LightWave: Using Compact Fluorescent Lights as Sensors
Sidhant Gupta, Ke-Yu Chen, Matthew S. Reynolds, Shwetak Patel, In Proceedings of ACM UIST 2011
LightWave is a sensing approach that turns ordinary compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs into sensors of human proximity. Unmodified CFL bulbs are shown to be sensitive proximity transducers when they are illuminated. This approach utilizes predictable variations in electromagnetic noise resulting from the change in impedance due to the proximity of a human body to the bulb. The electromagnetic noise can be sensed from any point along a home’s electrical wiring. This allows users to perform gestures near any CFL lighting fixture, even when multiple lamps are operational. We also show that CFLs can function as more general-purpose sensors for distributed human motion detection and ambient temperature sensing.
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