Last fall Aqua Illumination unveiled their next generation LED light codenamed Phoenix and then officially named the AI Vega. With a foundation of top of the line LEDs, custom designed lenses and a robust active cooling platform, the AI Vega is poised to deliver a lot of high quality, efficient light. But the real innovations of the AI Vega lie in its 20 channels of LED control, wireless interface and a redesigned AI Controller which is bursting at the seams with ground breaking features. 

We begin our review of the AI Vega by taking a close look first at the brains of the operations, the AI controller. Aqua Illumination’s new controller is an order of magnitude more capable and versatile than its predecessor with wireless and wired connectivity. You can wire in to AI Sol and AI Nano LED lights with the 1/8th inch audio jack like before, you can wirelessly hookup to the AI Vega and you will also be able to get the wireless adapter for AI Sols and AI Nanos to go all wireless. Better yet, the AI Controller can simulataneously control a mixed number of Vegas, Sols and Nanos which are clearly labeled as such within the program settings of the AI controller.

When we first dove into our AI vega and controller the light was quickly recognized by the light and programming in manual mode was extremely easy, if just a little bit tedious since our AI Vega Color has seven colors to individually adjust. Once connected the AI Controller automatically updated the firmware to the latest version, from the controller straight to the AI Vega. One of the most thoughtful features of the AI Controller was the “Coral Acclimation” setting which allows the user to set a period of days to weeks to a certain percentage of overall brightness – so you can reduce overall brightness to 50% for a duration of two weeks to ensure that your precious overpriced chalice corals can acclimate to the new lighting environment.

Keep in mind that if you already have a significant investment on legacy AI Sol and AI Nano LED lights you too can benefit greatly from all the awesome new features of the AI Controller. Like the new AI Vega the Sols and Nanos will be individually addressable using the wireless adapter making for super sweet coast to coast weather simulation and more realistic sunrise and sunset recreation. As excited as we are about the AI Controller perhaps the best thing from Aqua Illumination is yet to come with the new AI Director and MyAI cloud based controlling platform which will interface with Aqua Illumination LED products via the new controller. Color us impressed by the new AI Controller which plays nice with the cutting edge Vega as well as the Legacy Sols and Nanos, a move which shows that AI really cares about the customers who’ve supported the company over the years and we can’t wait to see how the online features of AI Director and MyAI will work when fully revealed at MACNA.