LuxLab Project update Open the tool

Project update 22 Oct 2026

Two products are live. The Mac app is still being built.

LuxLab works out how bright a room will be from real lighting product files. It comes in three versions.

Updated with v0.21.0

The three products

Open one for what it does, what works today and what is next.

LuxLab MatchClient websiteA quick shortlist of fittings for a spaceLive

Four short questions — or one chat message — and a calculation in the browser produce three suitable fittings from the brand's catalogue, with a way to send the result to the supplier.

A customer or specifier on a lighting brand's own website who wants a quick, plain-language answer.

Any modern browser · No account

Live for OrbitX.

What you can use today

  • Answer four short questions and get three suitable fittings from the brand's catalogue.
  • Or type one chat message with the room size and the light you want; the chat places the best fitting and shows the calculated room.
  • See the number of fittings, average light level, evenness and running cost for each match.
  • Ask a follow-up question and see the fit adjust.
  • Send the result to the supplier as an enquiry with name and contact details.
  • Runs inside a lighting brand's own page, with no account and no project.

Next

  • More lighting brands in the shared registry.
  • Better follow-up questions and adjustments.
  • Smoother lead hand-off and reporting for the supplier.

Not yet

  • Not a full design tool and no saved projects.
  • Estimates only, based on the room details you give. Not a certified lighting design.
  • The chat understands a documented vocabulary, not arbitrary design briefs.
  • Configured for one brand, OrbitX, today.
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LuxLab WebFull toolFull lighting studies and reportsLive

The full browser workspace: draw rooms, place real photometry, calculate, read the metrics and export a report. Projects stay in the browser.

Lighting designers and engineers who need a complete, private study they can report on.

Any modern browser · Free account required

97 lighting files across 20 ranges in OrbitX, plus imported IES files.

What you can use today

  • One or more polygon rooms on a shared floor, with exact wall lengths and undo/redo.
  • The OrbitX catalogue and imported IES files, with aim, tilt and dimming.
  • Direct light plus up to four diffuse bounces, a heatmap, isolux lines and metrics including U0 and U1.
  • A maintenance factor, target compliance and an A4 PDF report.
  • Accounts, roles, an admin dashboard, offline install and project export/import.
  • Ask LuxLab for a new study or about the open project.

Next

  • Openings and furniture, so shadows start to matter.
  • CSV export and glare metrics.
  • Exact 3D product meshes for the catalogue.

Not yet

  • No shadows from openings or furniture yet.
  • Rooms on one floor plane at a time.
  • Type C TILT=NONE IES files only.
  • An engineering aid, not a certified lighting-design package.
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LuxLab ProMac appDesigners who want a native Mac workspaceIn development

The same lighting engine as the web tool, rebuilt as a native Mac app with a Metal 3D viewport, local project packages and no account or cloud dependency.

Lighting designers who work on a Mac and want a fast, offline workspace with native files.

macOS 15 or later, Apple Silicon · No account — projects stay on the Mac

Phase 0

Foundation

Complete

Phase 1

The basics, matching the web tool

Complete

Phase 2

Higher-fidelity light

Not started

Phase 3

Deeper models and file formats

7 of 12 steps

Phase 4

Reports and automation

Not started

Phase 5

Getting it to customers

Not started

Pro 0.1.0 · in development · plan last changed 21 Oct 2026

What already works in the development build

  • A native Mac workspace with a plan, a 3D viewport and live results.
  • Several polygon rooms on one floor, calculated with the same rules as the web tool.
  • Add, aim, tilt, dim and duplicate fittings, with the OrbitX catalogue built in.
  • Save a project as a native package, keep version history and recover unsaved work.
  • Ask LuxLab with your own provider key, stored in the Mac keychain.

Being built

  • Openings and furniture, so a space can have a doorway and objects.
  • File import for IFC4 and DXF.
  • The project-aware assistant that the web tool already has.
  • A project tree with per-object visibility, and calculation zones.

Next

  • Higher-fidelity light: shadows, more bounces and a validation pass.
  • Reports, automation and a command-line path.
  • Licensing, signing and a public release. No date is promised.

Not yet

  • Not on sale and no public download.
  • No shadows or path tracing in the current build.
  • macOS 15 or later on Apple Silicon only.
  • No accounts, cloud sync or shared budgets.
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What we're working on

  • Client websiteMore lighting brands in the shared registry.
  • Full toolOpenings and furniture, so shadows start to matter.
  • Mac appHigher-fidelity light: shadows, more bounces and a validation pass.

No dates are promised. Scope follows what the engine can support honestly.

Latest release

A calmer project update page, with clearer text and simpler controls.

v0.21.0 22 Oct 2026

See what changed in this release

New

  • A chat-first room simulator at /find/chat/. One message with the room size and the kind of light (6 × 4 m lounge, warm and cosy) is parsed locally, three OrbitX candidates are compared and the best fitting is placed in a plan of the room with the real heatmap, fitting count, average maintained lux, evenness, coverage and running cost. Follow-ups such as brighter, 6 × 5 m, cheaper to run, panels or why this one? recalculate or answer from the result. The chat reads the message in the browser and does not call the AI provider; it uses the same catalogue, engine, assumptions and consent-gated lead endpoint as the wizard. The step-by-step finder at /find/ is unchanged and remains the AI-guided path.

Improved

  • The finder build now has two entry points, and the Caddy route resolves /find/chat/ without caching the chat shell.
  • The wizard's welcome and the landing hero link to the chat. npm run smoke:advisor:chat covers the chat flow (missing size, calculation, follow-up, question, lead and outdoor refusal).

See all releases

Good to know

All three products use the same calculation engine and the same OrbitX catalogue. LuxLab is an engineering aid, not a certified lighting design — verify anything that matters.

Limits and how the products fit together

How they fit together

  • One calculation engine: direct light plus up to four diffuse bounces, with the same rules in the web tool, the client website and the Mac app.
  • One catalogue: the full OrbitX library, plus IES files a designer imports.
  • The Mac app's engine is a Swift port checked against the web engine's test rooms, so the two should agree.
  • The client website and the web tool share the same calculation code and report the same kind of result.
  • Every product is an engineering aid. Verify anything that matters independently.

Known limits

All products

  • An engineering aid, not a certified lighting-design package.
  • Results are only as good as the photometry and the room you describe.

Mac app

  • In development: not on sale, no public download and no release date.
  • macOS 15 or later on Apple Silicon only.
  • No shadows or path tracing yet; the 3D view is a preview.
  • No accounts or server-side budgets.

Client website

  • Estimates only, from four answers. Not a full design.
  • One brand configured today; more brands can be added.
  • No saved projects or account.

Full tool

  • No shadows from openings or furniture; up to four diffuse bounces.
  • Rooms on one floor plane.
  • Type C TILT=NONE photometry only.
  • Requires an account; projects live in the browser.