Lighting in Design Q3 2023

Bringing the sun indoors

UK illumination developer Innerscene has transformed LED light panels into a solar experience – and there are health benefits to add to the aesthetic function. V irtual Sun by UK-based tech firm Innerscene is called “a simulated skylight solution” because the panels promise to recreate

objective of developing wall-mountable 3D displays realistic enough to be substituted for physical windows. Virtual Sun does just that: Mimicking the experience of real sunlight for rooms and spaces without views, such as basements. “Each panel weighs 37kg and measures 97cm by 52.5cm. They can be mounted horizontally in a ceiling, installed vertically in a wall, or positioned into the corner of a wall and ceiling at an angle, making them the perfect lighting solution no matter the physical constraints of a room,” says Beeson. The Innerscene CEO is particularly proud that when Virtual Sun panels are installed in a series, the sun stays “fixed” as people pass under the fittings. Thanks to some clever software, it doesn’t appear that each window contains its own sun but rather that the panels are showing the same sun. “Virtual Sun looks real because users get all the depth cues satisfied: Things like motion parallax – when you move your head left and right, things far away from you move slowly, and things close to you move quickly,” says Clark. “When we started Innerscene, we didn’t necessarily have this kind of sun lighting as our focus. The more we used software to make 3D displays, where you could see anything you want, we realised the implications

sunshine in your house, no matter the time of day. Not all houses and buildings are built with skylights in mind, while some homeowners struggle to get any decent sun into their rooms at all.This is where Virtual Sun is shining light where there once was darkness. Tech expert Hayden Beeson from LEDs magazine says that Virtual Sun will become important when people realise how vital the circadian rhythm is to our body clock (our body functions according to the amount of sunlight and darkness it gets). “Virtual Sun casts electric light of varying colour temperature onto objects and creates shadows, so when occupants look up, they appear to see the sun surrounded by a boundless blue sky. This illusion is achieved with a 2D image slice created by an array of collimated images and projected onto a Fresnel prism sheet, which produces an effect similar to virtual reality goggles or a 3D TV, but without the need for glasses,” says Beeson. Innerscene was founded by mechanical and lighting engineer Jonathan Clark in 2013 with the

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LiD Q3 - 2023