100 years of Philips research

The exhibition ‘100 years of Philips Research’ was designed by NorthernLight for Museum Boerhaave in Leiden, The Netherlands. It offers a choice selection of major innovations by the famous institute, including the vacuum tube, the X-ray tube, the CD and, of course, lighting innovations. The exhibition not only focuses on the practical innovations of Philips, but also highlights the people behind the inventions: presenting personal stories of scientific curiosity, creativity and daring.

More than a hundred years ago, in January 1914, Gilles Holst became the first director of Philips Physics Laboratory in Eindhoven, marking the beginning of what would become Philips Research. The aim of this research laboratory was – and still is – to develop new technologies, to obtain patents and to apply them in new products. This laboratory is behind an impressive number of ground-breaking innovations, which have either have or will have had a dramatic effect on our world.

In addition to presenting innovations of the past, the exhibition explores the latest technological achievements for the future. Visitors entering the exhibition  stand eye to eye with an amazing luminous wall showcasing interactive moving patterns of light and colour that responds to their movements. Another special test case is the interaction between spotlights scattered throughout the exhibition and visitor’s tablets. The spotlights send extra digital information to the tablets, and are one of the first forms of intelligent light in The Netherlands.