This Smart LED Lamp Lets You Personalize Lighting to Your Mood

With 12+ years in the LED lighting industry, Neeraj Lal realized that good lighting that you can fully control is very difficult to find. As he traveled, visiting dozens of hotels, he struggled to find the right setting to work and also relax. He decided to approach the prototype himself and, instead of using a lightbulb, integrate the light source into the lamp itself.

"It's an integrated solution that, with the shade on, has the same look and feel that you would expect out of a table lamp," says Lal. "However, underneath the hood, there's a unique design that allows it to be brighter than a bulb as well as higher-quality color rendering of the light source."

"I wanted a light that would help me stay awake and be productive, but that could also provide the warm light for relaxation."

North Carolina-based Purillume raised more than $35,000 from an original $20,000 goal last summer through an Indiegogo campaign to put their Orchid LED table lamp into production. Backers received the lamps late last year — the feedback has been positive, says Lal.

"So far, we've received a lot of positive comments on the lighting quality and how impactful it is on their indoor environment," says Lal.

Lighting matters. According to multiple recent studies, cooler light makes workers more productive and exposure to natural light has been found to decrease depression and improve mood and energy.

The smart table lamp includes four different settings to give complete control of the lighting to the user. The wake setting simulates a sunrise, starting with a warm glow and ending on bright daylight white. The work setting stays on cooler light to increase productivity. The relax setting sets the mood with a warm, incandescent-like light and the sleep setting promotes good sleep with warm ambient light.

"Most LED bulbs that you find in the marketplace are about 80 percent of what the traditional incandescent can do," says Lal. "Purillume's goal is to have something of higher quality and closer to 95 percent of what that incandescent can do."

The startup's 3Five Lighting Technology can reach 2,750 lumens and has a color rendering greater than 90, which means the color quality remains intact no matter how the lamp is brightened or dimmed.

"From a user education standpoint, when I was doing the touch screen design, I had two goals in mind: it had to pass my dad test and my kid test," says Lal. "If I could cover that wide range of users, it would be a good opportunity to make a product that's of use for everyone."

The lamp can also be set to connect with other Purillume lamps and set presets for time of day, so when your alarm goes off, your lamp begins to wake up.

Aside from a direct-to-consumer component, Lal hopes to connect with more leaders in the hospitality, office, and residential industries to bring his lighting technology into their setting. Currently, Purillume is running pilots at various hotels in North Carolina to test the market with hotel visitors.

"We'll be pushing the sales and marketing aspect to sell more lamps in the marketplace," says Lal. "I will be looking for more funding toward the end of the year to help grow the team and scale this into a successful venture in North Carolina."