As 2020 draws to a close, we’d like to thank all our partners for pulling together on what has been a year of unparalleled challenges. The Covid-19 pandemic reconfigured our operations and business relationships in ways no one could fully envision.
And yet, despite the challenges and hardships, we’ve also strengthened our relationships and identified new opportunities. In fact, we look forward to 2021.
We’ve been hard at work on two long awaited product launches. The first one will bring the benefits of our research-verified illusions of nature to new clinical spaces. The second one will bring therapeutic depth and deeper biophilic enhancement to our flagship SkyCeiling line.
In the 1Q of 2021, we look forward to introducing new protective hardware for our Digital Cinema product line. SafeViewTM is a protective casing featuring a beveled trim, tamper-proof fittings, and perimeter modifications that will make our monitor-based, wall systems accessible to behavioral health clinicians that have long sought them out for diverse therapeutic settings.
SafeView will bring our popular Digital Cinema Virtual Window, eScape 2.0TM, and our Digital Cinema Aquarium, eSeaTM, to mental health environments that require tamper-proof and anti-ligature compliant products for key patient areas within their facilities.
Also scheduled in 1Q 2021, our Next Generation SkyCeiling, I R I S, will generate a patented circadian illusion. After years of observation and development, we’ve succeeded in deepening the experience of our illusory skies.
I R I S is engineered to incorporate a vivid temporal dimension to our perceived open space illusions by faithfully recreating the sunrise-to-sunset arc. Details on the unique light engineering and alternating algorithms that give rise to I R I S will be forthcoming.
However, I can’t help but to reveal just a little bit more. Unlike circadian lighting systems available on the market that rely on rectilinear blue voids, set within a light fixture perimeter, I R I S underscores visual elements that foster biophilic engagement.
I R I S is filled with the kind of life our visual brain understands through composition, scale, perspective, layers, volume, spatial hierarchies, and temporal color cues. Light is life and its range goes far beyond the color temperature and brightness settings typical of tunable lighting.
Like all life forms, light has a pulse. Therefore, I R I S has a pulse––seasonal and diurnal––but also one we experience as dynamic modulated daylight, a consequence of the organic and subtle movement of cloud patterns passing overhead. Don’t miss the launch of our latest SkyCeiling in 2021.
On a separate note, here are a few highlights from 2020 that I’d like to recap with you.
Flex-time Continuing Education
In response to the on-going pandemic, we incorporated continuous virtual presentations to give anyone looking for learning credits more flexibility, allowing anyone to drop in at a moment’s notice on product presentations and approved courses for credit. Please note that we appreciate your feedback anytime as our digital outreach programs evolve to meet your demands. We are all ears and eyes to your suggestions.
Thought Leadership & Best in Class
2020 has been incredibly challenging, but it has also been a halcyon year for Sky Factory. For the first time in our history, we presented peer-reviewed research on the benefit of our products in three top-tier international forums––all in September:
· European Healthcare Design Conference
· Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA)
· HealthConnect Partners Fall Conference on Radiology Imaging
Our new products also received top recognition from the architectural design community. In August, thanks to your votes, we earned two Popular Choice Awards at the 8th Annual Architizer A+ Awards.
We are deeply grateful to all of you who took the time to vote. This year’s Architizer contest tallied over 400,000 online votes that earned the Aperture SkyCeiling, our first virtual skylight with a new mechanical design, and the INFINITY SkyCeiling, our first suspended system for exposed ceilings, this unique distinction.
A month later, at The Architect’s Newspaper Best of Products Awards, Aperture SkyCeiling captured the architectural jury’s attention by earning the top award in the Commercial Lighting, Electrical Systems category.
These three awards extend Sky Factory’s tradition of excellence in product design. With much gratitude, we thank all our clients, colleagues, and partners for supporting Sky Factory’s nature-inspired, evidence-based design methodologies of manufacturing to create products that enrich and sustain life.
Last, but certainly not least, we wish you and your families a safe holiday season. We look forward to 2021 and hope to be of service to you and your clients.
Warm Regards,
Skye Witherspoon, CEO
Lauren Steingreaber, President
