Turn off the dark with this mirror that scatters sunlight around the room

By Jenny McGrath August 18, 2015

In those darkest areas of the house that the sun just can’t reach, you may have to turn on the light, even in the middle of the day, just to keep from running into your furniture. Lucy is a solar mirror from Italian designers Solencia that wants to harness the sun and shed its light to every corner.

Sit the globe-like smart mirror in a sunny spot, orient its “pointer” toward where you want more light, and it will do the rest. The solar-powered Lucy, equipped with photo sensors and photovoltaic cells, will tilt its mirror to follow the sun, ensuring that it sends as much light as possible to darker areas.

The light Lucy sends scatters when it hits the ceiling, so there’s more of a glow and less of a beam effect, according to Solencia. Wireless and surrounded with a transparent sphere, Lucy can illuminate a room with 7,000 lumens of light, more than the 5,000 lumens needed for a 250-square-foot room, the company claims. A typical 60-Watt-equivalent LED light bulb is 800 lumens. Lucy can also be used outdoors, and as it only weighs about five pounds, it seems portable enough that you could move it back and forth between a couple spots, depending on your needs.

Lucy Smart Mirror Sunlight

Lucy Smart Mirror Sunlight

Lucy is also smart and self-reliant. It turns itself on in the morning and shuts off at night, when there’s no more sun to chase. An accompanying app can tell you how much energy you’re saving and give you tips on how to better illuminate your home.

Diva Tommei, CEO of Solencia, came up with the idea for Lucy because she was suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder. In 2013, she put the project on Kickstarter but didn’t raise enough funds at that time. Now, though, Solenica is putting Lucy up for preorder for $199 each.

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Jenny McGrath is a senior writer at Digital Trends covering the intersection of tech and the arts and the environment. Before…

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