Since 70,000 BC, humans have been playing around with different shapes and sizes of lamps – but the LUNALUXX just might be the first lamp that literally floats in the air – it’s a sleek, minimalistic lamp with a light emitting disc that is literally suspended in mid-air.
Created by design engineers Ian van Eenennaam and Luuk Verbakel of Elivatix, the designers aim to help people “see the beauty and the fascinating side of everyday products” – and their LUNALUXX definitely fits the bill.
Consisting of a base and a free floating disc, the lamp uses a combination of magnetic suspension and remote-phosphor lighting technology to create this head-scratching and functional magic trick.
Remote phosphor technology – which has been gaining more attention as of late – produces more uniform and improved thermal balance over its white LED counterpart. In a nutshell, the technology works by putting a layer of phosphor over an existing blue LED, which then absorbs the blue and re-emits the light as white. In the Lunaluxx, the levitating disc contains the phosphor and the blue LED is placed at the base. The LED projects a blue beam onto the phosphor disc – which then absorbs the beam and re-emits a warm white light in all directions.
The levitation effect in the lamp’s design is achieved by an electromagnet that’s hidden in the top of the lamp and a magnet that is embedded in the disc; when switched on, the disc levitates through magnetic suspension.
The lamp can easily be turned on when the lamp is approached with the disc, and off when it is removed:
Due to the use of 1 blue LED, the creators of the Lunaluxx lamp claim that it is a very energy efficient lamp and will only consume 2-3 Watts of power, while the light produced is comparable to that of a 15-20 Watt incandescent lighting fixture.
Eenennaam and Verbakel are currently seeking funding for the LUNALUXX on Kickstarter and have already raised two-thirds of their campaign goal of €65,000 with nearly three weeks left to go in their campaign and are planning on manufacturing the product locally in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
“While we have been able to bring LUNALUXX this far, the main challenge we will be facing once funded, is to ensure that every single unit produced meets the set quality and performance standards,” said the designers.
“To mitigate the risks involved in this challenge, we have researched the options and met with numerous local companies. Based on this we have decided that we will partner up with a selection of local highly knowledgeable and experienced companies extensively versed in the areas of high-tech research and development, electronics production, design and tooling for injection molding.”
The LUNALUXX starts at €120 and can be purchased over on Kickstarter.
