Learn about the science behind the beneficial effects of the blue light received on a bright sunny day from experts like the National Institute of Mental Health
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The First App-Controlled, Connected, Productivity Boosting Sunlight Delivery System Designed for Today’s Work Stations Will Demo at the #monster Products Extreme Tech Challenge Pavilion | Central Hall 12806 & 1281
BOSTON, MA – (6 Jan 2014) – Sun LifeLight will showcase The First App-Controlled, Connected, Productivity Boosting Sunlight Delivery System Designed for Today’s Work Stations at #ces 2015 in the Monster Products booth at between 2 PM and 4 PM on Tuesday the 6th as part a 3rd round finalist in the XTC Extreme Tech Challenge program.
The XTC Extreme Tech Challenge, organized by MaiTiaGlobal and judged by the likes of Sir Richard Branson (CEO of Virgin Group.) Young Sohn (President & Chief Strategy Officer, Samsung) and Gary Shapiro (Pr
oducer of the CES-Consumer Electronics Show.) is designed to fuel the world’s top emerging tech entrepreneurs and accelerate their success. Entrepreneurs enter for a chance to present LIVE on stage at semifinals at CES, and to pitch Sir Richard Branson at his Necker Island home, to win infrastructure and investment to scale their companies.
Sun LifeLight Can Improve Performance and Productivity for Indoor Workers
It is widely known that specific colored wavelengths of sunlight, 480nm (the brilliant light blue of a bright sunlit sky), are absorbed by recently discovered, non-visual receptors in the eye. These receptors, when activated by this colored light, initiate a complex sequence of events balancing hormone levels and orchestrating many other functions that help make the human body healthy, happy, alert, energetic and productive during the day.
The Sun LifeLight was recently chosen to be a finalist by a panel of innovation experts including Fundable and Staples representatives in the the Staples, Crowd2Shelf contest. . Created by Fundable and sponsored by Staples, the Crowd2Shelf Contest drew thousands of startups across the country to compete for a chance to crowd fund their way to Staples’ shelves. Of these thousands of entrants, only 25 were selected as finalists.
About Sun LifeLight
Sun LifeLight manufactures The First App-Controlled, Connected, Productivity Boosting Sunlight Delivery System Designed for Today’s Work Stations. We are on a mission to create healthy, fun, exciting, energetic and productive work environments by bringing sunshine into everyone’s life. We build smart, personal lighting systems that pack the colored light spectrum of a bright, sunlit sky into a fixture used as you would an ordinary desk lamp but controlled and managed by a learning mobile app that recommends the optimum amount of sun for every individual’s maximum benefit. For more information visit www.sunlifelight.com.
]]>According to the study by The Weather Channel and YouGov, 29 per cent of adults experience symptoms of SAD at this time of year, with 8% suffering acute symptoms. More than half (57%) say “their overall mood is worse in the winter season compared to the summer season, highlighting the strong links between the weather and wellbeing”. Another 40 per cent of people suffer from fatigue during the winter months.
The Science Behind Circadian Rhythm Balance
State-of-the-art science is now reporting what many have understood since the beginning of time…the sun is a life giving resource. Many ancient civilizations worshiped the sun based on what it provides; warmth, food and light. Now science has been validating other more direct impacts to society’s health and wellness. There are 3 major areas of known impact the sun has on the human body’s physiological operation:
- Circadian Rhythm balance
- Sleep / Wake, Melatonin / Serotonin respectively hormone regulation
- Cognitive functioning, metabolism, alertness, focus, energy, productivity and mood among many other things
- Vitamin D production
- Vision and color rendering
This article and many others focus on the Circadian Rhythm and the ripple impact that its mismanagement has on a variety of physiological operations within the human body. Since the “dawn” (pun intended) of the industrial revolution some 200 years ago, society has rapidly evolved to spending the majority of its day indoors and out of the sun’s beneficial rays. The impacts are growing more and more extreme as sunlight deprivation becomes more the norm. Many studies have drawn correlations between the increased incidents of depression, type 2 diabetes and obesity to the lack of sunlight.
Bringing the Benefits of Sunlight Indoor
Science is fundamentally based in logic and when individuals are asked whether they feel “better” on a bright, sunny day or a rain filled, dreary day the response is almost always sun. Logically that makes sense based on human physiology! So what can society do to reverse the trending “new normal” that is, slower metabolism, reduced cognitive functioning, focus and mood resulting in reduced health, wellness and productivity because of the indoor migration? Creating outdoor office space would be ideal…albeit impractical. Perhaps building facilities without roofs? Or simply bringing sunlight indoors?
