A weak WiFi signal is the bane of smartphones, resulting in stuttering Instagram pictures, forever buffering Snapchat stories and the incredibly annoying clock icon next to your Whatsapp message instead of the usual check mark. But then a few months ago in the town of Tallinn in Estonia a startup by the name of Velmenni started testing out a new method to transfer those digital ones and zeroes that are essential to our lives and the well being of our livestock in Farmville. Rather than use the radio waves that WiFi standards rely on, LiFi (light-fidelity)harnesses the power of the visible light spectrum. Yeah it’s basically the same thing you read about in The Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks — well not exactly the same thing, but close enough.
Velmenni used a LiFi enabled light bulb to transmit data at speeds of 1 Gbps, though laboratory tests have shown theoretical speeds of 224 Gbps. the LiFi was tested in an office, to allow workers to access the internet and in an industrial space, where it provided a smart lighting solution. At the time CEO Deepak Solanki stated that the technology could reach consumers “within three to four years,” but in true Dubai fashion, we decided to trump that.
That’s right, Dubai will be the first city in the world to test the new standard of transmitting data on a large scale by utilising the city’s street lights. The implementation of LiFi bolsters Dubai’s “Smart City” plan and will be brought about by UAE based tech company Zero 1, who have partnered with with Du to roll out the technology in Silicon Oasis.
“We are currently working with major business to create tailor-made LiFi solutions and to test and validate the applications so that we can ensure we offer the latest in innovation to our valued customers.”
– Saleem Al Balooshi, Executive Vice President at Du
LiFi has been estimated to be almost 10 times more cheaper than WiFi, however, the costs of actually installing the hardware required (linking up those street lights to the internet) are downsides. Furthermore, while it is statistically cheaper, costs are ultimately left to the provider, Du.
But what does this mean to the average user in Dubai?
For those of us with LiFi enabled phones, which in the most case includes modern day smartphones, we would be able to hop onto a LiFi network, that is after a major software update that teaches our phones camera sensors to interpret light data in the form of digits rather than processing them raw. As for transmitting data, smartphones with LEDs, OLEDs and AMOLEDs will be seamlessly be able to send our snapchats out under the glow of a street light. LiFi as stated above is quite fast, with a low end of 1 Gbps, and a laboratory standard of 224 Gbps, so rest assured gamers will no longer be moaning about varying values of ping and Netflix bingers wouldn’t have to wait as their iPads loaded the next episode of Daredevil on the metro.
LiFi is also a great security upgrade; there has been many a time when people have been locked out of their own houses and while they wait for help to arrive, they predicatbly take out their smartphones and, standing near their front door, connect to their own WiFi and go about sharing a Facebook update about being locked out of the home. Or if they’re scrupulous, they’ll stand use their neighbours unprotected WiFi. The problem is however that potential hackers could also connect to your network by doing exactly what you did. Luckily LiFi can’t penetrate walls rendering that form of intrusion ineffective, and while this may seem a problem if you’re in another room from the LiFi source, light reflected off surfaces can still transmit data at high speeds.
Right now the infrastructure is already in place, what remains is the current testing in Silicon Oasis, the regulation of LiFi standards and the installation of hardware across the city that turns the common street light into a LiFi hotspot.
