Li-Fi Arrives in Rome’s Schools
Li-Fi lands at the “Rosetta Rossi Institute” to bring a fast, safe, and sustainable connection.
Li-Fi, which stands for Light Fidelity, is a wireless technology transmitting data through LED light modulation. Li-Fi landed in Rome: the “IC Rosetta Rossi” Institute will be the first Italian school, and one of the first worldwide, to implement LI-Fi!
This project represented another milestone achieved by To Be Srl. Others were the first Li-Fi Museum, Li-Fi ship, and Li-Fi smart office.
For this specific project, we collaborated with industrial and strategic partners such as Signify (previously called Philips Lighting) and TecnoElectric Srl, to implement a Li-Fi system able to connect up to 20 computers and to guarantee modern, innovative, and safe wireless data transmission.
How Does Li-Fi Work?
Li-Fi is a technology working through signal modulation. This signal is emitted by every single LED source: a 0/1 sequence not detectable by the human eye that allows data transmission. Li-Fi falls within the so-called fifth-generation connections, reaching data transmission speed that can be compared to 5G speed, and with a more reliable performance. Using light as a tool for connectivity, in fact, guarantees an affordable and sustainable service.
Li-Fi Characteristics
Light has a spectrum 10'000 times wider than Wi-Fi. Thus, not only does it allow an extremely fast connection, but it also offers a band that is never saturated.
Think about it: today light is an integral part of every indoor environment. It is indispensable, and, thanks to Li-Fi, it can also become a data transmitter without causing interferences in particular environments, hostile to radio waves, such as hospitals. In addition, not emitting radio waves, Li-Fi also represents a safer connection for human health.
All these characteristics make Li-Fi a fast, green, and safe alternative to Wi-Fi.
Another great feature of Li-Fi is that, by using light infrastructure for data transmission, this technology would drastically reduce energy consumption, particularly in the telecommunication and lightning engineering industries. Li-Fi would incentivize the use of cutting-edge LED lamps and would eliminate the energetic consumption related to radio wave emission.
We are talking about a fast, safe, and electrosmog-free connection.
Li-Fi Streaming is a real game-changer.
We are honored to be able to cooperate with Public Administration to spread the light of innovation in our country. Particularly, we aim at bringing innovation to schools, that are a symbol of academic and personal growth, and hope for the future.
With great pleasure, we will donate two devices, capable of sanitizing the environment through light, to Rome's "Rosetta Rossi” Institute.
Our work continues, follow us!
Rome is the first Italian City to Implement Li-Fi in School
On Thursday, April 2021 at 10 am, Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi will present: "Connecting to the internet through light. Rome is the first Italian city to implement Li-Fi in school".
At the event, our Founder and CEO Francesco Paolo Russo will intervene along with Giovanni Fazio, ICT Rome Physical Infrastructure Director, and Daniel Tatini, Signify’s AD.
You can watch the press release using this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg3hNs54Hsi7Dgt1JGXyVHA
Accreditation for journalists to attend the press conference is reserved for a maximum of 10 people, in compliance with the provisions and suggestions of the health authorities.
It will be possible to request an accreditation until April 14th, 2021, at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/2n3ejmkf
We will also share the live streaming on To Be’s digital platforms: Facebook, Twitter e LinkedIn.
Are you ready to learn about this great news?
Li-Fi Arrives in school!
Barracco Museum: Pathways Guided by Light for the Exhibition
For the Cultural Heritage sector, Li-Fi Light represents an important tool to enhance cultural assets, since it significantly improves visitors’ experience. The digital world requires specific skills, resources, and infrastructure. However, it is the only way to enhance museums and art, as the digital manages to attract citizens' and tourists' attention, promoting the “rebirth” of urban centers.
Following this fil rouge, at the Barracco Museum, we are implementing Li-Fi solutions able to engage visitors and provide them with a unique and interactive experience. This will be possible thanks to multimedia content appositely designed for the exhibition, which will be received directly on the visitors’ smartphones. This project carries a significant cultural, social and technological value, and it is co-funded by the European Union.
