Signify: New app and SpaceSense technology for WiZ smart lighting system

Many innovations await you in the ecosystem of lighting manufacturer Signify. The company is launching a brand-new, improved app and introducing advanced features and exciting new products.

SpaceSense: Sensor technology works with WLAN

Signify’s WiZ app is getting a major overhaul for the first time since its launch in 2016. The app is considered the centerpiece of the WiZ ecosystem, which expanded in June to include a host of new products, making all features possible.

One new feature, for example, is the innovative SpaceSense technology. Thanks to Wi-Fi sensor technology, this allows WLAN signals to be used to detect the movements of people. This should even work without any additional sensors.

All that is needed is minimal interference with the WLAN signals when people move around the room, so that WiZ luminaires can detect whether movement is taking place in the room. Detection is omnidirectional, without the need for a direct line of sight as required by a traditional motion sensor using passive infrared technology (PIR).

SpaceSense automatically illuminates rooms and turns on the lights only when a person enters the room in question. The sensitivity of the sensor system can also be conveniently adjusted. This ensures that pets do not always turn on the light when they move.

Safety first

The basic requirement, however, is at least two WiZ products in a room, which must be connected using the new version of the app.

“At WiZ, our goal is to make smart lighting more accessible and even more effective for everyday life. With the launch of the SpaceSense feature, we are taking another big step on this journey”, reveals Danny Lousberg, head of software product management at WiZ.

To protect privacy and security, SpaceSense detects movement based solely on changing Wi-Fi signals. Exact location and faces are not captured, according to the manufacturer. In addition, the captured data is processed only locally, without the system accessing the Internet or a cloud.

However, you can simply deactivate the technology if you wish. SpaceSense can be used by most WiZ lighting solutions released since September 2021, as well as all Connected by WiZ products. This includes products such as Philips Smart LEDs and other OEM and private brands that support WiZ.

New features

However, the WiZ app will also be equipped with many other useful features. For example, the user experience has been improved by making it even more intuitive to use. The app is designed to respond and adapt to individual lighting needs.

All rooms can be displayed and selected directly on the start screen, providing an overview of the lights used there. These can be switched on and off, while information on the set brightness is also immediately visible. Once the desired room has been selected, the brightness can be regulated and the lighting mood easily adjusted.

Another new feature is the ability to use short commands to adjust the lighting even more quickly and in a variety of ways. Once set up, the lights can thus be adjusted with just one click and, if desired, even with their own short commands for each individual light source.

With the improved light scene management, you can create your own light scenes even easier. To do this, you can take a photo of the room from within the app and then save all the current settings for the room in a scene. Afterwards, all the lights in the scene created in this way can be further adjusted.

This even continues to work when you want to add or remove an additional light, all without having to re-record and re-adjust the scene to do so. Scenes can be accessed via app, WiZmote or with a voice assistant.

Better overview of power consumption

How much power the lights consume can also be viewed even more easily in the new WiZ app, and this can be done for each light individually, while an overall value can also be displayed. The subcategory “Energy consumption” can be found in the “Settings” of the WiZ app. Furthermore, the app shows in real time the power consumption of individual rooms or even individual devices.

WiZ outdoor light chain introduced

Signify also unveiled a new product in the form of the WiZ Outdoor String of Lights, which marks the first WiZ outdoor lighting product. It joins the manufacturer’s line-up from October 2022, which has recently been expanded to include, for example, the WiZ Mobile table lamp, WiZ Pole floor lamp, WiZ Bar Linear Light, new ceiling lamp and spotlights, and other lamps.

The outdoor light chain creates the right mood outdoors for the autumn, Advent and Christmas season and allows lighting effects in 16 million different colors. It is waterproof and weatherproof, but can of course also create the right mood indoors if desired.

The dynamic light mode also lets you customize the festive lighting. The 12 LED lights randomly illuminate in different colors, which can be pre-determined depending on the selected light mode.

In addition, the WiZ Ambiente Lightstrip with a length of four meters, which creates a cozy, indirect light if desired, which can also be conveniently placed around objects thanks to the flexible design.

Price and availability

The new, free WiZ app, including the SpaceSense function, will be available for download from the end of September 2022. Signify’s WiZ panels will also follow before the end of September, available in square or rectangular shapes and with an MSRP of €69.99 (12W), €109.99 (36W, square) and €129.99 (36W, rectangular) respectively.

In October, the WiZ Outdoor light chain will follow at an MSRP of 119.99 euros, as well as the WiZ Ambiente Lightstrip for 34.99 euros. Many WiZ products are available, for example, at Amazon.