Lighting in Design Q3 2023

Ed Space

ment, bringing ‘sunlight’ into the space. When a series of these panels are positioned together, users only see one ‘sun’ – the software used for this effect is incredible. But likewise, Virtual Sun can be used to simulate the night sky and moon. This is part of the light’s circadian rhythm setting, which can be incredibly useful for people whose body clocks are out of sync, including hospital patients who have not been able to get out of bed and those who work nights shifts. At the same time, a new cir cadian rhythm-specific light has been sent to the International Space Station to help astronauts, who are subjected to 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets during a 24-hour period. The hope is that the light, manufactured and developed by Danish firm SAGA Space Architects, will help the space travellers regulate their body clocks and lead a healthier work time in space. There is still a lot more lighting development to come around the circadian rhythm and it can only be better for us.

The circadian rhythm is not a new discovery. It was scientifically observed for the first time in 1729 by French scientist Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan, although the first mention of a natural body cycle dates to the 4 th century BC when Greek philosopher and academic Theophrastus recorded it in his book, Enquiry Into Plants , documenting how plants open their flowers in the morning and close them in the evening. In essence, the circadian rhythm is the body’s natural oscillation that repeats every 24 hours – its body clock. This topic has become in creasingly more important to the lighting world in the past couple of decades. Countless hours of research have been dedicated to how the human body reacts to artificial lighting and how to develop lighting solutions to bet ter help the body physiologically. While there is no substitute for actual sunlight and the vitamins and nutrients our body absorbs from the sun, there is an artificial solution that is now on offer. I am intrigued by Innerscene’s Virtual Sun (read all about it on p14). It is a panel light that projects a virtual sun onto the screen – it is perfect for rooms without windows, like a base

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LiD Q3 - 2023