It might be time to say goodbye to QR codes, paper maps, and other technologies: one will simply position their device under the light source illuminating the exhibition to receive all the related content and information.
The project, presented and supported by the EU, that we are working on along with DB Ingegneria dell’Immagine Srl e Tecno Electric Srl, aims at bringing together the digital, history, and physical space to offer a unique fruition experience. Visitors will embark on a journey, all focused on ancient sculpture and Egyptian, Cypriot, Sumerian, Assyrian, Etrurian, Phoenician, Roman, and Greek decorative arts, guided by light.
To learn more about our current and future projects, keep following us on our website and social media platforms!
Light, art and innovation. Join the Li-Fi Revolution!
Ambassadors of Innovation 2020
The award “Ambassadors of Innovation” is given to praiseworthy organizations that, with their daily efforts, demonstrate to be real ambassadors of the Italian innovation system. This prize aligns with corporate social responsibility.
We are honored to have received such an important award from Ambassador Day, an event born in 2019 with the purpose of recognizing all those companies, associations, and professionals that stand out for their work, becoming ambassadors of Made in Italy worldwide.
We are happy to share this award with all of you, which, since To Be's very first steps, have showed us much interest and support.
Get ready because there will be big news in the next few months!
Li-Fi Arrives to Barracco Museum
Barracco Museum and Li-Fi. Works for the implementation of a new visiting experience have officially started at the Museum of Ancient Sculpture “Giovanni Barracco” in Rome. These changes will be based on Li-Fi and will be funded by Regione Lazio’s contest POR FESR 2014-2020 “L’impresa fa Cultura”.
Through the implementation of our Li-Fi solutions, starting from the main room, it will be possible to enjoy additional content, provided by the Barracco Museum, directly on your mobile phone and other devices. One will simply download the specifically designed app and position their device under the Li-Fi light source.
Li-Fi or Light Fidelity represents one of the most modern and innovative communication systems for wireless data transmission. This process takes place through light modulation, and it works thanks to an emitted light sequence that is not detectable by the human eye.
This technology is not only able to incentivize the fruition of our cultural heritage, but also facilitate the visiting experience for people with disabilities. We are working to make art more inclusive and accessible.
We don't want to reveal everything at once, we will keep you updated!
Li-Fi in Museums- MArTA in Taranto
Museums become appealing and significant to tourists and citizens. With Infratel Italia, we developed the “LiFi Zone” solution, implemented at the Archeological Museum MArTa in Taranto.
On several occasions, digital technologies proved to be necessary for the fruition and enhancement of our cultural heritage. Although digital requires hard skills, resources, and adequate infrastructure, it is also the only way to enhance museums and art, attract tourists and citizens, and promote the "rebirth" of urban centers. Following this “fil rouge”, Infratel Italia collaborated with us to work on the LiFi Zone project at the MArTA Museum. It is a solution that aims at making the visiting experience more engaging and interactive through additional multimedia content received on mobile devices. One will simply download the “MarTA LiFi Zone” App and position their device under the Li-Fi light source in the proximity of the informative sticker to enjoy interactive multi-media content related to the exhibition.
“Through the MArTA project we offer a model that can potentially be applied to many museums and cultural centers. This would allow a more interactive and unique fruition experience of our cultural heritage. We are thrilled to arrive in Taranto and work on this project of national interest”
Marco Bellezza, AD Infratel
How is all of this possible? “Thanks to the implementation of fifth-generation Li-Fi, or Light Fidelity, which allows data transmission through LED light modulation. In particular, thanks to its extremely accurate geolocation features, it allows the creation of specific content associated with the workpieces on visitors' mobile devices. “These were the words of To Be’s Founder and CEO Francesco Paolo Russo.
