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Javier Iglesias, Adrià Huguet and Sergi Hernández (Photo: FBG).
 16.07.2020

Kumux launches a 2.0 software which creates differential light to improve human health and plant growth

A spin-off by the University of Barcelona Enlighting Technologies, based in the Barcelona Science Park, has created Kumux to launch a 2.0 simulation spectrum software which, through patented algorithms, creates a differential light with beneficial effects for health for both people and plant growth. It is an smart lighting solution –autonomous and based on LED technology–, compatible with different systems and designed so that it can be integrated into any luminaire or control platform.

 

At home, in the office, using public transport… People spend 90% of the day exposed to artificial lighting in different environments. The lighting market is currently working on improving illumination through hardware.

“Just as we go on diets, or do sports, we need the properties of sunshine. Not following a good sunlight diet affects our routine and our state of mind, as our brain uses lighting information to fill us up with energy or relax us. We are now able to endow artificial lighting with the benefits of natural light”, explains Javier Iglesias, CEO of Kumux.

Kumus’s software –the result of artificial intelligence technology developed over four years in the University of Barcelona– is a dynamic, autonomous lighting system based on LED technology, compatible with different systems, designed so that it can be integrated into any light fitting and control platform. Companies are welcome to perform a trial run for free. “Through an algorithm developed in collaboration with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), the platform allows lighting companies to create their own customized lighting solutions,” says Iglesias.

At the moment, the company already works with several national and international clients, most notably a hospital. “Through biodynamic lighting, it is possible to reduce a patient’s stay in hospital and also improve their rest and recovery,”explains. Retail companies are also some of Kumux’s main clients, as among other things, its software allows for the generation of emotions through a colorimetric control of lighting during the different fashion seasons, which improves consumer experience in stores.

The innovation in the lighting sector carried out by Kumux has led the spin-off to be one of the companies selected to form part of the SHAPE Pilot programme (SME HPC Adoption Programme in Europe), a support programme for companies who want to explore business opportunities in the field of supercomputing.

Transfer to society of the results of innovative research

Enlighting Technologies (Kumus trademark) is a science-based early-stage company, born in 2017 at University of Barcelona for the transfer of results to society from an innovative study carried out by Professor Blas Garrido and Professors Sergi Hernández and Adrià Huguet, all of whom are from the Department of Electronic Engineering and Biomedics within the Faculty of Physics and Chemistry.

They presented their intelligent lighting system during the second edition of Science + Partner, an event organized by the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation that establishing connections between researchers (Science) and people from the business world and investors (Partners).

During the sessions of Science + Partners they met with BeAble Capital, a technology transfer fund that identifies scientific advances with industrial potential to turn them into business ventures, and which would later be key to the launch of the spin-off.

Kumux aims to empower and democratize the creation of light spectrum for human health and plant growth. Patented algorithms developed with the support of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) make the technology unique and agnostic.