HIT: design the future of internet

A design team from HIT- Holon Institute of Technology is leading the design segment of the Horizon 2020 Internet of Radio Light (IoRL) project. The team is creating designs that will naturally integrate new 5G internet technology into light objects.

HIT- Holon Institute of Technology, has been working for the last 2 years on the Internet of Radio Light (IoRL) project; a European Horizon 2020 program. In this frame, HIT’s team of industrial designers is leading the design part of the project; designing the light fixtures that will host the future 5G internet network technology. The HIT's team has decades of experience in designing and developing both light fixtures and consumer products.

The IoRL project consists of a consortium of twenty academic institutes and companies that joined forces to offer a unique internet solution aimed at solving internet congestion problems. This project is one of the few 5G internet communication solutions being developed around the world. Congestion problems can occur in either crowded environments (e.g. train stations with over 20,000 internet users) or in environment with very high bandwidth demands (e.g. today, Wi-Fi solutions do not enable the use of multi-UHD TV streams and VR streams at the same time).

Mr Gil Sheffi and Mr Yoav Avinoam

At the origin of the IoRL solution are two different communication technologies. The first solution is based on mmWave - a very high short-wave communication technology. The second solution is based on Visible Light Communication (VLC) which enables a very accurate (up to 10cm) location tracking and basically uses LED light source to communicate with the internet. 

In the frame of this project, HIT's team is in charge of designing end-products - such as light fixtures - so that they will look like consumable goods and not experimental ones. The team's vision? Creating consumable goods people can relate to and which they will intuitively place in their home.  

Research-based design is vital in the architecture for a large-scale-multi-layer-project. In the context of the IoRL project, the design research process includes designing light fixtures that will hold advanced technology. HIT's team of designers thus has the responsibility to make sure that the different technologies will work well together.

According to Mr. Yoav Avinoam, one of HIT's designers of the project, “the challenge is to create designs that will naturally integrate the new 5G internet technology into any light objects; be they the light sources in a living room, in a train station, in a supermarket, tunnel lights or a museum's spotlights.” 

Ms. Eliron Salomon

For Ms. Eliron Salomon, head of the team at HIT, “the collaboration between HIT’s design team and HIT's Faculty of Engineering is unique. This team works around the design of the light fixture and its manufacturing has positively impacted the design process. Since great research breeds great design, this flexible approach has enabled to address the constantly evolving needs dictated by the technology and manufacturing abilities. To better understand and improve the process of design, it is therefore highly recommended that design research takes part in a multidisciplinary environment.”

Posted: 19/12/2019