TED Talk bets on Li-Fi to replace Wi-Fi

A recent TED Talk in London demonstrated Internet capabilities using off-the-shelf LEDs and solar cells rather than the standard wireless infrastructure.

Communications technology innovator Harald Haas said data can be transmitted incredibly fast using light - encoded in subtle changes of the brightness - and it's also safe and secure. He introduced the light fidelity, or Li-Fi, idea at a TED Talk in 2011.

Part of his motivation: 4 billion people live in places without Internet access. This technology could build that bridge, Haas said.

"There will be a massive extension of the Internet to close the digital divide, and also to allow for what we call 'The Internet of Things' - tens of billions of devices connected to the Internet," he said.

Read more and watch the video at TED.com.