URC is introducing AI-powered circadian lighting to its Total Control automation platform with the first public release of a control module under the recently established URC Total Control Automation Engine–a technology incubator designed to introduce a variety of tools built on artificial intelligence to its Total Control home automation platform.
What is URC’s Circadian Lighting Utility and How Does it Work?
As described by URC, the new Circadian Utility is an AI-powered lighting module that dynamically adjusts color temperature based on sunrise, sunset, weather and UV data, even being able to detect cloud cover to calculate the optimal lighting adjustments in the home.
Looking at some of the core features, these adjustments can get pretty granular as well. For instance:
- Circadian adjustments can automatically be made down to an individual fixture.
- The module can also be macro’d into other subsystems so that separate automations (like shading or climate) trigger with the same adaptiveness as the lighting.
Despite being designed as an adaptive lighting system, though, URC does say that integrators can go in and fine-tune specific parameters, such as Kelvin minimums and maximums, and even override sunrise and sunset times for custom projects.
URC’s Goals with the New Module: The Homeowner
The goal, as is the case with all circadian lighting systems, is to ensure that cooler color temperatures are bright and present during the day for energy and alertness with lighting shifting to warmer temperatures that dim at night to support relaxation and melatonin production, aiding sleep through reinforcement of circadian rhythms. However, unlike traditional scheduled lighting, this adaptive approach to the system aims to make the movements as natural as possible.
“Lighting has a direct impact on energy, mood, and sleep quality,” said Lars Granoe, VP of Product Development at URC.
“By embedding circadian rhythm intelligence into Total Control, we are giving dealers the tools to deliver environments that feel more natural, healthier, and smarter. This isn’t just about lighting automation; it’s about creating spaces that work with the human body rather than against it.”
“Natural” can have a variety of different meanings, however, in the context of URC’s Circadian Utility module, “natural” means taking the need to manually adjust color temperature or relying on static, time-based presets and have the system make real-time adjustments in response to the sun and nothing else. While this takes the friction out of the user experience, this “natural” approach is a boon to dealers as well.
Where Dealers Benefit from the New Module as Well
If the claims are to be believed, the Circadian Utility module would drastically reduce programming needed by the installer to develop a fully functioning circadian lighting system, which tends to be a pretty complex task. Not only are the requirements to receive full benefits from the system stringent, installers also often have to content with different fixtures behaving in different ways when connected to the same control platform.
Owing to that last part, URC says that the Circadian Utility will integrate many of the leading lighting brands available on its Total Control platform, including:
- Big Ass Fans,
- Colorbeam Lighting,
- Converging Systems in conjunction with AiSPiRE Lighting,
- Home Assistant,
- Govee Lighting,
- Lutron Unified,
- Nanoleaf Lighting,
- Phillips Hue,
- Phillips WiZ,
- and PoeWit Lighting, among many others.
AI, Circadian Lighting, and the Future of Home Automation
With control platforms jockeying for AI advancements in their own separate directions, Total Control’s Automation Engine serves as the company’s primary driver for injecting what the company calls “advanced intelligence” into its control platform, with an emphasis on human-centered design.
“As automation evolves, our focus remains on helping our dealer network deliver smarter, wellness-oriented environments,” URC’s CEO Chang K. Park stated during the company’s earlier AI announcement.
Beyond providing its dealers with sought-after lighting solutions from homeowners, however, URC is also keen on ensuring these modules are developed with dealer-friendly home automation in mind as well. The pendulum can swing both ways in the smart home, and the Circadian Utility highlights how AI-assisted installation can be accomplished in roughly the same breath being used to cater to the needs and wants of homeowners.
It also represents a unique way of looking at the smart home. With the Circadian Utility effectively being a pre-programmed automation module, URC can theoretically tackle what homeowners and integrators want out of an automation simultaneously, leaning into the strengths of AI (that being able to hyper-specialize off of an abundance of context) to create a solution will be able build a compounding intelligence on its platform as more modules are released. Only time will tell if that’s how the program plays out, however.
