The word ‘Hotaru‘ translates to ‘fireflies’ in English, and the luminous beauty of the creatures was certainly captured – though by no easy means. With the idea in mind to essentially light up one of Tokyo’s main rivers, Panasonic created an orb that lights up upon making contact with water through a sensor on the bottom. Dubbed the ‘Inoriboshi‘ (‘prayer stars’), the design of each orb includes one of Panasonic’s HIT photovaltaic cells, an LED chip, and a rechargeable (reportedly solar-powered) battery.

The end result? Take a look for yourself at these photos. 100,000 Inoriboshi ‘fireflies’ transforming the Sumida River into an ethereal, luminous blue water-sky.

Origin of Cool: Kenya

Solar LED Lamp Lights Up Kenyan School

1.5 billion people around the globe remain without access to a stable or safe source of light. WakaWaka aims to change that. It is a solar LED lamp concept that can fit snuggly onto a soda bottle and hopes to hit the market with a low US$10 price tag. 

WakaWaka promises to provide 16 hours of light from one day of solar charge. Should it run on empty when not used for a couple of months, the user can simply charge it in the sun for a couple of hours and it’s good to go.

As part of a Kickstarter initiative, the WakaWaka creators will donate three solar lamps to the students and teachers at the Mwamtsefu school in Kenya for every US$125 pledge or more. The team has already raised over US$34,000! 

WakaWaka is headed by Camille van Gestel, a founder of Off-Grid Solutions, a company that creates feasible and affordable solutions for families who do not have access to electricity. If you want to support this project, WakaWaka Kickstarter pledges start from US$1 and the campaign finishes on January 7. 

By David J Lowe and Paul Frade  
via gizmag 

Light projecting wizards the macula strike again, this time in the Ukraine and using the Ukranian Independence Building as their blank canvas.

Origin of Cool: France

Festival of Lights (La Fête des Lumières)

(English)
Every year, on the 8th of December, the city of Lyon (France) welcomes millions of tourists from all around the world. At first, it was a religious celebration. Now it’s a celebration of arts and lights in the most stunning ways you can imagine. A must-do, at least once in your life!

(Francais)
Chaque année, quand arrive le 8 décembre, la ville de Lyon (France) accueille des millions de touristes venant du monde entier. À l’origine, les lyonnais célébraient la Vierge Marie. Maintenant, on y célèbre plutôt les arts et les lumières de la façon la plus impressionnante que vous pouvez imaginer ! À faire au moins une fois dans sa vie !

Spotted by Cool Connoisseur Julien Valat

Photography by LLudo 

Origin of Cool: Japan

Super Moon Lamp by Eisuke Tachikawa

This lamp represents the Super Moon (the biggest full moon in a cycle of 18 years that was witnessed earlier this year). It is composed of LED lights and is an accurate presentation of the moon, based on the lunar orbiter Kaguya’s 3D topographic data of the moon.

By David J Lowe

via unknownskywalker

Edo Kriegsmann is a German designer with a taste for interactive furniture, furnishings, and fixtures. This includes but is not limited to light-up tables and this illuminated series of steps. The sensor at the bottom, once tripped, starts the sequence of lights leading up to the top of the steps.

Brooklyn based, Chilean artist, Iván Navarro has created ‘Heaven or Las Vegas’ which is a collection of neon light wall sculptures that look like artwork from Tron. Each sculpture is built from floor plans of twelve of the world’s most iconic skyscrapers, including the Flatiron building in New York and the Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai.

By Cool Connoisseur Paul Frade from ‘our ladders are giraffes’ South Africa.

Images courtesy of designboom

Origin of Cool: USA

Light Painting by Dennis Calvert

I’m sure you’ve seen examples of light paintings before but nothing like this. Basically, you need a camera with an adjustable shutter speed and a light source. Dennis Calvert takes these simple needs and takes this art form to another level.

Sent in by Cool Connoisseur Paul Frade from ‘our elephants have 5 legs’ South Africa.

This multi-leveled wallpaper works off three primary colours Red, Green and Blue. It all looks pretty and slightly confusing at first, but when the room is filtered with one of the colours you can see the image allocated to the colour. This was created by Carnovsky a design duo from Italy.

Sent in by Cool Connoisseur Paul Frade from ‘the local witch doctor said today will be a good day’ South Africa.

Remember National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation starring Chevy Chase? Well take away the Christmas lights and replace them with Halloween decorations. Sync up Michael Jackson’s Thriller to the lighting and you have the coolest Halloween decoration ever!