Human centric lighting for the home office
By Vishal Singh – Founder & Managing Director, Vizion Lighting Pvt. Ltd. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues wreaking havoc, all sectors and industries across the world are operating in uncertainty, with the threat of serious economic downturn looming on the horizon. Many companies across industries are scrambling to redesign their business models, and traditional workplace routines and practices have been all but abandoned. With many operations and functions being digitized, working from home has become the new norm. Due to these developments, it has now become incredibly important to organize, create and illuminate a proper workspace at home. Whether you work in a home office or a cubicle, the character and quality of lighting in your workspace greatly affects your productivity. Poor lighting can reduce energy levels, create a lethargic mood, dampen morale, produce headaches and eyestrain, and ultimately impair your ability to work efficiently. Given that ideal levels of natural light may not be viable across all spaces, artificial lights are even more important today when considering workspace illumination. As our modern lives emphatically defy the natural day/night cycle, we are toying with our bodies' circadian clocks. Our physiology has evolved over millions of years to conform to the patterns of sunrise and sunset, yet our contemporary non-stop work and play habits fight mercilessly against that conditioning. And there is perhaps no greater symbol of our clock-defying norm than electric light. Many efforts are now underway to study the impact of light on the circadian rhythm, and how to engineer lighting systems to aid and enforce this cycle to ensure optimum health among users.These efforts have intensified with the arrival of LED lighting, whose digital nature makes them relatively easy to tune to settings that support circadian needs - down to the right colour, temperature, and even wavelength of light emitted. For instance, in the mornings, bright, high colour temperature lights at the workspace help in staying alert and productive, while the evenings should be a call to relax the mind and body with an amber light - both of which can be ensured effectively with a smart lighting system that needs minimal human intervention to adapt to the shifts in time or activity. The strategic application of these interventions can ensure that our homes double as effective workspaces without causing undue strain on our physical or mental health. It is expected that many of us will take to this change permanently, even after the situation has stabilized - in which case, there will be ample opportunity to make the best of mitigative efforts for a long-term remote working space.
Tags : Interviews