ERGONOMICS OF LIGHT

By Ranko Skansi, M.Sc.E.E.Ld.

A lot of books have been written about Ergonomics, but neither one speaks about light and lighting.
This is quite odd, since without light we couldn't really speak about Ergonomics, at all. From the other
hand, a hundreds of books exists on the market that speaks about light and lighting, from different
aspects, but neither one speaks about Ergonomics of lighting. That's why I'd like to speak about it here.

ERGONOMICS

Standard definition about Ergonomics that could be found on Wikipedia goes like this: "Ergonomics (or
human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among
humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and
methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance." There's
another, less known discipline called Humanometrics (Anthropometrics) that deals with different
geometrical, mechanical, mathematical, physical, chemical and other type of measurements, related
to the average human.

Lighting quality depends upon both physical and psychological parameters of human. In general, we
can say that good lighting quality exists when a lighting system:

• Creates good conditions for seeing,

• Support task performance or setting-appropriate behaviours,
• Fosters desirable interaction and communication,
• Contributes to situationally-appropriate mood,
• Provides good conditions for health and avoids ill-effects,
• Contributes to the aesthetic appreciation of the space.

Lighting quality is not inherent in a space or a lighting design, but in its effects on people. This fact
cannot be measured, but as listed above, it is linked to the visual environment, visual comfort and
visual performance. Each of these three parameters can be developed further on.

Those factors have lots of interactions between them. Especially visual comfort and performance, since
they can both be impaired by a phenomenon called glare.
 A. Visual Environment

Luminous ambience perception is inherent to people's light perception. Colour temperatures, colour,
rendering, luminance repartition, uniformity, luminaire types, all contribute to the luminous ambience
in a room.

1. Shape Modelling

The lighting has good modelling ability in a given point if any three-dimensional object placed in this
point is clearly visible.

The direction and uniformity of the light has a strong effect on our ability to recognise 3-dimensional
objects. If an object is seen against a background of similar brightness, it can only be distinguished by
the light and dark areas creates on its surface by the light.

If the light is too diffuse, no shadows are cast and the object looks blurred. If, on the other hand, it is
too direct, the extreme contrasts can be unpleasant to the eye and can even cause optical illusions.
This is important to know in places such as sport arenas and halls where fast ball games are played.

Good modelling is also recommended in public places. People's faces can only be distinguished
properly if the light has a sufficient modelling ability.

• Modelling depends on the light distribution, not on the mean light level.
• A combination of diffuse light reflected from light walls and much stronger direct light from a
considerably small window will usually create very good modelling.

2. Direction of Light

The luminous distribution of the luminaires has a strong impact on the modelling ability of the light
and the contrasts in the scene. The more direct the lighting, the higher the contrasts. Light striking an
object under an angle will emphasise its form and texture more than diffuse light.

3. Colour Temperature

The correlated colour temperature CCT is a measure for describing the quality of light sources. It
indicates the equivalent temperature that a black body radiator would need to have in order to
produce light of the same colour.

The way we feel when put into an environment with a dominant CCT class depends on the brightness
of the room. The higher the illuminance, the more comfortable we feel with cool colour temperatures.

The emotional response depends on the ambient illuminance level

Illuminance Colour of light sources

[lux] warm neutral cold
< 3.300 K 3.300 K - 5.300 K > 5.300 K
Emotional response
< 500 lx pleasant neutral cold
500 lx - 1.000 lx
1.000 lx - 2.000 lx stimulating pleasant neutral
2.000 lx - 3.000 lx
> 3.000 lx un-natural stimulating pleasant
Next graphic, also known as the Kruithoff diagram, shows how a light source can appear more or less
pleasant considering its correlated colour temperature and illuminance.

4. Shadiness

In our, three dimensional world, we perceive surrounding by its forms and shapes. To understand well
if one object is flat or three dimensional, shadow is of essential importance. Only when our surrounding
is easily understandable by our brain, we can feel relaxed and comfortable.

On the above samples we can see flat circle and sphere, of the same colour and dimension. Our brain
interprets those occurrences, as 2 D and 3 D objects, thanks to shadow.

B. Visual Performance

Visual performance describes the ability of a person to detect, identify and analyse the details
contained in his field of view, taking into account the speed, the quality and the accuracy of his
perception.

Visual performance depends, on the one hand, on the inherent characteristics of the task to perform
(dimension, shape, position, colour or reflectance of the details and the background), and on the other
hand, on the perception, which is influenced by the lighting conditions (uniformity, glare, etc.).

