Patent ID: 8253338

Claim:
A progressive, directing lighting system comprising: a plurality of sensing or detecting devices each comprising at least one sensor for detecting a change in environmental conditions selected from the group consisting of movement of at least one object or person, a change in temperature, a change in pressure, a presence of smoke above a predefined concentration, and a presence of toxic gas above a predefined concentration; a plurality of illuminating devices comprising a tile with a transparent or translucent surface and at least one light source located substantially parallel to an edge of a light-guiding substrate located behind the surface; wherein the illuminating devices are illuminated according to environmental conditions detected by the sensing or detecting devices; wherein the sensing or detecting devices and the illuminating devices are directly connected or are connected to the same wired or wireless network; and wherein the sensing or detecting device contains either hardwired logic or a processing unit and a memory with processor executable instructions for detecting a change in environmental conditions selected from the group consisting of movement of at least one object or person, a change in temperature, a change in pressure, a presence of smoke above a predefined concentration, and a presence of toxic gas above a predefined concentration; and in response to detecting the change in environmental conditions, instructing the plurality of illuminating devices to illuminate in a sequence that both illuminates the perimeter of a structure having an exit and indicates the location of the exit.