The Hidden Power of Light

[Music]

i am going to ask you a very simple

question

can you see any number in this paper

what if i change the lighting conditions

i know this is an extreme case but as

you have just seen right now light

affects the way we perceive the world

and can even influence us to make

certain decisions whether or not we are

aware of the power of light we should

know that big corporations profit

millions from it

every day for example the way we light

up a city during christmas

is designed to increase our buying

patterns and consumption

all the commercial streets in european

cities have the same batter for

christmas

and in this case the light is presented

as an art form and a lot of people

including myself are attracted to see

the lights at commercial streets

another interesting example are casinos

because usually they are designed to

make the user lose track of time

and spend more time and therefore more

money inside

in many cases when we are at a casino it

is impossible to see

outside so there is no way to know

visually if it is day or night in the

external world

in addition in some casinos light

sources are emitting something similar

to daylight

so the permanent sensation is the time

does not pass and that there is no need

to go to sleep

other more advanced systems can even

force us to choose between different

products

let me give you one last example about

that

which of the tomatoes would you choose

and what if i tell you that both

tomatoes are the same tomato but

illuminated differently

both pictures were taken with the same

exact camera settings but as you can see

on the right there are much more vivid

colors on the left

and the only difference is that the

lighting on the right is meant to

increase the saturation of the red color

unconsciously many of us will choose the

fruit with the most vivid colors because

it seems to be at a more

optimal point of ripeness however the

influence of light on people

is not always so visible and in fact

there are other mechanisms that affect

people that go beyond visual differences

if we are exposed to a poor lighting

system in our home we can have severe

health and well-being problems

in domestic environments exposure to

powerful artificial lighting and night

leads to an increase in the rate of

obesity and increasing blood pressure

and increasing stress a significant

reduction in the quality of sleep

diabetes and depression in the elderly

and increased risk of injuring athletes

and increased risk of breast cancer in

women and all this

is just an example of what has been

published in scientific journals in

recent years

but of course in order to know how to

solve these problems we must first ask

ourselves what is happening in our body

to create

all these problems and the answer is

located in our eyes

inside we can find a type of

photoreceptor cells that react according

to the blue content present

in light these cells are linked to our

circadian cycles and biological clocks

which means that they are related to a

wide variety of molecular physiological

and psychological processes and have a

profound influence on people’s mental

and physical

health the blue content of a light

source can greatly affect us

and on the market we can find light

sources with a very high

or very low blue content usually cool

light sources have more blue than warm

light sources

so the question is which is better for

health

warm light or cool light and the answer

is it depends

keep in mind that our body has evolved

over thousands and thousands of years

with the sun as the single reference of

light

humans if we could choose would wake up

when the sun is rising or has already

risen

and go to sleep when the sun has already

gone down for a while

the photoreceptor cells i mentioned

before which kept their blue light

have the function of telling our body

whether it is day or night

in the beginning of the last century we

saw the advent of modern artificial

lighting in our homes

and now our photoreceptor cells are

basically lost

as during the night we are usually

properly illuminated to continue

activities

such as dining watching tv or reading

our bodies are biologically designed to

be in environments where lighting is

dynamic

changing during the cycle of the day so

being inside our homes or workplaces for

long periods of time

can be detrimental if the lighting is

static

we the modern society spend more time

than ever indoors suffering from a lack

of natural light that affects us far

beyond our vision

dramatically affecting our circadian

rhythms

this is something that the world of

medicine knows perfectly well

and in fact there are studies from the

end of the 19th century

that show that patients in a hospital

recover sooner if they have been exposed

to natural lighting

nowadays dynamic lighting systems

capable to mimic the natural cycle of

light are starting to be installed in

professional environments such as

hospitals co-working spaces or offices

among others

but first i want to talk about the

specific case that from my point of view

it stands out for its precocity the

sagrada familia

although the mechanism of circadian

action related to light was found in the

21st century

some brilliant minds of the past

centuries already sets in importance

without any public scientific evidence

although i was born 200 meters from this

monument

i didn’t enter until a few months ago

and beyond the astonishing architecture

one detail caught my attention the

colored crystals attacked as light

filters

during the morning sunlight enters from

the right side of the image providing

cool illumination to the whole interior

and in the evening light enters from the

left creating a relaxing warm atmosphere

by trying to mimic forest with its

natural light antonio d

the architect became a pioneer at the

end of the 19th century by applying

circadian lighting designs

seeking the comfort provided by the

modern concept of dynamic lighting

but obviously applying colored crystals

to our home is not a valid solution for

everybody

today with the consolidation of the led

technology

we have much more advanced systems that

give us basically endless possibilities

we can find bulbs that emit warm light

cool light or even light of different

colors

as you might expect after all i have

told you about it static lighting should

be avoided to illuminate closed places

without windows or with low natural

light

if we have space with natural lighting

so that during the day we do not need

artificial lighting

at night it is recommended to have warm

light powerful enough to be able to read

without having to strain our eyes

as practically all cultures have

associated fireplaces with the concept

of home

and in ancient times mankind has

illuminated caves with fires on the

floor

it is visually more pleasant if the

light is located at a lower plane

so that the light doesn’t have a glare

and appears to be coming from the floor

in case of enclosed spaces without

natural lighting during the day it is

recommended to have several layers of

light or different lighting options

depending on our needs

on a practical level this means that we

should have a powerful cool light coming

from the ceiling during the day

and a warmer light at night as i have

just explained

another interesting option are smart

vowels that can change the warmth of the

light

so that during the day we can choose

cooler whites than a night

bringing us closer to the dynamism of

natural lighting

this option is probably the future of

the lighting world although it is still

in the process of being accepted by the

general public

since its price is little higher than a

conventional bulb and its setup can

sometimes not be entirely intuitive for

everyone

although technology is advancing very

rapidly the simplest conclusion we can

draw from all the published scientific

evidence

is that we must stay outside as much as

possible

enjoying sunlight during the day and

avoid exposure to high intensity cool

light at night

we must try to stay synchronized with

the outside world and our health and

well-being will benefit greatly

thank you