LuxLive Tests Li-Fi Networking

LuxLive 2016 sees the world's first test of li-fi, the lighting-based networking system developed by Scotland-based pureLiFi, in a live setting-- one featuring the streaming of a video to a tablet.

wifi lifiThe li-fi system was connected to the tablet via USB. When Harald stood directly under the Power over Ethernet (PoE) adapted stage lights, a network was quickly detected, although the signal soon started to fade as he moved further from the lights. This means the technology, at least so far, still has a short range. In fact, each li-fi lighting fixture has a range of sixty degrees and 7-8 square metres, and as such multiple enabled luminaires need to be used to widen available coverage.

"Wireless communication is lacking frequency," pureLiFi's Dr. Harald Burchardt tells LuxReview. Li-fi technology has the ability to widen the capacity of our wireless communication options."

Burchardt says he does does not consider li-fi as a wifi replacement, but instead it is a "secure extension to already available layers of communication." Theoretically li-fi is faster than wifi, and experts describe it as an electromagnetic interference-free networking solution combining the security of wired internet connections with the flexibility of wifi, as well as the potential for improved speed and encryption.

The system is already finding use in a first office installation over several floors of the Sogeprom HQ in La Defence, Paris.

Go World's First Live Li-Fi Test Takes Place at LuxLive (LuxReview)