Fed up with Wi-fi? Li-fi technology turns light bulbs into smart devices that transmit data

Fed up with Wi-fi? Li-fi technology turns light bulbs into smart devices that transmit data – and it is in homes already. Olivia Qiu, chief innovation officer at Signify (the new company name of Philips Lighting), compares Li-fi, a two-way, high-speed wireless technology, to Wi-fi, but says it uses light waves instead of radio waves to transmit data. Within the stream of light from the overhead luminaire, a broadband connection is highly secure, and provides a connection with a speed of 30Mb per second without compromising lighting quality. “While radio frequencies are becoming congested, the visible light spectrum is an untapped resource with a large bandwidth suitable for the stable simultaneous connection of a vast array of Internet of Things devices,” she says.