Who would have known that those days when you are stuck indoor, confined in dark workspaces while anxious to catch a glimpse of a clear open sky are soon over?
No, you still are not allowed to bring your cubicle outdoor, but researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO) at Germany had collaborated with LED Maker, LEiDs, to bring the sky into your office instead.
Fraunhofer researchers believe that environmental factors play a great role in mood and productivity in the workplace. Which is why they have meticulously examined how natural light changes as clouds move across the sky throughout the day. The Fraunhofer researchers have then successfully designed a luminous ceiling that simulates natural lighting conditions like clouds passing overhead across an entire room.
This ceiling is made up of 50cm by 50cm tiles, each comprising of 288 red, blue, green and white light emitting diodes (LEDs) so as to display a full light-spectrum, thus generating millions of colors and even animated effects. These white LEDs are also said to be more energy efficient than the colored ones, hence keeping the energy cost to a minimum. The researchers have also attached a diffuser film about 30cm beneath the LEDs to make the light spread out evenly across the room.
The dynamic luminous ceiling gives office staff the pleasant feeling that they are working under the open sky. (Photo: Fraunhofer IAO)
“The LEDs allow us to simulate these dynamic changes in lighting in a way that is not directly obvious to the naked eye. Otherwise the lighting might distract people from their work. But it does need to fluctuate enough to promote concentration and heighten alertness,” explains Dr. Matthias Bues, head department at the IAO.
The researchers have conducted a small study comprising of 10 volunteers who worked under the cloud ceiling in a span of 4 days with 3 different settings of light shifting from static, gentle and then to rapid fluctuations. 80 percent of the volunteers preferred the latter.
Apparently, the researchers will be exhibiting a 2.8m by 2.8m virtual sky at a trade fair in Germany on March 2012. Right now, this innovation costs approximately 1,000 euros (1,300CAD) per square meter, but the makers expect this price to drop as it becomes more cost-effective when production of units increase.
Being an outdoorsy person, I personally think it’s a great invention especially if I’m unfortunate enough to end up working in an office without any windows in sight all day long in the future.
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