Seasonal Affective Disorder sufferers have been able to successfully treat their conditions with the use of light therapy for almost 30 years. Recent reports such as this one by Shadab Rahman, PhD. from Brigham & Women’s hospital, show how similar benefits can be realized by virtually all those that are sunlight deprived during the day. http://bit.ly/1wd3TSO Again, logic applies as the known effective color is not so coincidentally the color of a bright sunlit sky or “sky blue”.
The answer is, bring a lamp that delivers the effective sky blue color indoors and the world becomes a far better place! Sun LifeLight has such a product that is interactively app controlled to deliver the most effective amount of sunlight for each individual’s maximum benefit while continuously learning for peak performance.
Don’t let the impending loss of Daylight Savings Time or any time spent out of the sun impact your mood or productivity any more. Buy a LifeLight and bring the sun back into your life! https://www.fundable.com/sun-lifelight
]]>BOSTON, MA – (November 3, 2014) – With the end of daylight savings time, more and more workers find themselves falling victim to a variety of conditions caused by a lack of sunlight, most notably #seasonal affective disorder (#sad). The LifeLight is a new app-controlled #light therapy device that provides the recommended amounts and proper wavelengths of ”sky blue” LED lights to help counteract the onset of sunlight deprivation. A recently published study sponsored by The Weather Channel and YouGov, indicated that 29 percent of adults in the U.K. experience symptoms of SAD at this time of year, ranging from low energy levels, to low self-esteem and anxiety. Another study commissioned by Epson says that 9.6 million work days are lost annually due to Seasonal Affective Disorder.
The LifeLight is a new app-controlled light therapy device that provides the recommended amounts and proper wavelengths of ”sky blue” LED lights to help counteract the onset of sunlight deprivation. The LifeLight provides the modern workforce with a simple, effective and convenient device that learns your routine and customizes a light therapy regimen as an Internet of Things, connected device, leveraging a growing multitude of external sensor-based inputs (such as weather and sleep quality) along with learning each user’s personal preferences to algorithmically calculate the best amount of sunlight each and every day.
Sun LifeLight Can Improve Performance and Productivity
It is widely known that specific colored wavelengths of sunlight, 480nm (the brilliant light blue of a bright sunlit sky), are absorbed by recently discovered, non-visual receptors in the eye. These receptors, when activated by this colored light, initiate a complex sequence of events balancing hormone levels and orchestrating many other functions that help make the human body healthy, happy, alert, energetic and productive during the day.
“While daylight savings time was a good idea in an agrarian society, today’s indoor workforce is already getting precious little sun light and is feeling the consequences in the form of Seasonal Affective Disorder and similar conditions. With even less sun light following the end of Daylight Savings Time, symptoms can lead to significantly reduced productivity, and even loss of time due to associated health risks,” says Alison Todd LICSW / ABD, Co-founder of Sun LifeLight.
“Most people who work indoors during the day, do not receive enough of that “sky blue” light regardless of geographic location, and this in turn can limit their peak performance, said Gary Grimard, Founder and CEO of Sun LifeLIght, LLC. “The LifeLight changes that paradigm by packing those effective colors of light into an elegant, stylish and highly flexible lamp that can be used on any desktop as one would an ordinary desk lamp.”
#staples #fundable #crowd2shelf Finalist
The LifeLight has been selected as a finalist by a panel of innovation experts including Fundable and Staples representatives in the Staples, Crowd2Shelf contest. Created by Fundable and sponsored by Staples, the Crowd2Shelf Contest drew thousands of startups across the country to compete for a chance to crowd fund their way to Staples’ shelves. Of these thousands of entrants, only 25 were selected as finalists.
You can view Sun LifeLight’s entry here. By purchasing a LifeLight or supporting Sun LifeLight with a vote, you can help it become one of the three category winners.
Sun LifeLight has also progressed to the third round in the XTC Extreme Tech Challenge, organized by MaiTiaGlobal and judged by the likes of Sir Richard Branson (CEO of Virgin Group.) Young Sohn (President & Chief Strategy Officer, Samsung) and Gary Shapiro (Producer of the CES-Consumer Electronics Show.)
