Finally! A mood lamp that looks like a Slinky

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The right light simply unfolds with Orilamp.
The right light simply unfolds with Orilamp.
Photo: Orilamp

The right light can wake us in a good mood, make us productive in work or art and enhance the romance. But, the right light is not something we normally carry with us.

Orilamp, a portable accordion lamp you control with an iOS app, is trying to change that.

What looks like two stacked wooden coasters unfold into a half circle or can be stretched out. The intensity of the Bluetooth-enabled LED light source can be controlled by the app and burn for up to seven hours on a charge.

The Orilamp, the base of which is made with German blond birch or American black walnut, is available for $89 to early bird backers on the company’s Indiegogo campaign.

Hang vertically to give it the feel of a traditional lantern.
Hang vertically to give it the feel of a traditional lantern.
Photo: Orilamp

Smart lighting is one of the fastest growing segments in the wireless technology industries. Smart bulbs, with controllable brightness and colors, is expected to penetrate more than half of the lighting market by 2020 and wireless lighting brings new opportunities to technology companies that focus on improving our recreational experience.

At CES this year, Sony showed off a Bluetooth speaker/light combo that looks like a classic hurricane lamp. Another line of wireless speakers at CES, designed by Acoustic Research, were also designed to look like a lantern and work like one, too, with multi-color or solid lighting.

Orilamp, for now, specializes in producing quality on-the-go lighting. The company refers to it as a smart origami lamp. The app, which is also available for Android devices, lets you control the brightness, monitor battery usage and set it to wake you up. It can also be turned on just by opening it (magnets in each corner of the wood cover holds it together)

The accordion lamp shade is made from a durable Nomex paper, a heat-resistant material created by Dupont which is used to in constructing clothing for firefighters and race car drivers to protect them from heat.

Based in Toronto, Orilamp is nearly halfway to its $50,000 goal for production. If all goes well, the company hopes to begin shipping by June.

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