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Bayesian estimation of visual discomfort
David Lindel¨of
∗
and Nicolas MorelSolar Energy and Building Physics Laboratory (LESO-PB)Ecole Polytechnique F´ed´erale de Lausanne (EPFL)CH-1015 Lausanne, SwitzerlandJanuary 16, 2007
∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +41 21 693.55.56; fax: +41 21 693.27.22; email: david.lindelof@epfl.ch
1
Bayesian estimation of visual discomfortThis article proposes a formalism for quantifying visual discomfort as afunction of those physical variables that are available for measuring ormodeling. Expressed as a visual discomfort probability, it relies on the user’sown classification of visual conditions as comfortable or uncomfortable toderive, via bayesian inference, the probability that a given visual situationwould be judged uncomfortable by the user. The distribution of the variablesbefore and after the user’s adjustments of the visual environment are themodel’s inputs. Discomfort probability functions for the users of the LESO-PBbuilding are derived from the distribution of the horizontal workplaneilluminance. We also discuss how this model is intended to complement a solarshading and electric lighting controller.Keywords: smart control, Bayes’s theorem, adaptation to user, visual discomfort.2
1 Introduction
Visual discomfort of building users, because of the multiplicity of variables involved andthe difficulty of reconciling aesthetic and physiological elements, remains difficult to fullyunderstand. Yet it is important to develop a framework in which the visual discomfort canbe expressed numerically. Building designers need tools to assess the lighting quality intheir designs, especially when daylight is a major component, and designers of blinds’ andelectric lighting control algorithms often need a numerical expression of the lighting’squality. This work was mostly guided by the requirements of the latter group, and thealgorithm we describe in this work is intended to be used in a real, commercial, probablyembedded, daylight controller.We begin this section by reviewing the current understanding of this problem andwhich are the recommendations used by practitioners.Glare and inadequate illuminance are the two main causes of visual discomfort ininterior environments, but are usually treated separately in the literature and in norms.Glare has, by far, been the most difficult problem of the two.Early work on glare by Guth and Hopkinson focused on finding a mathematicalrelationship between glare perception and the distribution, size and intensity of lightsources. Field studies led to the determination of Guth’s Discomfort Glare Rating and toHopkinsons’s Glare Index in the early sixties.The Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage (CIE) compiled these results in 1983and published a report (Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage 1983) on the state of theart on discomfort glare
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in the interior working environment. In the same report, the CIErecommends the adoption of a formula proposed by Einhorn, considered as the bestcompromise between different national systems. This formula led to the CIE Glare Index(CGI), defined byCGI = 8log
10
2
·
1 +
E
d
/
500
E
d
+
E
i
s
L
2
s
ω
s
p
2
s
(1)where
E
d
is the vertical illuminance [lx] at eye level from all sources,
E
i
is the indirectilluminance [lx],
L
s
is the luminance [cd.m
−
2
] of the luminous part of each luminaire in thedirection of the eye,
ω
s
is the solid angle [sr] of the luminous part of each source, and
p
s
isthe index proposed by Guth that gives different weights to luminous sources according totheir position in the visual field.3
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