The project was one of the protagonists of “Next Generation EU - The Italian Innovation Society”, which consisted of two days of working at the Talent Garden in Rome, to learn how to best allocate the 200 billion from the Recovery Fund. The event saw the participation of institutions, the corporate world, and more than 200 key players representing startups, scale-ups, incubators, universities, and Venture Capital. All of them were driven by the willingness to look at the future of our country.
“The project, in which the MArTA in Taranto is the first Italian museum to implement Li-Fi, allows wider access to our cultural heritage, with the purpose of making the visiting experience as engaging and interactive as possible. We aim at lowering any kind of barriers, allowing people with disabilities, visually and hearing impaired, to enjoy their visit”.
Eva Degl’Innocenti, MArTA Museum Director
In other words, this project of national interest brings together the physical and the digital. Especially in times of pandemics, the Cultural Heritage sector and museums need to consolidate their digital identity. We are looking at a new communicative and interactive vision, where the digital and physical meet and enrich each other.
We are proud to be part of the change!
LiFi: Safety and Sustainability in Schools
Light sources become potential data transmitters. Schools improve with easy-to-use and inclusive additional services. Students gain new academic tools.
LiFi is a sustainable technology able to eliminate risks linked to electromagnetic pollution and drastically reduce energy consumption related to the telecommunication and lighting engineering industries, incentivizing the use of cutting-edge LED lamps and eliminating radio wave-related energy consumption. LiFi can also be implemented in schools!
Our objective is to experiment with new, high-speed, low, or zero radio-wave-emission technologies.
Li-Fi (Light Fidelity), which allows data transmission through LED light, offers a fast, more stable connection, free from interferences and band saturation issues. In addition, light can be enclosed within a specific area, thus the risk for external hacker attacks is drastically reduced. Differently from Wi-Fi technologies, Li-Fi does not emit radio waves, avoiding interference risks with other devices.
Our team is developing and offering several solutions to the market, among which there is LiFi S (Streaming), a bidirectional connection system allowing the connection of one or more computers to the network, working thanks to lighting bodies equipped with Li-Fi technology and USB keys able to receive and transmit the signal.
LiFi S represents a concrete answer to the need of reducing indoor exposure to high-frequency electromagnetic fields as much as possible More in general, LiFi S also aims at improving the energetic efficiency in school, guaranteeing students an unprecedented connection, which is safe, secure, and sustainable.
Thanks to our dialogue with several schools, our LiFi Zones will offer a LiFi connection within scholastic buildings.
The first LiFi projects in school will most likely be launched in the Region of Marche, which is the first Italian public administration to allow municipalities to be equipped with this modern, innovative, and green technology for data transmission.
With great enthusiasm, we also learned about mayor Virginia Raggi’s willingness to transform Rome into a smart city, bringing Li-Fi into schools.
We are ready to spread the light of innovation!
LiFi, Internet through light, interview on TeleAmbiente
Interview with our CEO Francesco Paolo Russo on Teleambiente.
" Light is a wave and if properly modulated it can become a powerful communication vehicle".
For those who missed the interview with our CEO Francesco Paolo Russo on Teleambiente, you can watch it here:
https://youtu.be/IH1a13uJsXU
LiFi: What it is, How it Works, Benefits, and Applications
What is LiFi?
LiFi (or Li-Fi), which stands for Light Fidelity, is a technology that allows the transmission of data and information through LED light modulation.
Light is a wave, exactly like the electromagnetic waves and the radio frequencies that are normally utilized for transmitting information. Therefore, like a wave, light can become a communication channel and a tool to transmit and receive data when appositely modulated.
How Does LiFi Work?
A LiFi data transmission system is a LED infrastructure that, thanks to the implementation of electronic components between the power supply and the light source, generates binary codes through the beam of light it emits.
In order to generate binary codes and consequently transmit data, light is repeatedly turned off and on very quickly. This intermittence process, which the human eye is not able to detect, can transmit information to the connected devices. Several devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops can elaborate the signal from the light beam and convert it into information.
What is Needed for LiFi Data Transmission?
