The idea for our project Lanpe or its goal was to show how information or events that are connected to the internet can be presented in a practical, useful, and everyday kind of way, without you're having to sit down at your computer. To do this, we had to construct a Lanpe (table lamp) that was able to connect up to the internet via (Wireless) LAN. This Lanpe can check e-mail accounts for incoming mail, monitor prices on the stock market, operate as an alarm clock or turn on a coffee machine by e-mail. In response to such events, the Lanpe can be set to light up or blink one of its three lights or switch on or off the built-in connector. The user may log in on a server via a web interface, or add and configure services, for example, for monitoring prices on the stock market.

Its modular design allows the user to add new kinds of services, in other words, to continually expand the range of functions available to the user. So far the following services have been implemented: E-mail account alert, clock, alarm, stock market alert, and e-mail subject alert.