The Philips Hue app will sync your lighting to your music, games, and video

Signify’s new Philips Hue Sync, a free app that lets you synchronize your Philips Hue smart lighting system with games, videos, and music played on a Windows 10 or macOS Sierra computer.

By adding the element of synchronized lights to your gaming, movie-watching, and music-listening experiences, the free app will provide a new level of immersion while you enjoy your entertainment. For example, when watching a serene ocean scene, your Philips Hue bulbs will bathe the living room in shades of blue and green. When playing a video game, the bulbs will flash with every explosion on the screen, further immersing you in an alternate reality. When listening to your favorite songs, the lights will dance along to the beat of the music.

To experience the capabilities of Philips Hue Sync, users select an audio, video, or gaming mode from the control panel of the app. Users can adjust the brightness level and speed of the lights, and can even select among subtle, moderate, high, and intense nodes. When listening to music, users can choose what color schemes they want to see depending on what genre of music they are enjoying. For example, brighter colors may work well with dance music, while softer pastel shades would go nicely with peaceful easy-listening music.

“Following several entertainment pilots, we’ve refined the way lighting can be used with games, music, and video. Philips Hue Sync offers a unique way to simply match light effects to consumers’ content in a fast and synchronized way, delivering an engaging, immersive experience,”Signify’s Jasper Vervoort said in a statement.

To showcase Philips Hue Sync’s functionality, Signify teamed up with Disney Music Group to premiere a music video from the new a cappella artist, DCappella. The group sings Immortals, a track from Disney’s Big Hero 6 film. Fans watched the new video in 360 degrees while being bathed in dancing lights.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with the team working on Philips Hue Sync with this 360-degree video, to showcase this next-level engagement with music video content. This technology enhances the vibrant color spectrum of DCappella’s Immortals music video and brings their amazing voices to life in a brilliant sensory experience, available today in your home,” Disney Music Group’s Rob Souriall said in a statement.