Scientists in China have made a key breakthrough in visible light communication (VLC), or Li-Fi technology, increasing the real-time traffic rate to 50 gigabytes per second - fast enough to download a high-def Hollywood movie in two tenths of a second.

Visible light communication (VLC) is a data communications medium that uses visible light between 400 and 800 THz (780-375 nm).

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The breakthrough was announced earlier today by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. China has been working to develop a VLC system as it would be faster and cheaper than the average Chinese broadband connection.

Similar to Wi-Fi, Li-Fi is a wireless communication technology that uses infrared and near ultraviolet spectrum, instead of radio frequency waves. It carries far more information that Wi-Fi or broadband, and is a possible solution to bandwidth limitations.

Li-Fi technology experts say that a one-watt LED light bulb would be able to provide Internet connectivity to up to four computers. It was first demonstrated in 2011 in Scotland by Harald Haas, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, and an expert in optical wireless communications. He shows that an LED bulb equipped with signal processing technology could deliver a high-def movie to a computer.It is estimated that due to increasing amounts of data being sent over the Internet that wired technologies will not be able to carry the load. This makes advances in Li-Fi technology all the more important and urgent.

China is not alone in its interest in Li-Fi technology. Disney has committed a lot of resources into making advances in visible light communication technology. The company's research has targeted a full system design that includes hardware prototypes, communication protocols, and applications.

Using the technology, Disney was able to create a magic wand with an LED that triggers light effects on a princess dress that has LEDs embedded into its. When the magic wand is pointed toward the dress, it lights up.

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