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News
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PRODUCT
OVERVIEW
Firefly Magic® Firefly Lights hit an
emotional chord with millions of adults who fondly remember
chasing Fireflies when they were children. Now those
adults have created their beautiful backyards, they can't
wait to recapture their childhood memories . . . sharing
them with their own children, friends, and family.
Firefly Magic® Firefly Lights are a
new and totally unique product to the Retail marketplace.
Perhaps what we hear most from consumers is, "I
can't believe I've finally found these. . . I've been
wanting something like this for years and didn't know
where I could find them!" Strange as it sounds,
there is a pent up demand for a product that accurately
and reliably recreates the flashing, flickering, and
fading of Mother Nature's real Fireflies.
Firefly Magic® Firefly Lights are easy
to install and use environmentally friendly Solar power.
We also have low voltage models for Landscapers to install.
Two products in one! Firefly Magic® Solar
Powered Firefly Lights can also be used indoors or where
there's no sun, by quickly and easily replacing the two
rechargeable batteries with two standard AA Alkaline
batteries.
BACKGROUND
An Idea
is Born
Stephen Taylor, inventor of Firefly Magic Firefly Lights
lived on a ranch with a pond in North Texas with his
wife Kim. During the spring and summer, fireflies also
know as lightning bugs, would
begin lighting up the evening near the water's edge.
Growing up in Southern California, seeing fireflies flashing
in the evening was a new and fun experience for Stephen,
as he commented, "Someone should invent little lights
that exactly recreate the look of Fireflies for kids
who don’t grow up with them." Kim acknowledged
the idea as they continued to watch Mother Nature's tiny
little creatures with their glowing lanterns dance across
the pond.
Years later, Stephen headed an electronics company,
Sigma Two Group, and the kernel of an idea that began
by a pond in North Texas has grown into a fun and amazing
backyard entertainment lighting product that everyone
can enjoy.
Unique
Patented Technology
Stephen began research on a species of beetle called
Lampyridae, also known as Fireflies or Lightning Bugs.
The objective was to develop a method to accurately recreate
the random and unique flash patterns of fireflies. This
development process included acquiring information from
some of the World’s leading university researchers
on fireflies.
For the uninitiated, fireflies use their flash patterns
to communicate with a potential mate for reproduction.
With over 200 firefly or lightning bug species in the
United States, and 2,000 in the World, the variety of
flash rates and colors was amazing.
Stephen's efforts culminated with the invention of a method for
accurately emulating the visible electromagnetic spectrum
emissions of member species of Arthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera:
Lampyridae by convergence of a programmable software
program, a data memory, a data processor, a clock frequency
timer, and visible light emitting device or devices.
Subsequently, the United States Patent and Trademark
office issued Patent number 7,212,932 to Stephen Taylor
the inventor, and Managing Partner of Sigma Two Group
LLC.
In addition, Patent number D580,074 has also been issued
to Stephen for the unique design of the 'Firefly LED'
used in Firefly Magic 'Fireflies'.
Product
Development
Having developed the technology to accurately mimic
Mother Nature’s real fireflies, the next challenge
was designing products that could use the advanced technology
for a variety of commercial and residential applications.
A milestone came when Stephen was contacted by Sara
Lewis, Professor of Biology and head of firefly research
at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Dr. Lewis wanted
a device so accurately mimicking real fireflies, that
it could be used as a lure for a specific species. Working
closely with Dr. Lewis, Stephen developed battery operated
devices that were used in the scientific study which
was published in the American Naturalist.
The first ‘electronic fireflies’ were manufactured
in California and sold exclusively from Sigma Two’s
Firefly Magic® Website. As popularity increased,
a number of home improvement channels featured the product,
including HGTV, Fine Living, DIY Network, Animal Planet,
and the National Geographic Channel on their program
Science of Summer.
Growth
Sales to commercial venues including zoos, nature museums,
hotels, casinos, restaurants, and even stage and movie
productions increased dramatically. At the same time,
consumer purchases on the Firefly Magic® Website
for backyard ‘Fireflies’ also continued to
increase, as well as requests from retailers and landscapers
who wanted to carry the product.
However, with limited manufacturing capacity in Southern
California, as well as high production costs, traditional
retail channel distribution was not possible. The choice
for Sigma Two Industries was to either continue with
limited production or expand capacity. The decision was
to increase capacity.
Expansion
into the Retail Marketplace
2009 marks Sigma Two Industries' introduction of the
advanced design, consumer friendly Firefly Magic® Firefly
Lights products, the Model FMS-07 and FMS-14, with 7
or 14 individual electronic 'Fireflies''. Both models
can operate on either renewable solar energy, or for
indoor use, on standard AA alkaline batteries.
Using the newest and most reliable laminated solar panels,
along with high tech microprocessors and custom developed
and patented Light Emitting Diodes, the new, high quality
Solar & AA Battery powered Firefly Magic® Firefly
Lights are a truly unique entertainment lighting product
for backyards, gardens, and even indoors.
For 2009, Sigma Two Group LLC will be building a network
of retailers across the US who want to bring fun, excitement,
and enjoyment of Firefly Magic® Firefly
Lights to their customers. With the broad appeal of the
amazing electronic 'Fireflies', Sigma Two has shown the
product markets well at a variety of retail venues, including:
garden and landscape centers, gift stores, museum, discovery,
and zoo shops, water garden pond stores, wedding shops,
RV Centers, novelty, party, and holiday theme stores,
pool and spa centers, and hardware stores.
For consumers interested in immediately
obtaining Firefly Magic® Firefly Lighting
for their backyard or garden, just visit http://www.FireflyMagic.com