It turns out that reading on your iPad or home computer is actually a terrible way to fall asleep because the device’s blueish glow can make your body think it’s time to get up. The color of light can have a big impact on the body’s natural rhythms, so a new connected bulb called the Silk works to keep things in sync by matching itself to the color of the sun all day long.
Known as circadian rhythms, our body’s sleep and waking cycles are programmed to naturally respond to the ever-changing color temperature of the light all around us—which was originally just the sun. As our neighboring star appears to set at night with a relatively warm glow, our bodies start to feel tired as melatonin production automatically kicks in. But in the middle of the day, when the sun is high in the sky and shining an intense bluish light, our bodies suppress those sleep-inducing hormones to keep us awake and active.
So if your body is exposed to the wrong color light at the wrong time of the day, it can make you feel prematurely tired—or wide awake when you’re trying to get to sleep.
What sets the Silk bulbs apart from what’s already available is that they’re designed to also promote your body’s natural circadian rhythm by automatically changing their color temperature to match the sun’s own color shifts throughout the day. When you’re setting up the Silk Light system it just needs to know the time and your location, and it will then automatically calculate the perfect color temperature for every connected bulb in your home or office. Neat huh!
The bulbs are however expected to be available next year, so don't start throwing away your bulbs yet! The bulbs when produced will retail for $25 a piece.
