challenge of designing this device. It has the function to materialize the concept. At first sight, you don’t see anything of the advanced system that is controlled by the device, but at the same time it needs show that there’s more under the hood and it’s not just a basic light switch. It is the physical touchpoint of the system.
The exceptional design was also recognized by the international jury of the Red Dot Award and German Innovation Award in 2020.
Making light tangible
Pilotfish was responsible for the complete development of the wall-mounted control unit, including industrial design, user interface design, electronic design, the mechanical engineering and even the production. From a design point of view Pilotfish kept it very simple and abstract; no unnecessary feature but focus on the main purpose: invite to touch it and interact with it. At the moment you touch it, it will light up and the effect becomes tangible, but if it’s untouched you might not even notice there’s something on the wall. It basically blends into the interior.
The overall design was quite complex, Pilotfish needed to handle high voltages to low voltages, integrated a ZigBee chip as a wireless standard and the newest high-tech ST-chip for Bluetooth connection as well, all combined with a LED display, a challenging combination.
What’s up?
“Are you looking for a partner who can guide you to create unique user experiences and help you to achieve your digital challenges? Let’s get in touch and tell us what you have in mind.”
Marc Nagel, Managing Director