Sharknado 2 will sync with Philips Hue to play a special ambient light track during the film

By Drew Prindle July 24, 2014

sharknado 2 philips hue ambient light track sync step3 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Bet you didn’t see this one coming! Thanks to an unexpected partnership between Philips and Syfy, you’ll be able to watch the upcoming movie Sharknado 2: The Second One with a specially made-ambient light track to accompany the film.

In order to make it happen, you’ll need an iOS device and at least one product from Philips’ color-changing family of Hue lights. If you’ve got those two things, you can then use the Syfy Sync app to pair them up. Then, whenever you decide to watch the second installment of Sharknado (which premieres on July 30) your lights will change dynamically with the movie to create a sort of visual soundtrack — one that will presumably enhance the viewing experience.

As far as we can tell, this hasn’t really been done before. The only thing that’s even remotely similar is ann app called Huey, which will change your Hue lights to match what’s happening on your TV screen, but requires you to keep your phone’s camera trained on the TV screen in order to work, which isn’t all that convenient. Conversely, the ambient light track from Syfy is custom built and designed to accompany this specific movie.

They might be on to something here. We haven’t tried it out for ourselves quite yet, but the idea is brilliant, and could very well make the viewing experience more immersive and engaging. Props to Syfy for cooking up such a creative idea, but it’s almost a shame that concept had to start with Sharknado. Don’t get us wrong, we’re huge fans of the franchise and can’t wait for the second installment — but how awesome would it be to have a custom-built ambient light track play along with, say, Blue Planet, Avatar, or any other visually impressive movie?

Let’s hope this catches on.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…

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