light has a massive effect on how we feel as humans we're biologically programmed to respond
to the light we see every day from sunrise to sunset light regulates our lives when we sleep
when we eat and how well we perform at work and school
i'd just like to point out at this point this is
all my own hair and if you've lost your hair i don't think light can help bring it back
the light we experience from the sun changes throughout the course of the day sunset and
sunrise comprise a very warm light which gradually fades away to darkness at the end of the day
midday is characterized by a very cool bright white light for years we've used
the way we respond to light to inform the way we light different types of buildings and spaces
walk into a cafe or bar and we experience a warm light that makes us feel relaxed or hungry
at work we use cooler white lights to help us stay alert and concentrate at this stage
let me introduce you to the window used for centuries to introduce lights into buildings
but what if you work in a space without windows what if you're years away from getting a prime
desk by the window what if you're so committed to your job that you never leave the office
and experience natural light during the day can artificial light help can better lighting in the
office help you be more productive help you stay alert and even help your sleep better when you're
at home this whole area has fascinated scientists for years and there's now a growing body of proven
research that shows that mimicking sunlight with artificial light can have benefits for us
all and especially those people who don't get to experience natural light on a regular basis
i once worked in office where 60 people worked in the cellar i think some of them are still
in there this system could help them if you'd like to learn more about the science behind this
and these products i've left some useful links in the description below let me know what you think
in the comments so on a more practical note how can we replicate the sun in an artificial
lighting systems now for this you will hear the terms mentioned human centric lighting or HCL or
sometimes circadian lighting so basically saying that the lighting mimics the requirements of the
human body clock Robus have created Humanitas an out of the box human-centric lighting system
Robus have deployed the technology in a range of lighting fixtures to help electricians and
designers implement dynamic lighting in schools offices care homes and healthcare facilities all
of these fixtures incorporate multiple channels of LEDs which can be accurately controlled to
produce the colour temperatures we are used to seeing throughout the day while we may have seen
colour tuning or selectable colour temperature light fittings on the market for some time
the clever bit in this system is the control system which brings both the science
and the technology together when it comes to installation it's incredibly easy as it's
based upon the Zigbee wireless protocol so no complicated controls for wiring
this also makes the system ideal for retrofit applications and obviously when we're in retrofit
we can also harness the energy saving that we get from moving from traditional light sources to LED
this single room control panel requires a mains power supply but it is wirelessly linked to the
lighting fixture the control system has four fixed scenes designed to stimulate a particular response
from the people using the space and create a type of lighting best suited to the activity
so we have activate focus neutral and calm and for each one of these scenes the colour temperature
and intensity will change as an example if you're using the system in a school classroom you could
choose the calm setting when the students are producing artwork and switch to a focus setting
during a maths lesson where the need to concentrate if you want the indoor lighting
to reflect what you would experience outdoors then select the HCL option
note at this stage the weather is not included the HCL plus setting adds a dimming option also
alongside the wall plate control is the Humanitas smartphone app which connects
to the wall player using Bluetooth and a pin code the app unlocks lots of additional features
some simple ones such as being able to control the colour temperature manually
and the light levels but you can also step into a custom mode which allows you to create scenarios
to match your environment an example you might have some office guests who are visiting for
a few days but have traveled by air across multiple time zones and suffering from jet lag
so you could adjust the lighting to match what's happened in their home country
allowing them to stay in that time zone or perhaps slowly transition to your time zone
while we can all benefit from human-centric lighting the app and the wall player control
in fact the whole system are designed to be used by a responsible person who knows why and how the
system's been designed to maximize the benefits for the people using it thinking about lighting
design all of these fixtures have been carefully designed to minimize glare and flicker which are
the vitally important things we need to think about in a lighting design especially in this
type of application great innovation from Robus if you've liked this then also check out this video