Another dream or already reality?
Magazine · 2020
Still a dream or already a reality? “Human centric lighting” and its applications Human centric lighting, or “human centric lighting”, is currently on the lips of lighting planners and producers of solutions based on LED technology. But what exactly does this expression mean? Is this a fashion phenomenon or a real technological development in artificial lighting?
Davide Oppizzi Since the dawn of time, artificial lighting has always been centered on human beings and their activities, but technical limitations did not yet make it possible to achieve a real intuitive experience close to nature during human/artificial light interactions. To support our daily activities, humans have never stopped wanting to bring natural light into their homes by any means possible. It represents our first instinctive reference point, with its visual and non-visual physiological effects influencing our biochemistry and the rhythm of our internal clock. It accompanies us in our memory passed down from generation to generation. All our major perceptions of what is visible, and even not visible, involves the quest for natural light. Even its absence is essential to our needs during the time we devote to our rest. Artificially reproducing sunlight and being able to experience indoors from sunrise to sunset has always been a source of fantasies and technological quests. Are we now at the dawn of a new way of illuminating our lives? The era of light “software” Artificial light has until now only been in the domain of “space”, except perhaps for the world of stage lighting and for certain cases of graphic effects used in architecture, controlled by complex and tedious programming. Today, a new technological dimension is emerging: the control of artificial light in “time” as well as the management of the natural shades of the LED multichip, i.e. “dynamic whites” and no longer simple basic RGB or WRGB mixtures used to create more decorative effects. The “space + time” equation allows us to get closer to nature through the artificial creation of melanopic light, a light approaching the natural spectrum, which also evolves over time! This new “software” dimension greatly multiplies the possibilities of scenarios and broadens the range of possible effects, from visual performance and comfort to the quality of sleep (management of the circadian cycle), including alertness, mood and behavior, with consequences on health, learning and expenses.
Like the evolution of smartphones, it is essential to consider LED lighting from the point of view of both “hardware” and “software” aspects: with regard to the “hardware” aspect, LED lighting continues to evolve, but interest is increasingly focused on their ability to be controlled using on-board electronic intelligence (such as management by Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, etc.) via Easy-to-use ergonomic software and applications for both the lighting designer and the end user. This new asset makes it possible to multiply the scenarios at the time of activation in a very flexible and personalized way, and circumvents certain tedious and costly technical constraints during implementation in the architectural space. A benefit for humans and for all species This temporal and chromatic management of lighting is not implemented only in our private or professional spaces. The arrival of programming technologies capable of better managing light sources in urban and extra-urban areas also offers solutions that truly reduce the phototoxic impact on an ecosystem under constant pressure, saturated today by light pollution and the alteration of the natural cycle, even if light is not the only one responsible. This light pollution is recognized in the 2016 European law for the recovery of biodiversity. It is defined as follows: artificial light which alters the natural day/night cycle (night time) and which, consequently, can affect living organisms and their ecosystems. Thanks to the programming of outdoor lighting systems, it is now possible to combine security, variation in the number of people in inhabited areas, reduction in light intensity and modification of the colorimetric spectrum during the hours when the light is useless, while returning so-called “black” areas to nature so that sensitive species requiring darkness can continue their reproduction cycle without being disrupted in their photobiological cycle. This, without counting the colossal electrical energy savings that can be achieved thanks to these intelligent lighting solutions. Light and memory Light and lighting adapted to human beings allow them to see in order to carry out their various daily tasks quickly, safely and precisely. Sensor, transporter and transcoder of photons and part of the electromagnetic spectrum, the eye is a sophisticated vehicle which allows man not only to see, but also to watch and memorize. See to appreciate, look to choose, to understand, to feel emotions, to memorize the present useful for future decisions and to express feelings in a world of precision and speed of action. We experience all these visual perceptions through memory. An example? As part of a project to improve the lighting conditions of watchmakers' workbenches producing high-end executions, the Dcube.swiss agency was confronted with a phenomenon difficult to overcome by technology: the habits anchored by time in the memory and in the construction of meticulous gestures carried out daily by these master craftsmen. Indeed, it would seem that they had become accustomed for years to correcting and compensating the perception of what they saw by using basic fluorescent-type luminaires, present for many years in the factory. From then on, any new generation LED lamp presented to them, although endowed with qualities far superior to those of their old workbench lamp in terms, among other things, of color temperature, color rendering index (CRI) or glare (UGR), was never suitable. The feedback was mostly based on the fact that they could no longer see "like before"... It's a bit like cycling for years with a bike with crooked handlebars, correcting the distortion to go straight, and suddenly switching to a bike with straight handlebars. There is a strong chance that this correction anchored in memory will make us go directly to the neighboring field... The solution to this problem, developed with specialized work ergonomists, consisted of changing not only the workbench lamp, but also a good part of the watchmakers' working environment in order to cause a more marked break. Reproduce a cycle adjusted to the natural clockTo achieve a dynamic lighting capable of creating cyclical light imitating a full day, a luminaire must mainly be able to change its color spectrum and vary its light intensity at the right time. What was mentioned above then comes into play: intelligent management of the equipment by software.
Since the dawn of time, artificial lighting has always been centered on human beings and their activities, but technical limitations did not yet make it possible to achieve a real intuitive experience close to nature during human/artificial light interactions. To support our daily activities, humans have never stopped wanting to bring natural light into their homes by any means possible. It represents our first instinctive reference point, with its visual and non-visual physiological effects influencing our biochemistry and the rhythm of our internal clock. It accompanies us in our memory passed down from generation to generation. All our major perceptions of what is visible, and even not visible, involves the quest for natural light. Even its absence is essential to our needs during the time we devote to our rest. Artificially reproducing sunlight and being able to experience indoors from sunrise to sunset has always been a source of fantasies and technological quests. Are we now at the dawn of a new way of illuminating our lives? The era of light “software” Artificial light has until now only been in the domain of “space”, except perhaps for the world of stage lighting and for certain cases of graphic effects used in architecture, controlled by complex and tedious programming. Today, a new technological dimension is emerging: the control of artificial light in “time” as well as the management of the natural shades of the LED multichip, i.e. “dynamic whites” and no longer simple basic RGB or WRGB mixtures used to create more decorative effects. The “space + time” equation allows us to get closer to nature through the artificial creation of melanopic light, a light approaching the natural spectrum, which also evolves over time! This new “software” dimension greatly multiplies the possibilities of scenarios and broadens the range of possible effects, from visual performance and comfort to the quality of sleep (management of the circadian cycle), including alertness, mood and behavior, with consequences on health, learning and expenses.
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