Visual performance is also affected by other parameters such as the observer's visual system ability,
the external factors lowering attention, the nature of the background and, more generally, the way
that the working space is organized.

1. Illumination Level

Talking about the quality of light in a working environment, the question 'How much light?' is the first
one to ask. There are recommendation as to what the minimal illuminance should be. Some of those
are given by CIE Code for Interior Lighting, but we also do have European norms that prescribe minimal
values for different situations. However, those values are determined based on 20 year old observer,
which is completely healthy in the sense of vision. For example, between shelves in the shopping
centre, EN prescribes 500 lx. However, if we consider that target group for shopping centres (grocery)
is 40 years and more, and if we take a look on the next diagram, we can see that values suggested by
the norm, differ significantly from those really needed (coloured lines corresponds to the age).

220.00%
20 30 40 50 60
200.00%

180.00%

160.00%

140.00%

120.00%

100.00%
100 lx

200 lx

300 lx

400 lx

500 lx

600 lx

700 lx

800 lx

900 lx
2. Uniformity

At night, people are less able to perceive colour, contrast and depth. The way light reflects from the
objects, shadowing parts of the streets become important for the cognitive interpretation of the brain
in order to determine the shape of objects and their position in space. Despite of this, lighting
standards and regulations require uniformity of illuminance between poles, attempting to replicate
daylight conditions and improve visibility, but, on the other hand, generally reducing visual acuity by
eliminating contrast and increases glare by requiring light sources to be affixed higher up on the pole.
Supporting this, experts recommend a pattern of overlapping ovals because it provides contrast and
shading. The reason is that the observers are more used to non-uniformity and to light-dark contrasts
and shadows. This provides a more spatially refined view of night-time scenes. On the contrary,
uniformity washes out contrasts and shadows generating less interesting environments.

If this is true, there is also an opposite side of the moon: a wider placement of luminaires and the
creation of pools of light and shadows requires a repeated adjustment of the eyes, this creating
eyestrain and temporary blindness when entering and leaving light pools.

3. Glare

Glare is difficulty seeing in the presence of bright light such as direct or reflected sunlight or artificial
light such as car headlamps at night. Glare is caused by a significant ratio of luminance between the
task (that which is being looked at) and the glare source. No matter what space we do think about,
glare is something that should be avoided. The only difference is if we talk about stage (so, theatre or
concert hall), where glare is a part of the show and is created on purpose.

Factors such as the angle between the task and the glare source and eye adaptation have significant
impacts on the experience of glare. Glare can be generally divided into two types, discomfort glare and
disability glare. Discomfort glare results in an instinctive desire to look away from a bright light source
or difficulty in seeing a task. Disability glare impairs the vision of objects without necessarily causing
discomfort. This could arise for instance when driving westward at sunset. Disability glare is often
caused by the inter-reflection of light within the eyeball, reducing the contrast between task and glare
source to the point where the task cannot be distinguished. When glare is so intense that vision is
completely impaired, it is sometimes called dazzle. Glare can reduce visibility by:
 • Reduction of brightness of the rest of the scene by constriction of the pupils
• Reduction in contrast of the rest of the scene by scattering of the bright light within the eye.
• Reduction in contrast by scattering light in particles in the air, as when the headlights of a car
illuminate the fog close to the vehicle, impeding vision at larger distance.
• Reduction in contrast between print and paper by reflection of the light source in the printed
matter (veiling glare).
• Reduction in contrast by reflection of bright areas on the surface of a transparent medium as
glass, plastic or water; for example when the sky is reflected in a lake, so that the bottom below
or objects in the water cannot be seen (veiling glare).
• Bloom surrounding objects in front of glare

C. Visual Comfort

Visual comfort is a subjective impression related to quantity, distribution and quality of light. Visual
comfort is reached when objects can be seen clearly, without tiredness and in a pleasantly coloured
environment. A comfortable visual environment supports the wellbeing of the occupants and their
productivity. On the contrary, a too weak lighting or too extremely lit space favours tiredness. In a
same way as a badly distributed light or a space whose luminous spectrum is badly adapted to the
sensitivity of the eye. In the long term, or sometimes sooner, these spaces can cause tiredness and
other eyes problems, accompanied by a feeling of discomfort and a reduced visual performance.

Visual comfort depends on a combination of physical parameters: illumination, luminance and

brightness, luminous spectrum and risk of glare. The size of the elements to be observed and the
available time for the observation are also predominant parameters. Finally, visual comfort depends
on physiological and psychological factors related to the individual such as his age, his visual acuity or
the possibility to look outside.

