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