Lighting control company Lutron has released their most substantial product since acquiring lighting manufacturer Ketra in April 2018.
By combining Lutron’s 60 years of experience with Ketra’s advanced lighting system, the partnership allowed the creation of the HomeWorks software platform: a completely customizable residential lighting system.
The new system allows residents to control up to 200 light sources through Lutron’s residential mobile app or wall-mounted keypads. HomeWorks can be connected to several voice control tools as well, such as Google Home and Amazon Echo. Color, intensity, and temperature of lights can be customized, with additional atmospheric themes and natural sunlight options.
Lutron says these capabilities allow homeowners to create any atmosphere imaginable through the HomeWorks lighting system. A commercial version of the system, Athena, launched in June.
“The combination of Lutron’s best-in-class controls and shading solutions and Ketra’s bold and beautiful light changes the paradigm of how we experience indoor environments,” says Horace Ho, co-founder and COO of Ketra. “We will continue to invest heavily in R&D to ensure that Ketra remains on the cutting edge as our technologies evolve.”
Benefits from the system include natural dimming, lighting, vibrancy, Color Lock technology, TruBeam optics, and enhanced visuals. All functions are available through Ketra’s advanced LEDs which can produce 17 million different colors. Other LEDs on the market typically have a palette of warm or cool white tones with limited variety, the company says.
Ketra entered the lighting scene 10 years ago and unveiled their most notable innovation, the Natural Light system. The company created lights with the ability to mimic natural light inside a home throughout the day. HomeWorks has this function and can bring the exact color temperature and intensity of sunlight into the home. Natural light functions can also help for outdoor connectivity while residents remain indoors, the company says.
As the sun shifts during the day, so does the perception of colors and hues. Consumers can play with the shifting light to see themselves at any time of day, especially helpful for fashion and beauty, the company says.
Curated ambiances can help set a mood in any room. For example, Ketra lights can be set as bright, cool-toned white, which can help with productivity. Or, if more intimate atmospheres are needed for a dinner party, the lights can produce deeper, warmer shades much like the flame of a candle.
HomeWorks can be programmed to enhance vibrancy. The company describes this function as a “photo filter in real life.” By changing light angles, intensity, and temperature, colors can be perceived as ultra-saturated or muted. For clients with an affinity for art, the system can improve how art looks in a room by reflecting light differently. This feature can be beneficial for interior design, as light has the ability to enhance visuals and control feelings within a space.
Two notable characteristics of Ketra lights are the TruBeam optics and Color Lock technology. The company says competitors’ products are limited in their ability to shine uniform light across wide or narrow beams, but TruBeam optics allow for Ketra lights to retain a homogenized light in any form. Additionally, the company says competitors’ LED lights will eventually change color as the product ages, but Ketra LEDs’ Color Lock technology maintains the color by recalibrating the color 360 times per second.