Visual comfort parameters for which the architect plays a predominant role are:

• The level of illumination of the visual task;

• The luminous distribution in the space (light repartition, luminance ratio and embarrassingly
shading);
• The sight towards outside;
• The colour rendering and the colour of the light source;
• The absence of glare.

1. Lighting intensity - Brightness

The physical measure for describing the brightness of an object is luminance. However, the eye does
not behave like a linear receptor. That means that an object that has twice the luminance of another
one does not necessarily appear twice as bright to our eyes. There is no linear relationship between
the luminance and the perceived brightness.

How we perceive the brightness of an object depends on the luminance of the object and the state of
the adaptation of the eyes, as well as the luminance of the surrounding of the object. The same object
can appear very bright when looked at in a dark environment or rather dark when put against a well-
lit background.

A typical example of how the perceived brightness depends on the environment is a TV screen. When
we watch television during the day, the display is not much brighter than the surrounding. Since the
eyes are adapted to the surrounding, the screen appears rather dim. On the contrary, given the same
TV set put into a dark room, the picture will look much brighter.

2. Contrast

Contrast is a measure of the difference of luminance levels between two areas, or between an object
and its background. It is usually defined as below, although different definitions are also widely used.
Unfortunately, there is no agreement in the literature on the method of expressing contrast.

C = (L object – L background) / L background

The human visual system can adapt to a very wide range of luminance. For any given scene, however,
this range is much reduced. If both, very bright and very dark objects are in the field of view (high
contrasts), the dark ones will appear black, while the bright ones look completely washed out. It is then
impossible to distinguish any details.

3. Colour Rendering

The colour rendering of a light source is an indicator for its ability of realistically reproduce the colour
of an object.

Following the CIE (International Lighting Commission), colour rendering is given as an index between
0 and 100, where lower values indicate poor colour rendering and higher ones good colour rendering.
The colour rendering of a light source is compared to daylight if its CCT is >5000K and to a black body
(i.e. a source that produces a continuous spectrum) otherwise.

Psychology of Colour

Although it was not mentioned before, colour plays important role in our psychology. From the first
days, by colour, women distinguished poisoned fruit from healthy one. Until today, a lot of scientists
have been studied colour impact on human, so they discovered typical emotional pattern in relation
with dominant colour in the vision field. Here’s a simplified table about this:

RED Energy, passion, courage, fast action, vibrancy

BROWN Earthly, endurance, nature, home, longevity

ORANGE Enthusiasm, youthfulness, excitement, creativity, joy

YELLOW Light, intelligence, happiness, clarity, hope

GREEN Nature, growth, harmony, jelaousy, safety

BLUE Professionalism, depth, calmness, freedom, loyality

PURPLE Spiritual, luxury, mystery, dignity, dreams

GREY Industrial, traditionalism, seriousness, conservative, practical

BLACK Power, sophistication, depth, dramatic, seriousness

WHITE Inocence, purity, cleanliness, peace, union, virginity

EGONOMICS OF LIGHT IN PRACTICE

How do we implement everything that has been said until now, in our real world? First of all, during a
planning phase, good and skilled planner have to have all of this knowledge in his mind before he starts
a design process. This knowledge will lead him to successful ending and commission.

In the following lines, we will touch some examples from the real world and we will give explanations
for them.

Tunnel lighting

Some might say that there’s nothing that could connect tunnel lighting and ergonomics in lighting, but
think carefully. The critical point in every road tunnel is an entrance and exit point, where good planner
will create adequate lighting intensity that will help driver to pass through without high risk.

Previous pictures show well that mentioned point is really critical, since human eye adaptation time,
when entering dark, is really long (sometimes more than 30 minutes!). That’s why entrance zone has
much more intense lighting level that central part of the tunnel. From the other hand, during a night-
time, a part of the road after the tunnel, has to have road lighting that will permit driver to adapt to
the dark road that follows. If there’s no road lighting, driver will hit darkness and will be handicapped,
in the way that serious accident might occur.

Dentist’s waiting room

Very few of all people will not feel uncomfortable in the dentist’s waiting room, so how to decrease
stress here? Advice is that we have to make really comfortable ambiance that will permit patients to
calm down and in relaxed mood wait for their turn. On the following pictures, we will show low level
waiting room, mediate one and very comfortable one.

