Lighting for work: A study of the relationships among discomfort glare, physiological responses and visual performance

Abstract

Objective measures of visual discomfort have the potential to quantify the individual's sensations under discomfort glare conditions although such measures have yet to be circumscribed. The present study aimed to examine the extent to which visual discomfort sensation can be both operationalised and measured, utilising many light-induced physiological measures. These measurements were coupled with visual performance evaluations, in combination with conventional measures of photometric measurements and subjective evaluations. The variables measured were mean Pupil Diameter, Pupillary Unrest Index, Blink Rate, Blink Amplitude, number of fixational eye movements during reading (Fixation Rate), and average Fixation Duration, as well as Combined Visual Performance.The results of this study indicate that most of these parameters show significant differences between high and low lighting conditions. In particular, participants in high discomfort conditions exhibited a higher Fixation Rate, lower Blink Rate, higher Blink Amplitude and a smaller Pupil Diameter than those in both low and medium discomfort conditions. In other words, the studied physiological measures can be used as an index of high levels of glare or visual discomfort. In addition, regarding subjective evaluations, the results of correlation analysis suggest that visual comfort level ratings may provide a more reliable indicator of visual discomfort sensation.

A Randomized Controlled Trail for Comparing LED Color Temperature and Color Rendering Attributes in Different Illuminance Environments for Human-Centric Office Lighting

“…Lee et al [43] and Hamedani et al [44] conducted experiments in an office involving a reading task, testing whether people were able to read a text printed in 12-point Times New Roman font on an A4-sized (210 × 297 mm) sheet of paper under a given illumination environment. In our study, a reading task was issued using a text in 12-point Ba-tangChe font on an A4-sized sheet of paper.…”

A Combined Method for an Exhaustive Investigation of the Anidolic Ceiling Effect on Improving Indoor Office Daylight Quality: an Approach Based on HDR Photography and Subjective Evaluations

“…At the same time, it contributes to decreasing the need for electrical lighting, one of the primary sources of energy costs in offices with deep spaces [6,7], while contributing to improving the building's overall sustainable performance. A substantial number of studies investigating daylighting in buildings showed that lighting environments play an essential role in occupant satisfaction towards visual comfort and overall indoor environmental quality [8,9]. Glare is one relevant component defining the perceived lighting quality.…”

Análise da influência do tempo e da trajetória do olhar na probabilidade de ofuscamento em ambientes de escritório

“…As principais causas de desconforto são geralmente relacionadas à incapacidade de o sistema visual se adaptar às condições dinâmicas e direcionais do brilho dos componentes da cena, podendo gerar diferentes padrões comportamentais (WIENOLD;CHRISTOFFERSEN, 2006), os quais são difíceis de ser definidos. As reações do sistema visual às condições de iluminação têm sido alvo de estudos que propõem modelos para a inclusão das sensações visuais nos índices usados na avaliação do ofuscamento (CHOI;ZHU, 2015;HAMEDANI et al, 2019HAMEDANI et al, , 2020HOWARTH et al, 1993;STONE, 2009;SWEITZER;SAITO, 1995;YAMIN GARRETÓN et al, 2015). Em um estudo inicial, Howarth et al (1993) não encontraram relação entre a variação no tamanho da pupila e a sensação de desconforto; porém, estudos posteriores afirmaram que a dita variação é sim um indicador de conforto visual (CHOI;ZHU, 2015;SWEITZER;SAITO, 1995).…”

“…Choi e Zhu (2015) identificaram que a resposta visual e as sensações visuais poderiam ser avaliadas a partir das mudanças no tamanho da pupila, devido a que o sistema visual responde de forma automática aos estímulos do ambiente, já que é controlado pelo sistema nervoso parassimpático (CHOI; ZHU, 2015). Recentemente, Hamedani et al (2020) concluíram que, sob condições de maior desconforto visual as respostas das medidas fisiológicas testadas (fixação visual, piscadas e diâmetro da pupila) foram significativamente diferentes às respostas visuais sob condições menos desconfortáveis.…”