If only we can somehow hook up to the sun.

I found this TED talk very illuminating

Incredible!
I hope this tech gets the attention it deserves... the possibilites are endless, and it simply makes perfect sense !

Great job

There's a reason why this never caught on (there were similar technologies for wireless routers out there for years). You need a line-of-sight. Or at least good white or reflective surfaces around. Every time your roommate passes by or you shift your head, the connection drops. It's basically no different than having an optic cable running from your lightbulb to your computer.

And you still have only one channel per LED, no matter how wide the spectrum is.

This idea is severely limited and in most cases it has no advantage over wired network.

Putting line-of-sight back into telecomm. Just what we all need.

#4, #5: The guy's demonstrating this with a projector in the middle of a room that's lit with normal light. If the whole room were fitted with data transmitting bulbs, you could have the receiver tucked under a chair and the slightest bit of reflected light that would bounce off the carpet on the floor would carry the signal and work.

The only problem here is transmitting data. The lights bring data to you, but you have to send data too to request that youtube video.

#6 if you bring internet to every lightbulb, this is much more complicated than just plugging it into the computer (and modulating the entire power supply is just dangerous and unreliable). And you must still be careful not to cover the receiver with your hand or something. I'm just saying this idea is putting unnecessary additional stage of transmission and brings nothing new.

#6 And how is that more efficient than wifi?

This is a joke, it will never catch on, it just creates more complexity to an existing problem.

Humanity was close to this technological milestone from the time of fiber optics already. Data through illumination aka wireless optics. Simple, efficient and harmless. Within some years we'll communicate through light with everything. Thumbs up for ppl who make this happen.

I was thinking about this for years! Glad there's something happening ( i have yet to see this video).

how does this work outside,
how does this work in the dark,
how does this work if I turn around with my mobile phone and have the light source on my back,
how is secure if you have windows?

Just a couple of thoughts I had during this video

And God said... "Let there be light"

he makes some good points but, but #12 brings up important issues as well.

in my opinion you only can use this when part of a hybrid system.
if you turn around, move your phone in a box, in your trousers or whereever,
it would be offline.

the infrastructure is NOT there. you would still need to modify 14 drillion light bulps.

interessting in a supporting way. maybe as an extender for hot spots. but otherwise i really dont see this working

hmmm maybe handy for future space flights?

I wonder who the bright spark was that thought of this bright idea?

probably this is how Aliens are communicating

#8: how is this better than wifi? how about being harmless? how about being long-range? and simpler? and have more bandwidth?

What about infrastructure? you already have powerline networking, just plug a router in your bedroom, another in your living room, and you have a network. This isn't that much different, except it's wireless.

now #12 posted a good question: windows. Anyone outside your home will be able to catch the info you're throwing around aiming a "camera" at your window. But of course this has to have encryption, just like you have on wifi.

I like the idea very much and hope, that soon according devices are available.
As mentioned above, the back channel has to be designed the same way.
It seems to be obvious, that the system is similar in usage like bluetooth or WLan and mostly not like UMTS.
Because of this, perhaps not the bandwith is the most important advantage, but the potential privacy.
A further important advantage is the choice of the communication partner not by frequency, but by geometrical position.
By this a channel can be opened by pointing the device to a visible light source intentionally and without dealing the frequency before starting communication.
Furthermore the possibility to bundle light to a thin ray and by this to do communication over certain distances without giving others a chance to read the data, except positioning themselves in exactly this ray, should be very interesting (when air is clean).

It would be great if your tail lights could tell the head lights behind you that at your current speed you will hit me and that car would apply breaks.

Pity all the paranoids who will now have to pull their tinfoil hats down over their eyes to stop the CIA beaming thoughts into their heads through the table lamps, and who'll end up bumping into everything.

Awesome, now my tinfoil suit can reflect more data!

If you want to pair a device with another first turn on bluetooth or follow https://bluetoothwindows10.com/ the guideline on it.