We had a sneaking suspicion that there was an ulterior motive behind Raleigh getting lit up as the "world's first LED city," and aside from savings tons of dough on energy bills over the next decade or so, it seems to make motorists feel a good bit safer, too. According to a before and after survey conducted by Mindwave Research, the number of respondents who "perceived the garage as very safe increased by 76-percent after the LED fixtures were installed." Admittedly, the newfangled lighting certainly added a new level of brightness to the situation, and the number of individuals who gave the garage an overall rating of "excellent" increased by 100-percent in response. The (unnecessarily lengthy) survey also added a few more minor figures to further prove that LED lighting is simply superior to the other stuff , but we're not yet sure if Cree will successfully use this ammunition to grab even more contracts to freshen up the city lights.

While it's no secret that LEDs light up the night in a more efficient (albeit expensive) manner, few locales have given the idea of lighting up the town en masse with LEDs any serious consideration. In a feat that would surely oust Brussles' Dexia Tower in terms of magnitude, city officials in Raleigh, North Carolina are hoping to make the Capital City the "world's first LED city." Reportedly envisioned by the mayor, officials are teaming up with RTP-based Cree, Inc. in order to "save money and help the environment," and in a pilot program completed late last year, a LED-equipped parking deck purportedly burned "40-percent less energy" than those with "standard lighting systems." Additionally, the quality and brightness of the lighting was said to have improved, which paved the way for LEDs to hit up street lights, architectural and accent lighting, and pedestrian and walkway lights over the next 18 months. If things go as planned, the entire city will "convert permanently to LED lighting," hopefully saving around $80,000 a year in parking deck utility bills alone -- and hey, if nobody in charge can figure out how to use an extra 80 large per year, there's a few potholes craters on Hillsborough Street that could use some attention.

[Via TWW]

In an apparent attempt to convert the average office building into something akin to a landing strip, Takuro Osaka is hitting the public with a showing of his "cosmic art" by illuminating opposing sides of the 18-story M-INT Koba building, slated to open for business on October 4th. Osaka, a professor at the University of Tsukuba and the owner of a "light art studio," led the push to have 2,880 blue LEDs installed on the building's west side, which will glow (or not) based on the amount of cosmic radiation surrounding it at any given time. The LEDs' sensors transform "cosmic energy" into pulses of illumination, ensuring a constant light show that's, um, never consistent. Apparently there's no actual utility in the smattering of lights (besides great publicity, of course), but for Osaka, it's one step closer to getting his "enlightening" artwork to a gallery where it would really shine: outer space.

[Via Pink Tentacle]