Samsung startup designs windows generating artificial sunlight

The latest crop of startups backed by Samsung’s in-house incubator C-Labs includes SunnyFive, makers of an artificial window that supposedly delivers all the benefits of natural sunlight.

The SunnyFive window looks to be similar in function to light therapy lamps marketed to sufferers of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). It outputs the full spectrum of natural light, and can be programmed to mimic the lighting effects of a real window, The Verge reports.

The angle of the light will change throughout the day and incorporates various “sunlight scenarios” — aka sunrise, dawn, dusk, and sunset. A companion app lets users tweak color temperature and brightness, and it’s easy to imagine alarm clock functionality, too.

According to Samsung, the product “helps users synthesize vitamin D while they are indoors or in low-lit places without having to worry about skin aging or sunburn,” and will integrate with the company’s smart home ecosystem, SmartThings.