First of all, regarding the LED infrastructure (concerning the hardware), it is fundamental to identify the illuminated bodies that are better suited for what will be illuminated (for example a painting, a design piece, merch displayed in a store…)
All the newest LED lights (of the last 2-3 years) can be compatible with LiFi technology. From a plant engineering standpoint, this process is no different from setting up regular LED lights. The installed system, in fact, will have the same function and life cycle as a regular LED implant.
All the LED sources are potential information transmitters, and every device is a potential user.
Once the hardware part is set up, it has to become compatible with the Li-Fi technology by developing the software part. There is a dashboard where all the different lamps installed are registered, ad to each of them corresponds to specific contents. These contents can be easily updated, remotely as well, through a designated software.
For example, if an edit is needed, if the exhibition (in case of museum exhibitions) or the product change it will not be necessary to rebuild the LED implant each time: it will be enough to update the contents by working on the software part.
LiFi Benefits
The internet connection through LiFi has several benefits: let us a look at the main ones:
Speed of Transmission
Thanks to LiFi technology it is possible to reach transmission speed comparable to 5G. LiFi, in fact, not only manages to perform as efficiently and quickly, but it is also much more reliable than 5G.
Currently, LiFi speed is about a hundred times superior to the WiFi transmission.
There already are LiFi apps in the market transmitting data at about 10 Gps (Gigabit per second), which is a speed that cannot be reached with other technologies. This is because the LiFi uses light, which has a spectrum 10.000 times wider than the WiFi. This allows for extremely fast connections and a non-saturated bandwidth.
In very crowded spaces, such as festivals and museums, the public WiFi can often stop working or can be extremely slow due to the many devices connected. With LiFi this is not the case: everyone is connected at their own speed as the bandwidth is not saturated.
Geolocation
An important characteristic of LiFi technology is its precise geolocation feature. In fact, LiFi can reach areas in which there is no GPS signal, and it is capable to track the user's location with extreme accuracy. (the margin error is just 2-3cm).
This feature results in a very accurate user experience. Through LiFi we are able to guide people during the whole user experience, giving them specific information and suggesting to them the best path based on where they are located and what they are looking at.
Data Analysis
Thanks to geolocation, it is possible to access a series of data on the user experience of products or services. We are able to determine which path they took, where exactly they stopped, and for how long. This is possible because the same light-transmitting data about the specific object that the user is looking at receives and elaborates useful information related to it.
In the retail sector, in particular, this data can really make the difference, as they lead the way for what is called marketing of proximity. Therefore, the LiFi technology allows in-depth research of the shopping dynamics in loco, and consequently an analysis of the market positioning of the products. This data can be highly useful for sellers to implement their own marketing strategies.
Sustainability
The responsiveness to energy-saving and electromagnetic pollution reduction make of LiFi a green technology, which is 100% ecological. LiFi, in fact, thanks to the use of LED lamps, guarantees energy-saving.
Moreover, the waves used for data transmission do not cause issues for human health and do not create interferences or conflicts in particular environments (for example in the medical sector where often it is not possible to implement other kinds of technologies due to the interference with other medical devices).
Safety
LiFi is a data transmission system that protects the information from potential hacker attacks and data leaks. Cybersecurity is of the highest quality with LiFi, and the reason is very simple: data is transmitted through light, and light cannot pass through the walls. The only way to hack the system is by being physically present in the sites where the light sources are located.
LiFi and Fields of Application
The potential of LiFi is endless, as its fields of application are: Only imagination is needed. Let us look at some examples:
LiFi in Museums
Thanks to the light illuminating the exhibitions, it is possible to interactively guide the visitors and provide them with detailed information and additional content such as videos, images, and so on during their tour experience.
LiFi and the Retail Sector
The illumination of a product displayed in a store or of the different sections in shopping malls allows for the transmission of specific information or customized suggestions in loco to the customers. (including particular promotions and offers)
LiFi in the Medical Field
As we have previously said, not only are the waves used for data transmission through LiFi unharmful for human health, but they also do not emit radio frequencies. This makes LiFi particularly suited for hospitals and other healthcare facilities where it is prohibited to use technologies interfering with medical devices.
