Control Lighting Using Your iOS Device With ADJ’s Airstream IR

A new app called Airstream IR lets you wirelessly control lighting from ADJ using your iPhone and iPad. Available as a free download on the App Store, Airstream IR is compatible with a variety of ADJ lighting, letting you control parameters up to 20 feet away via an infrared sensor that connects to the headphone port of your iOS device. The IR sensor is sold separately in packs of four.

IR technology has been around for decades, and using the headphone port as a base for the IR transmitter is low cost and ingenious. It’s a clever twist that melds old with the new, but it’d also be cool if there was a version of the app that would be able to control lighting using a modern spec like Bluetooth or WiFi. Of course, that would mean developing new lighting that would support these connectivity options, so we’ll just have to wait and see…

Check the gallery below for a sampling of ADJ lighting that’s currently compatible.

Photo gallery

• The Airstream IR app is available now as a free download in the App Store, while the IR Sensor pack retails for US$19. Check the ADJ website for more details.

Do you bring your own lighting to gigs? What do you think about this new app? Would you rather use something like this, or is a traditional DMX controller more your thing? Let us know below.