Courtesy of Courtesy of Courtesy of

www.e-kon.ro www.guatacrazynight.com ifgroup.org

Why is the last one best of all three? Usually dentist and his nurse are wearing white, so when they
appear at the door, it will not be so stressed as if the walls are black. From the other hand, penetration
of daylight in significant amount, permit to the people sitting inside, to feel comfortable.
Sky restaurant

Usually, sky restaurants are designed so people can enjoy in panoramic view, all day long. However,
this possibility have to be available even during the night time. On the following pictures, we show two
different approaches, where on the first view, they both are attractive.

Courtesy of Design Solution & Courtesy of

www.articles-place.com www.next-hospitality.com

What is a problem here? Restaurant on the left picture has quite impressive lighting system installed,
but, unfortunately this one veils a view, so clients are unable to enjoy in night panoramic view of the
city below. On the right picture, everything is in balance. Clients have nice illumination on the table,
and great scenery out of the window.

MR

Again, we will touch medical sector. One of the most stressed medical diagnostics are MR rooms. This
particularly goes for the children, who are in highest stress when lying on the MR table. For the purpose
of diminishing stress level, good planers creates special effects on the walls but mostly on the ceiling.
Today, it is very simple to mount displays that could emit sceneries from the kids’ movies, or some nice
pleasant sequences and
images. Following pictures,
taken from the facility of
Diagnostikzentrum Butzbach,
shows the basic idea. Colours
will not make people healthy in
this case but will help them pass
the unpleasant time in much
more comfortable mood.
Both images are presented here by
courtesy of http://www.lightlife.de/

Light Pollution

One might ask what light pollution has to do with this topic, but trust me, it has! Light pollution is not
only a ray of light emitted above horizontal plane of luminaire. It is every light where it is not wanted.
One of the most important aspects of light pollution is the one that targets health. Following example
describes link between light pollution and our dearest people, our children, especially those little ones.

During the night-time it is strongly suggested that kids don’t have any light source that directly
illuminates their faces. The reason lies in the increased possibility of kid to become myopic.

Picture on the side shows photo simulation of

“nice night lamp” that should make your kid
happy. But, the truth is that this amount of light
that falls on kids face will seriously disturb kid
during a sleep.

Eye is the only human organ that never sleeps,

and although it is covered by eye-lid, the light
enters in the kid’s eye. The brain is trying to focus
the picture, since it receives lighting stimuli.
Trying to focus, the eye usually shortens the focus
distance, since it feels eye-lid as a source of light-
Courtesy of hotsave.co.uk
Doing so, for longer period, eye could
permanently shorten eyes (standard) focal
distance to a short one. Result: Myopia! Suggestion is that parent tells a nice story to a kid, gives him
a kiss and warm “Good night”. For kid that will be more than enough. But, if there’s a desperate need
for the light, the put it below level of the kid’s face, so it will not shine directly into kid’s face.

CONCLUSION

To create human surrounding as much as possible adequate to the human possibilities and needs,
lighting takes very important role. Skilled planners will take care of different aspects of space and light,
so the result of their projects will be accurately created space. In general we suggest:

ERGONOMIC LIGHTING RELAXATION COMMUNICATION CONCENTRATION

CCT Warm Medium High
Lighting intensity Low Medium High
Number / type of lighting sources More / Small Combination Few / Recessed
Type of ambient Living room School Office

Lighting system will be measured according to the requests of architecture and human. Outcome of
such an approach is wellbeing and pleasure, even if the space itself is unpleasant, like doctor’s waiting
room or MR.
References:
1. https://www.educate-sustainability.eu/mobile/content/lighting
2. http://dariacasciani.net/?s=Light+and+colours
3. http://www.new-learn.info/packages/clear/visual/people/index.html
4. http://www.lightinglab.fi/IEAAnnex45/guidebook/3_lighting%20quality.pdf
5. http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/~schubert/Light-Emitting-Diodes-dot-org/Sample-Chapter.pdf
6. http://www.lightingdeluxe.com/workplace-lighting-ergonomics.html
7. Boyce, P. (2003), Human factors in lighting, Taylor & Francis, London and New York
8. Ginthner, D. A. (2002) Lighting: its effect on People and Spaces, accessed 10/04/2015
http://www.informedesign.org/_news/feb_v02-p.pdf, accessed the 12 May 2015.
9. William M.C. Lam, Perception and Lighting as Form-givers for Architecture (New York: Van Nostrand
Reinhold, 1992)
10. Kaplan R., Kaplan S., and Ryan R. L. (1998), With people in mind: Design and management of everyday
nature. Washington, DC: Island Press