Manufacturers such as Philips, Eve and others have begun to offer support to one of the great novelties introduced by HomeKit in the latest versions of Apple‘s operating systems, the so-called Adaptive Lightning or adaptive lighting . But what does it really mean and why do we say it is so interesting? Let’s see it.
HomeKit and adaptive lighting
Before talking about adaptive lighting, it’s good to understand what circadian cycles are. We will tell you quickly and easily that they are like your “internal clock”, the way your body knows how it has to adapt to the variations that occur during the 24 hours that a day lasts.
That is, thanks to that clock or those rhythms that are repeated periodically , your body is able to adapt to the different periods of the day. For example, during the morning is when you need more energy, so activate the production of cortisol so that you can face the activities that you normally do.
On the other hand, in the afternoon that level drops and another process begins that allows the body to relax until it is time to sleep and we are ready to enjoy a rest that helps us recharge our batteries for the next day to start again.
That’s roughly the circadian cycles. And of course, now you wonder what they have to do with adaptive lighting. Well, the relationship is in the light. Circadian rhythms are conditioned by sunlight . This marks different periods during the day and helps our body to synchronize and predict those needs of each moment.
How Adaptive Lighting Works
Adaptive lighting is a new feature that all users of an Apple device running the latest version of the company’s operating system can enjoy. That is, in the case of the iPhone it would be iOS 14, the iPad must have iPadOS 14, the Mac as macOS Big Sur and in the case of the Apple Watch watchOS 7. And logically the same for the Apple TV and HomePod and HomePod mini.
Once you meet this requirement and the smart lighting devices have updated to a firmware version that supports, each and every one of the bulbs, LED strips, etc., where you enable their use, they will adjust both the brightness and the temperature. color depending on the time of day .
This means that in the morning the light will be whiter and in the afternoons and nights the intensity of the blue light will be reduced to make it warmer. Thus, as with natural light, the circadian cycles of our body will not be altered by the use of incorrect lighting.
Of course, it can also be seen in another way and that is that, thanks to the different adjustments that could be made, these changes would have some usefulness when combating aspects such as jet lag that is generated when there is a long trip involved with a major time zone change. Or to force a “readjustment” that allows to return to rest at the appropriate hours and thus perform within what would be a normal schedule.
The interesting thing about this function is that if for some reason the light is turned off and on manually, it remembers the temperature set by Adaptive Lightning. You would have to go to the HomeKit settings and deactivate it so that you can control it manually since all those aspects that until now could be done through other ways such as creating routines. Although never in such a precise way as from now on.
Which devices offer adaptive lighting
Manufacturers such as Philips, Eve and Nanoleaf are currently the first to offer adaptive lighting . To do this, you must update the firmware of the devices to its latest version via the official application of each of them.
However, when you enter the application you may not see any update available. If so, relax. The rollout is in progress and it may take a while for some sites to appear, but it will.
So if you have Apple devices and you bet on HomeKit, check out your smart lighting devices. Once you activate it, you will be able to assess for yourself whether or not this new function really brings you benefits compared to what you had previously.
