The growing demand of wireless communication devices has taxed radio spectrum, resulting in a need to find alternatives. Researchers are fine-tuning technologies that use standard lighting equipment to cheaply transmit high-speed data streams wirelessly, even while the equipment appears to be producing nothing more than normal illumination. Generally, the technologies rapidly and subtly fluctuate the intensity of LEDs in a way that is imperceptible to the human eye.Harald Haas, a professor at the University of Edinburgh who began his research in the field in 2004, gave a debut demonstration of what he called a Li-Fi prototype recently. He used a table lamp with an LED bulb to transmit a video of blooming flowers that was then projected onto a screen behind him. The prototype can be built economically in part because it uses cheap off-the-shelf parts that cost just a few dollars. Light-based data transmission technology allows wireless communication without the use of radio gear, which can be dangerous in places like oil platforms, underwater or on planes.Learn more from the New York Times.
Using Light to Transmit High-Speed Data Streams Wirelessly
