Editorial Volume 82 No 2 February 2017 President Kevin Grigg, Eng Tech, AMILP Chief Executive Richard G Frost BA(Cantab) DPA HonFIAM Editor Nic Paton Email: nic@cormorantmedia.co.uk Editorial Board Tom Baynham MEng MA (Cantab) Emma Cogswell IALD Mark Cooper IEng MILP Graham Festenstein CEng MILP MSLL IALD John Gorse BA (Hons) MSLL Alan Jaques IEng MILP Gill Packham BA (Hons) Nigel Parry IEng FILP Richard Webster Art Director Adriano Cattini Email: adriano@matrixprint.com Advertising Manager Andy Etherton Email: andy@matrixprint.com Published by
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quite like the idea of autonomous vehicles (AVs). I do drive, but it’s not something I hugely enjoy; I wouldn’t go out at a weekend and drive for pleasure, for example. If I need to travel for work, I tend to take the train when I can, as then it’s not ‘dead’ time; I can get some work done, sort out planning or paperwork or just carve out some reflection and thinking time. For me, an autonomous car, where you can get on with ‘stuff’ while it does the driving bit, holds much the same attraction. But I appreciate I’m probably in something of a minority here. Most of us are very much wedded to our cars and the independence, convenience and flexibility they offer in terms of getting from A to B. The idea of giving over control of our motoring to a load of computers and sensors, even if statistically it is, more often than not, human error that causes accidents, is something many people feel distinctly uncomfortable about. To that end, I’m not holding my breath about AVs becoming the norm, the predominant form of transport, on our roads anytime soon. It’s going to be many years, decades probably, before this transition comes about. However, I do also suspect it is a transition that will happen eventually (or some variant of it), not least because of the level of investment, R&D and commitment being put into AVs. I suspect it’ll be a gradual evolution. It’ll probably be a case of more and more elements of the conventional road-handling experience being ‘driven’ by the computer (already, of course, things like self-parking and autonomous cruise control are increasingly common) until, almost without noticing, we’re effectively behind the wheel of an AV. This is why, as we’ve done in this edition, it is important for lighting professionals to be thinking about how this evolution – this transition to increasingly ‘smart’ forms of mobility – may in time change highway, street and urban lighting. Horace Rackham, one of the original shareholders in the Ford Motor Company, famously ignored the advice of the president of the Michigan Savings Bank not to put his money into the firm because, ‘the horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.’ Street, highway and urban lighting are not going to change overnight because of AVs. But it is clear AVs, much like the smart city, very much have the potential to change lighting profoundly. And lighting professionals, much like Horace Rackham, will need to be ready to respond to and embrace this opportunity when it comes around. Nic Paton Editor
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March ISSUE CIVIC PRIDE?
GAME ON
CIRCLE OF LIGHT
Local authorities will make or break the roll-out of ‘smart’ cities. But do they understand it, or even know what they want?
How lighting design is embracing virtual reality and gaming technologies
Understanding the ‘circular economy’, and why it’s going to become increasingly important
Lighting Journal February 2017