Light pollution is an issue that is happening in more than 99% of Earth's inhabitants.
The intensity of LEDs is so high it has increased lighting pollution.
We need to find alternative solutions that are both more respectful for the environment
and also offer a new energy sobriety.
We use a reaction called bioluminescence
which is the ability a lot of organisms in nature have to produce light
like fireflies or glowworms, but also 80% of marine organisms.
So we use this chemical reaction to produce a biological source of light.
I was fascinated by the fact that it's so simple, it exists in nature,
it works pretty well,
so why not just translate that into a product?
In the sea something that is very common is not extraordinary
and so you have to understand that if it's common it means that it is efficient
and behind us we have 3.8 billion years of research and development
through evolution in nature to find those efficient solutions like bioluminescence.
So the first goal behind Glowee is really to use a growing raw material
to replace these lighting systems.
Our job today is to identify the best bacteria that are able to produce the best bioluminescence.
Once we have them we work with them in labs, we engineer them to make them more efficient
in terms of intensity, in terms of stability over time,
in terms of temperature resilience
and when we have that we can grow those bacteria,
mix them with a nutritive medium and then find the best conditions for them to grow.
The type of water is the first variable, the temperature is also important,
the way we feed them is very important.
The reaction of bioluminescence needs oxygen to produce light.
When you switch on the oxygen, the light switches on.
The overall goal of playing with the different settings is first improving intensity,
second in improving stability over time to make the bacteria light as long as possible
to make them be fed as less as possible to improve in terms of cost efficiency.
Our goal is to go outdoors, so we need bacteria to resist at less than 15 degrees (Celsius)
and more than 30 degrees to cover the most geographies as possible.
Once we have all the recipes we can put this raw material into different shapes
to make lighting systems happen.
Today we don't really face nature in our daily lives as citizens living in cities
and this connection humans have to nature is just essential for our wellbeing.
We figured out that this light is very hypnotic, it's very soothing and so it really brings
a wellbeing feeling
so we've designed the 'Glowzen Room' which is a biophilic experience of bioluminescence.
The goal is to fully relax, to reconnect to nature.
So when you look at this soft light you can look at it without getting your eyes tired
which is something that is very unique because it never happens with electrical lighting.
As you're in darkness and your eyes get used to darkness progressively,
then your brain focuses on little details that you see
and those little details are very simple things
flowers, leaves, a tree.
When your brain thinks about these simple things it just doesn't think about what you
forgot to do yesterday.
Using a biological material to produce light changes all the value chain of lighting
from producing it because we can grow light,
to using it because it's not an object like a bulb,
but you can really play with the raw material, it can take a lot of shapes.
It can also really change the way a building looks like, the way signage looks like
to really give more design possibilities to it.
So we're gonna start with urban furniture, signage, but the more time is going,
the more we think that we can really rethink the whole way we light our cities,
so tomorrow maybe there are no lamp posts but just different ways of lighting the areas
because it's gonna be more pedestrian, there's going to be less cars.
The interesting thing is that light won't be a one-shot use.
When there is a problem, or no more bacteria, or no more light
we can just restart a little culture of bacteria and then a few hours later
you will have the system working again.
In the societies we live in we can not just switch off all the lights.
It can be used to illuminate, for security purposes, to enhance something, to give visibility.
We need to find the best energy sources at the best place
so that we create this mix of energy to really have positive effect.
It's really interesting in terms of how to think of the cities of tomorrow