WARP9 - Kim Lighting

WARP9 TM
Low Visual Signature Technology
DESIGN LOGIC:
The Disappearing Act
Modern technology produced Kim Lighting’s
new WARP9 luminaires, but the camouflage
principles behind it were learned instinctively
from nature thousands of years ago. WARP9’s
fundamental approach is the same as those
used by wildlife and hunters for millennia:
hide, blend, and deceive.
There are two basic elements of camouflage:
shape and color.
WARP9 capitalizes on both of these
principles in unique ways to reduce
perceptual attraction and luminaire detection.
First, WARP9 utilizes a computer generated
low-profile compound curve design to create
a natural compact top arc that reflects the
sky from normal viewing angles. This breaks
up the luminaire’s outline, disrupting its
silhouette and evening out its 3-dimensional
surface, making it more difficult to see as one
object. This reduces visual mass, and allows
the viewer to envision the entire site without
disruptive and massive luminaire shapes to
draw attention away from architecture and
landscape. Second, WARP9 utilizes a hollow
mounting arm that gracefully blends with the
housing, and minimizes its visual signature.
Kim Lighting has also developed a unique
color scheme to further reduce the
luminaire’s visual signature.
VISUAL STEALTH TECHNOLOGY :
New Stealth Gray Finish
Color is essential to camouflage, as its similarity to
the primary background will tend to break up that
area of the outline and blend the shape away from
normal detection. Over 100 painted samples were
tested and reviewed to determine how well they
matched the predominant colors of contemporary
architecture, typical horizons, and northern
hemisphere skies. These were then narrowed down
to a few prototype samples that were field tested
for visual acuity, perception attraction, and detection
reduction. The result is Kim Lighting’s new Stealth
Gray finish option featuring a light gray hue
suitable for any outdoor environment. However,
designers can select from a wide variety of standard
and custom finishes depending on application and
immediate background surface coloration.
6 KIM LIGHTING