EdisonReport's 2018 Top 10 MUST SEE List

Your humble team of judges worked very hard to narrow the list and there are some very exciting products being exhibited this year.  New product launches are one of the huge values that LIGHTFAIR brings to our industry, as LIGHTFAIR is the main venue for North America product introductions.
I respectfully point out that not one product on our list mentions Lumens per Watt, and perhaps the industry has finally moved on from that atrocious metric. Our Top 10 lists focuses on revolutionary products that will be viable in the marketplace.  The one recurring theme is that these products will help bring badly-needed profitability back to our industry.
EdisonReport’s 2018 Judges were Dan Blitzer of The Practical Lighting Workshop, Anne Cheney of MLF Design, and Jim Yorgey of Lutron.
Below is our list of the ten best products or platforms, alphabetized by company.
 
Acuity Brands, Atrius Enabled Luminaires, Booth 2602
Atrius-Ready luminaires, controls, sensors and other devices are the products that make up the digital sensory network, collecting and communicating data that enable the Atrius Platform Services, unlocking value-added applications for your buildings and businesses.
By choosing Atrius-Ready products, end users can not only to address energy efficiency and comfort requirements but also  harness the power, connectivity, location and building data required to enhance your space with IoT services – throughout the building’s lifecycle and as additional business opportunities arise.
Acuity has had many different IoT technologies, some developed internally and others from companies they have acquired, it is smart to put them in one cohesive platform, Atrius.
 
Cree, Arcadia, Booth 1412
Cree originally intended to announce this product on 8 May at the start of LIGHTFAIR, but have allowed us to break the news on 7 MAY.
What if you could bring the outdoors in? Cree is innovating to make that vision a reality by bringing the sensation of natural light inside to improve our everyday environments.
Meet the Cree Arcadia™ System: A visionary approach to illumination that takes the best aspects of Cree’s intelligent lighting control and color changing capabilities, combined with leading edge driver technology and three-dimensional form factors, to deliver ground-breaking ambient light that mimics the natural progression of the sky throughout the day, from dusk to dawn.
 

The Arcadia system can also interact with and connect to other luminaries in the space to create an overall scene that can be customized to each end user’s unique needs and preferences.
The system will be demonstrated at LightFair 2018 in a deep recessed 2×2 form factor with multiple LED panels which enable greater flexibility in achieving the color points and nuanced aesthetics of the outdoor environment. A top LED panel simulates the sky and all its variations of blue, from extreme blue to gray-blue, which can simulate degrees of cloudiness. The inner side LED panels reflect the natural glow of the sun and offer very warm to very cool effects working in sync with the top panel to simulate the natural arc of the sun throughout a day. The deeply recessed design helps create shadows and light distribution much like one would expect from a real skylight.
The combined impact of these visual features help to create comfortable environments that cultivate a deeper connection to the outside world to support overall wellness. In addition, it enhances the lighting design of modern workplace layouts that have open office concepts to provide a more contemporary and tech-savvy feel.
 
Eulum, ARCANE, Booth 4472
Eulum launched their ARCANE, which is one of two companies, that we are aware of, that will exhibit luminaires based on LensVector technology, which transforms molecules to change from a 9° beam angle to a 50° beam angle. We saw the ARCANE  at Light + Building and it is fascinating.

Hubbell Control Solutions, NX Distributed Intelligence, Booth 1125
NX is a singular platform, which scales from a single standalone luminaire-based control to a seamless building-wide network of intelligent controls and sensors. That’s the beauty of NX; everything is driven by a single ecosystem that allows customers to apply controls where they need it and within an established budget. NX is available as a wired and wireless solution, a standalone luminaire-based control, a small room network or a building-wide system across indoor and outdoor commercial, architectural and industrial spaces. NX devices simplify installation and are capable of automatically self-configuring to address energy code requirements and provide “out of the box” functionality.

LEDRA/Alphabet NU4RD, Booth1648
This is another winner using the LensVector technology. One step closer to saying goodbye to ladders! Choose spread and intensity at the touch of your finger with the NU recessed downlight series by ALPHABET. This is a Bluetooth® controlled downlight with a Liquid Crystal Lens optic for Dynamic Beam Shaping. It’s offered in multiple apertures and uses XICATO® LED and eldoLED dimming as standard.

Lunera, Lunera Smart Lamp Platform, Booth 5545
Lunera’s Smart Lamp Platform is the first DLC NLC Qualified Networked Lighting Controls solution integrated into a four-foot T8 LED lamp. The 1,800 lumen, Smart T8 is a cloud-connected, DLC Qualified lamp with a built-in microprocessor for lighting control; real-time energy measurement and verification; memory storage of policies and scenes; an ambient light sensor and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for lamp-to-lamp and lamp-to-device communication.

For exceptional data bandwidth, the Lunera Smart Lamp has integrated Wi-Fi for backhaul, making cloud-connectivity agnostic to the host Wi-Fi system. This high level of integration eliminates external/discrete controllers, Wi-Fi gateways, ambient light sensors and Bluetooth beacons. Lamp installation is just like a standard T8 and the Smart Lamp is software commissioned/re-commissioned in less than five minutes.
 
Nichia, Optisolis, Booth 2554
Since the birth of human, light has been indispensable. Light generates such a strong feeling, it has kept people throughout history longing for lighting that is most similar to that of natural daylight or fire. Nichia Corporation has developed an Ultra-High Color Rendering white LED named Optisolis™., OptisolisTM, which launched in February 2018, achieves Ultra High CRI with a spectrum that demonstrates the closest match to that of the standard illuminant. OptisolisTM, which was first presented to the industry at The Phosphor Global Summit in 2016, is optimized for the general lighting market and is accomplished by using Nichia’s own blue chip and phosphor technology. Manufacturers can utilize Optisolis™ and trust in a spectrum where all colors are reproduced to the color seen under a standard light. Most importantly, since UV emission is essentially non-existent in the spectrum, the degradation of irradiated materials can be reduced dramatically compared to that of other light sources containing UV emission, including other market available LEDs. Optisolis™ target applications include Museum and Art Gallery Lighting, where the highest CRI is preferred, but UV radiation and light sources can be detrimental. Additional applications could include Color Evaluation（e.g. painting, printing), Commercial Lighting (e.g. retail, etc.) or anywhere Ultra High CRI is desired.

 
OLEDWorks, Brite 3 FL300, Booth 4735
The OLEDWorks Brite 3 Family (featuring the Surface Module and BendOLED Curve) set the benchmark for combining superb light quality with efficiency and functionality for OLED lighting. Brite 3 is available in four different shapes, including BendOLED Curve on Corning™ Willow™ glass, 300 lumens from a featherweight 100micron thick panel! This 3rd generation OLED lighting, with its high efficiency requires no heat sink and can be used with a wide range of materials including textiles and wood. A unique low glare light quality in razor-thin profile give innovators new tools to realize their pursuit of pure, honest light designs. Designs that are as bright as sunlight and soft as moonlight.

The Brite 3 FL300 family features two different color temperatures, 3000K and 4000K, with CRI of >90 and R9 >50. The warm white product leads the way at more than 80 lumens per watt. Both color temperatures boast outstanding lifetimes for L70 that exceed 100K hours at nominal brightness and 30K at maximum output up to 300 lumens. OLEDWorks has expanded the portfolio to include a round and a bendable panel. The Surface Module is a ready-to-install low voltage light source and enables low cost wiring. For this module in the Brite 3 Family, there is no need for a heat sink or junction box since it already has an integrated low voltage driver, installation frame and bezel ready to connect.
 
Seoul Semi, Sunlike, Booth 2526
SunLike Series natural spectrum LEDs were developed by Seoul Semiconductor and Toshiba Materials to produce light with that closely matches the spectrum of natural sunlight.
SunLike LEDs seek to create a healthy environment in terms of lighting from a client and consumer perspective by focusing on safe and comfortable light. In doing so, it is bringing the era of human-centric lighting closer to our doorstep.
SunLike Series LEDs show the color of objects as they would appear in natural sunlight. Generally, oversaturation of blue light in a certain wavelength may cause light reflection; however, the light produced by SunLike LEDs closely matched that of natural sunlight, so it enables users to view text and objects more clearly while also helping to maintain healthy human biorhythms.

In case of conventional LEDs, their color rendering is high, but their standards of color quality (CQS) is low. Light produced by SunLike LEDs can achieve the best color quality in both color standards, with a rating that exceeds 95% for both CRI and CQS.
Also, SunLike Series LEDs represent the next generation of natural light sources, having achieved a higher level of eye safety certification than any other LEDs – recently recognized by the International Commission on Illumination as a light source with no photobiological risks.
 
Soraa, ARC Adjustable Luminaire, Booth 3835
Stunning form follows remarkable function and flexibility in Soraa ARC Adjustable Luminaires. Engineered around an ultra-thin profile die-cast heat sink and 2-axis rotation, it’s been optimized for superior thermal management and endowed with Soraa’s signature quality of light, featuring rich colors, perfectly rendered whites, and clean, crisp beams supporting an endless array of applications.

Soraa ARC Adjustable Luminaires can be mounted for either a recessed or semi-recessed installation, providing two design options with one fixture. In the recessed version, the power supply and top cylinder fit into a junction box with a plaster ring, with only the heat sink showing below the ceiling. In the semi-recessed version, the surface mounting plate fits over the junction box, with only the power supply recessed. Both versions have the same functionality, but offer very different and unique looks.
Designed with concentric radiating curves throughout the downlight, above, below, and around, the die cast heat sink closes into a matching concave recessed arch, creating both an architecturally pleasing and thermally efficient design.  The hinge opens the fixture to a 90° tilt, and the top rotates 350° for highly optimal aiming.
The forecast calls for an excellent show with lots of new and profitable products and platforms.  It’s time for the industry to start making money again!