Why a "sunlight" laptop might just make you healthier - and only cost $10 more

An R&D company based in Amsterdam is hoping to persuade laptop vendors to integrate sunlight into their next products.

Sadly, Seaborough isn’t offering microscopic nuclear fusion plants to turn hydrogen into helium. Instead, Dr Anne Berends, its Program Director Life Science, realised that sensors could generate part of what constitutes sunlight. And that health benefits would follow.

“The idea is centred around near infrared light,” she explained. “[It’s] invisible but very healthy for people and we know the right dose of near infrared lights to make healthy people even healthier and happier. We aim to bring these near infrared lights into the built environments so that people who spend their days indoors get healthier.”

To demonstrate, Seaborough set up a demo workspace at MWC Barcelona 2024. It featured a USB-powered device, rather than like a standalone webcam, and a laptop with near-infrared lights built into its top. Dr Berends hopes this will “spark enthusiasm” with manufacturers.

Sunlight laptop models

Could what could a Dell Sunlight model do for your health, I asked? “It will make you happier. It will make you feel less sleepy during the day. It will improve your immune system and the rest of your physical health. It will reduce your resting heart rate, which is an important indicator for physical health.”

There’s good news for mental health, too, with Dr Berends comparing the effect to emerging from winter into the “the first days of spring that we can feel here in Barcelona and that are completely absent still in Amsterdam. And [you get] that feeling, that amazing energised feeling of spring, every day.”

When I asked Dr Berends how much this would add to the cost of a laptop – a dollar, five dollars, ten dollars? – she chose the top of our range. So, is it worth it? “I think so, yes!”

Let’s hope that Dell, HP, Honor, Lenovo or one of the many manufacturers here at MWC are similarly inspired. I would happily pay an extra $10 for a laptop that made me feel anywhere close to spring-like by the end of a working day.