What will the world of lighting look like in 2020? That’s what Edison Report TV producer Randy Reid set out to learn by interviewing the experts who comprise the board of directors of the National Lighting Bureau. The results are now available for viewing as 15 brief, topic-specific segments that convey intriguing and sometimes provocative insights into a variety of issues about which the experts do not always agree. Some of the more specific questions addressed include, among others:
-The U.S. lighting industry has historically been dominated by white males. Is the industry becoming more diverse? What will it look like in 2020?
-It’s 2020: Will we be using 3D printers to fabricate lighting fixtures?
- Will an Amazon-type electrical-products sales/distribution/delivery concept supplant traditional electrical-distribution channels by 2020?
-The perception of brightness seems to affect the amount of light we need to see well. Can we substitute brightness for lumens? To what extent will our understanding of the basic lighting and how people see change by 2020?
-The human eye developed during an era when the moon was the only significant nighttime-lighting source. Will we by 2020 be using a “1 moonlight” metric to indicate an amount of nighttime light similar to that provided by a full moon? Will 1 moonlight be enough light?
-How extensively will OLEDs be used in 2020? (“They’ll be everywhere!” was one expert’s response.)
-LEDs can do things that conventional light sources cannot do. To what extent are these functions novelties whose allure will have faded by 2020?
-Dozens of companies have become part of the lighting industry within the past five years, with some of them being major players in other industries. By 2020, how will their viewpoints lead to significant change industrywide?
-There’s been an explosion of lighting information. People – and that includes everyone – need more and better lighting information if they are to make wise decisions about new and replacement lighting systems or even what lighting is best for them. There are more choices than ever before. How will “experts” be keeping up by 2020? Whom will lighting-system owners and managers get their information from?
-Given the rapid pace of technological development, to what extent will the legacy technologies, like fluorescent, be relied on in 2020?
-What types of lighting will be used in a typical American home in 2020?