About Sun LifeLight
Sun LifeLight, Inc. manufactures the first app-controlled, responsive and connected light therapy device designed for today’s work stations. We are on a mission to create healthy, fun, exciting, energetic and productive work environments by bringing sunshine into everyone’s life. We build smart, personal lighting systems that pack the colored light spectrum of a bright, sunlit sky into a fixture used as you would an ordinary desk lamp but controlled and managed by a learning mobile app that recommends the optimum amount of sun for every individual’s maximum benefit. For more information visit www.sunlifelight.com
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#daylightsavings, SAD, #seasonalaffectivedisorder, #wellness, Staples, Crowd2shelf, fundable #workplace, #extremetechchallenge
Contact: Jeffrey Hodnett, Bluefish Digital, 978 766 0270, Jhodnett@bluefish-digital.com
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Technology Reporter
Boston Business Journal
Sun LifeLight Inc., the Beverly-based maker of a smart desk lamp that aims to curb depression and improve productivity for employees in offices without natural sunlight, will launch a crowdfunding campaign June 2. Read the full article here.
]]>“Having spent the last nine months developing the system – through one of the worst winters in recent history, our aim is to quickly satisfy the demand we’ve encountered for our solution to SAD and winter blues, while bringing healthfulness, happiness, energy, and productivity to everyone that spends most of their workday indoors,” said Gary Grimard founder and CEO, Sun LifeLight, Inc.
According to Grimard, 30 years of scientific research shows that humans are built to respond to the blue color of a bright sunlit sky with energy, focus, alertness, improved cognitive functioning and mood. “It was less than 200 years ago that the vast majority of the global population worked outdoors during the day, energized by the sun and then retired indoors when the sun set,” says Grimard.
The US Department of Labor Statistics show over 300 million office workers worldwide spend the vast majority of their working hours indoors. The human system has simply not evolved to keep pace with that societal change.
Beyond how we feel, there is a dollar cost associated with not getting enough sunlight during the day. As reported in Employee Benefit Views, research conducted by the Integrated Benefits Institute shows that companies spend well over $620 per year, per employee on depression related expenses including SAD, winter blues, cabin fever, spring fever, rainy day blues and the like.(1)
The aggregate costs are staggering. The Department of Labor Statistics reports approximately 94 million computer using office professionals in the United States alone. Extrapolating those numbers, these societal changes have a negative health impact measured in the billions of dollars, for individuals and corporations alike.
State-of-the-art science has identified non-visual sensors in the human retina that are particularly sensitive to the color of a bright sunlit sky. These sensors regulate a complex sequence of events through the brain that manage hormone levels and sleep / wake cycles, called the circadian rhythm. The intricacies of that balance directly impact mood, health, energy, productivity, and many other things.
A 2013 study compared the effects of caffeine to that of “blue” light therapy. It found that focus, cognitive functioning, and alertness were improved with either. Caffeine however, was found to reduce the subjects’ ability to focus and remain undistracted during cognitive functions. With the “blue” light exposure, performance was improved in all aspects.(2)
Therein lies the genesis behind Sun LifeLight – put a lamp, with effective colors on every desktop, personalize the control and monitoring of the system with a mobile application and improve health, happiness, energy and productivity for all where it’s needed most, at work.
To find out more about the Sun LifeLight Kickstarter campaign and how to support the cause now to receive a LifeLight just in time for the next Fall and Winter season, visit the company website athttp://www.sunlifelight.com/kickstarter-funding-effort/.
1. (“Look beyond health care financing to workforce health” Posted February 26, 2014 by Thomas Parry, PhD at 04:04PM).
2. (Beaven CM, Ekström J (2013) ‘A Comparison of Blue Light and Caffeine Effects on Cognitive Function and Alertness in Humans’).
About Sun LifeLight, Inc.
Sun LifeLight, Inc. (http://www.sunlifelight.com) was founded by Gary Grimard and Alison Todd in July of 2013 intent on improving the health and wellness of computer using office professionals everywhere. They and their team of technology and medical industry experts have purpose built a smart, personal lighting system that brings the energizing benefits of the sun to work. The unique, two-piece system includes a stylish and elegant light used as you would an ordinary desk lamp, along with a mobile application that learns the user’s sunlight requirements and recommends the proper daily settings for each individual’s maximum benefit. Users can purchase the LifeLight system through the company’s crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter.