Case Study
Smart and sustainable lighting for the connected home.
Filo | Smart Lighting System
Category
- Products & Services
Expertise
- Concept Development
- Design Visualization & Storytelling
- Hardware Design
Filo is an evolvable lighting concept that further serves as a smart home platform for connected functionalities.
Challenge
Graceful obsolescence.
When it comes to consumer electronics, particularly home automation technologies, the industry is moving faster than ever. New products and devices are released constantly, immediately rendering previous generations obsolete. Filo is a lighting concept that serves as a smart home platform for connected functionalities while maintaining a graceful obsolescence in an ever-changing, and competitive technology marketplace.
APPROACH
Modular & mighty.
We started by asking ourselves, how can we make interacting with smart home products less dependent on apps? When devices are focused on doing a single task, consumers can place them where they’re needed in the home, and let them operate in the background. However, this leads to a lot of devices taking up valuable space, and sometimes, being viewed as eyesores. We wanted to kill two birds with one stone by creating a multi-tasking device that could be easily hidden from view in lights and sockets.
From there, we were confronted with a new challenge: LED bulbs are designed to last for 20+ years, while new smart home technologies emerge daily. Filo solves for this through modularity, making it easy to adopt new tech without taking up more space, or replacing the light source we depend on.
SOLUTION
Instantly efficient.
Filo is not just a light bulb —it’s also a platform that can host a variety of modules with different functions: speakers, motion or smoke detectors, AI assistants, cameras, and more. The light bulb houses the expensive and durable parts like transformers, LEDs, and drivers, while the modules contain the more obsolescent elements for “smart functions”.
Through its standardized connector, the light bulb not only provides power to the module, but also allows the control of its features by the module and a larger home ecosystem connected to the module. Instead of throwing away and replacing the whole product when it’s incompatible, outmoded, or its specific function is simply not needed anymore, you can just replace the module.
In addition to being a virtually “appless” smart home system, individual modules provide a set-it-and-forget-it experience for users, learning as time goes on. For example, a consumer would only need to insert a “smart sensor” module (motion and ambient light sensor) into their Filo, and it will adjust the light temperature to optimize circadian rhythms, gracefully transitioning from a full room light into a spot light based on the amount of activity in the room.
Filo was designed on the principle that its smart modules provide their greatest value from day one, with the consumer customizing the features to meet their needs as time goes on. This goes against the norm of a typical smart home device, which often ask users to set up a suite of preferences as part of their out-of-the-box experience. Instead of consumers attempting to match up how Filo functions around their daily movements, each Filo module learns and conforms on its own.
RESULT
Environmentally conscious. Economically friendly.
As a modular, easily upgradable system, the desire or need to replace the light bulb base of Filo is non-existent, saving consumers money and keeping them out of landfills by letting the LED bulbs live out their full useful life while the technology they support advances. The modules themselves also reduce electronic waste by removing the power supply from smart home products connected through Filo, which would otherwise be plugged into an outlet.
Designed to benefit your lifestyle just as much as our planet, the Filo concept was prototyped and brought to life by our team, and has stood the test of time as home automation technology continues to advance.
