How would you like to have a floating light bulb in your living room?
Since last Tuesday us 21st century citizens became privileged enough to have this possibility, but had this question been asked from a certain Thomas Edison he would’ve certainly taken you for a madman. Now we can only assume that Flyte, the levitating lamp from Sweden, would have blown Edison’s socks right off.
The lamp was first made by Swedish anti-gravity enthusiast Simon Morris, who’s traces of handcraft can be seen in other projects of floating nature, such as the levitating Nike sneaker and the magnetically hovering skateboard.
Flyte was launched on Kickstarter early last week with a goal set to $80 000. That goal has well been reached by now, standing currently at $181 000 with 24 days left before the campaign’s time runs out. It seems the speculations have gone more towards by how much the campaign will exceed its goal.
At least one thing has been certain: a floating light bulb is attracting the right kind of attention.
A short introduction into levitating a light bulb for example boils down to electromagnetism. This also allows the lightbulb to be powered wirelessly, which in Flyte’s case is made possible through Tesla’s laws of induction. For this to work, a customized light bulb and base are needed; and since the light source is mainly decorative, esthetics are taken care of with a touch of minimalistic Nordic design: oak, ash and walnut.
No batteries are required, and by using low voltage LEDs the contraption is apparently quite safe to use. In addition, sustainability and longevity are guaranteed to last 12 hours of daily use for 11 years (or 50 000 hours). There are custom, diamond-shaped bases available for those not scared of an increase in the price tag.
Now there’s two things which make Flyte quirkier and more fun to use: switching the light on and off is a matter of tapping the base with your fingertip, and an additional feature is the base’s ability of functioning as a wireless charging station for your smartphone.
Currently the earliest early bird offers are used up, but if you act quick you might be able to get yourself your first flying lamp for $249. The premium package goes for $549, and for $149 you can get yourself a Flyte makers kit, which leaves you open hands to create your own flying, well, whatever really!
