LIFX’s new smart bulb emits light you can’t actually see

LIFX is announcing two new smart lighting products today: a light strip and another bulb. Both work more or less how you’d expect a smart light to work, but the bulb comes with one slightly unusual feature — the ability to emit infrared light.

For the vast majority of people, this is probably not going to be all that useful. But LIFX has one very specific use case in mind, where having some infrared lights around your house could be pretty helpful: security cameras.

To see at night, a lot of security cameras rely on infrared, which they shine out like an invisible spotlight. With the addition of some infrared bulbs around a room, a security camera that relies on IR should have a farther and clearer look at whatever it’s monitoring.

The new bulb is called LIFX+ and will be available as a standard A19 bulb and as a BR30 flood light. Both sell for $79.99. Like all of LIFX’s other products, they rely on Wi-Fi, which makes setup and connectivity fairly easy (so long as your signal’s strong).

The light strip is called the LIFX Z and will sell for $89.99. It’s 2-meters long and includes eight “zones” per meter that can be programmed to different colors. One-meter extensions are available for $29.99. Both new products are supposed to begin shipping sometime in November.