Simply put, LEDs are the future. As the technology matures, it's now being embraced in a way unlike ever before. The diodes last longer and draw less power than other light sources. And, technical benefits aside, LEDs can also be implemented into unconventional forms much more easily than incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. Get ready for some crazy lighting designs.
Jake Dyson's LED lamp design is built around the concept of maximizing the lifespan of the LED light. Spanning the length of the horizontal bar, a copper heat pipe takes heat away from the LED components, the most common life shortener of the diodes. The lamps also have some wonderful industrial features, such as the way the parts can moves along the X and Y axes.
When you have a newish technology, why not revisit an old form? Switch lighting's beautiful bulb is all about easing us into the future. It fits in a standard socket and emits a light comparable to incandescent bulbs. The form is something familiar to us all, which makes change easier to accept.
Can you imagine shoving a bunch of tiny incandescent bulbs in Rux's tree-inspired Stickbulb lamp? Anyone interested in the current trends of furniture design will surely appreciate the angular lines of this one.
One of the best thing about LEDs are how flat you can make a light fixture and still have it emit a sufficient amount of light. Peter Stathis' Symtra Lamp may not be paper-thin in its final form, but each of its panels show what LEDs can be compressed down into. Light wall, anyone?
OLEDs are to LEDs what humans are to Neanderthals. The evolution of the technology has added benefits, such as the ability to easily fit in a flexible form factor, exemplified by Gergő Kassai's Motion Lamp.
Because LEDs use considerably less power than other light sources, a solar panel is actually a realistic way to power a lamp. Ikea's Sunnan lamp is a perfect example as to how one goes about creating a self-sufficient , tech-forward product for normal people.
Zwei21's strips the lamp down to its most essential components, using a spidery wire attachement to prop the light up. A couple of extra power outlets hang off the fixture like a hydra. The LED-specific tech may not be anything innovative, but the fixture does get bonus points for its tasteful use of copper.