Other Sectors
The future development of technology will be related to the signal transmission in the automotive, corporate, and submarine (for which the US Navy is experimenting with several interesting solutions) fields, and to the accessibility of information for people with visive and hearing disabilities (on which many are already working).
LiFi Prospects: a Look at the Market
To understand the characteristics of the LiFi technology and how the market is evolving, we interviewed Francesco Paolo Russo, Founder, and CEO di To Be - an Italian company focusing on the implementation of “turnkey” LiFi solutions.
How far along are we in the development of the LiFi technology?
“The period we are currently living is very significant for the development of the LiFi technology, and consequently for its market, which is progressively becoming more prominent. When we launched To Be, the technological advancement process still had to reach a level at which a massive application could take place. I am confident to say that it is thanks to our contribution and technical team that LiFi made tremendous progress, up to reaching the high standards of today.”
Could you give us some insights on how the LiFi market will be in the next years?
“Market analysts are expecting a significant growth of the LiFi technology in the next years, with exorbitant amounts of several billion. Personally, I am convinced that within a very short span of time the LiFi technology will be accessible to everyone, including in residences. In fact, currently, LiFi solutions still have an elevated cost that would not be suitable for domestic use, but in the next years this is expected to change.”
This shift was also confirmed by several signals from important global players. Do you agree ?
“I would definitely agree. At a global level, in the last months, global players such as Huawei and Dell have begun stating that they are working on the necessary components related to sensor technology that will allow the stream of LiFi data to be directly detected and elaborated by their devices (without the necessity to download additional apps).”
To Be has implemented important LiFi projects. What was the strategy that allowed you to take over the market?
“Differently from other market players, that opted for a more experimental approach, To Be immediately worked on the implementation of solutions that could be inserted into the market. This way, we basically led the way in the market. Even today, the most important LiFi projects at a global level were developed by us.”
What are your objectives and hopes for the short-term future?
“After having implemented the first archeological site and the first ship with a LiFi zone worldwide, we would now like to focus on giving life to the first healthcare facility and the first city equipped with LiFi. In addition, we would really like it if this milestone took place in Italy, our country, as was the case for the ship and the archeological site. In particular, we would like to do so before Dubai, which declared to wanting to become the first LiFi city by 2021. Our hope is that the Italian Public Administration will give us the opportunity to carry out this operation.”
We thank Francesco Paolo Russo, To Be Founder and CEO for supporting Elettricomagazine in the creation of this article.
Published on Elettrico Magazine | June 27th, 2019.
https://elettricomagazine.it/attualita-news/lifi-funzionamento-vantaggi-applicazioni/
With To Be Srl Data Travels at the Speed of Light
To Be designs, develops and sells Li-Fi solutions. Li-Fi, which stands for Light Fidelity, is an innovative technology for data transmission through LED light. Light is a wave, and, like radio waves and electromagnetic waves, which are also used for data transmission, can become a channel for receiving and transmitting information if modulated.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/IaUjwyvTQAo
Thanks to the implementation of an electronic feature between the power supply and light, Li-Fi is not only able to illuminate bodies, but also to transmit binary codes through on and off commutation that is so fast that it is not detected by the human eye. Different devices (smartphone, tablet and laptop) are able to read the signal from the light source and elaborate it into information.
Li-Fi connection has several benefits. First of all, with Li-Fi, it is possible to reach a speed comparable to 5G. Secondly, Li-Fi is free from band saturation issues. Thirdly, this technology can geolocate a user even where there is no GPS signal, and with extreme accuracy. Then, it allows access to analytic data on how users experienced a service or product thanks to geolocation. Li-Fi also guarantees energy saving and electromagnetic pollution reduction, thus it is considered to be a green technology. Finally, it is a system that prevents potential interceptions and external hacker attacks, therefore it is considered to be an international standardized protocol of maximum cybersecurity that can be implemented in telecommunications worldwide.