“One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.” J.R.R. Tolkien
Major breakthroughs in our industry can be viewed along the way like milestones. Edison and Swan, St. Louis World Fair 1938, Holonyak in 1962, Nakamura in the 90’s. We have reached another major breakthrough that will put 2022 as a milestone and Dr. Pol Silofar’s name in the lighting pantheon with those listed above.
Dr. Pol Silofar is a research scientist at the University of Akvavit located just outside of the town of Longyearbyen, on the island of Svalbard in Norway. Dr. Silofar earned his doctorate at the University of Lagavulin in Scotland in 1992 and has been working as a lead researcher at the U. of A. since 1996.
In what can only be explained as a future Nobel Prize in Physics, Dr. Silofar and his team have developed a conclusive and all-encompassing lighting metric that brings all the science with color temperature, color fidelity, circadian entrainment and even glare under one single lighting metric. The metric known as 3CG, has gone through numerous peer reviews globally, and Dr. Silofar has now announced they have removed the non-disclosure clause for those in the peer review process.
“The Lighting Index of Everything (LIE) is a truly remarkable breakthrough that will revolutionize the lighting industry. Need one metric for color rendition? Nonsense. Now we have one metric for EVERYTHING.” – Dr. Tony Esposito
(Author’s note: Lighting Index of Everything was the working title prior to the decision to go with 3CG. We will see if the lighting industry leans with 3CG or to LIE.)
Released from their non-disclosure agreement, those involved in the peer review steps have been nearly unanimous in their praise.
“Absolutely ground-breaking work that will change the way everyone will have to now approach lighting design, luminaire manufacturing and testing!” Martin Valentine, FSLL, UK.
“Finally!! This will enable lighting designers to get back to the business of specifying luminaires purely for their aesthetic value.” – Award winning lighting designer Deborah Gottesman.
“The ability to capture the nuances of color rendering in a single metric is tremendously valuable to a lighting community that is currently straddling multiple metrics. Consumers, as well, will finally have a proxy for quality of light that allows them to engage without getting too deep in the weeds on things like fidelity and gamut.” – DOE L-Prize winner Don Peifer
“This is going to revolutionize lighting by giving manufacturers, designers, and owners a unified language of light – the Lighting Index of Everything (LIEs)!” Jason Livingston, author and award-winning designer.
“My reaction at first to the announcement of Dr. Silofar’s remarkable breakthrough was cautious optimism seasoned with a healthy dose of skepticism. After all, it was only ten years ago that Dr Silofar announced, with similar fanfare, a revolutionary light source which defied the laws of physics by actually producing more energy than it consumed. And we all know how that ended! However, after lengthy consultations with my team, we realized that this new announcement would mean that every single lighting designer on the planet would need to be completely re-educated, so as lighting educators, we are totally supportive of this creative and potentially lucrative innovation.” Gerry Cornwell, Lighting Educator, LC education specialist.
While acceptance and accolades abounded, some in the peer review process lamented on why it took over 250 years to come up with 3CG.
“Sadly, Dr. Silofar’s proposed metric was anticipated by Johanne Heinrich Lambert in his seminal 1760 book, Photometria. This would have been obviously to anyone who has read the Latin text.” – Ian Ashdown, P. Eng. (Ret.), FIES
There is no doubt that 3CG will become THE lighting metric of the 21st century. A major breakthrough in lighting. And it really doesn’t matter if we call it 3CG or LIE.
Editor’s Note: To best comprehend the entirety of this new metric, readers are encouraged to focus on the date of the posting.
