Integrative Lighting and Visual Processing

The research group “Integrative Lighting” examines the acute and long-term visual and non-visual effects of light on the human organism and tries to capture and describe the emotional, cognitive, and physiological effects in their entirety.

Light is primarily used to see and perceive the environment. Different user groups have different perceptions of optimal lighting. Therefore, our research's central question revolves around how humans perceive light in interaction with their environment. Under which requirements and other influencing factors is lighting preferred? How can personal well-being be increased in a lit room? Which lighting requirements can be derived from this, and how can these be reproduced in various application contexts?

Light triggers various physiological, cognitive, and behavioral reactions in humans. For example, the daily light-dark cycle of the earth's rotation influences the synchronization of our internal clock to external conditions and leads, among other things, to a regulated and above all healthy sleep-wake cycle. If this circadian (i.e., 24h-periodic) synchronization is disturbed, for example, due to an insufficient supply of natural daylight or night shift work, it can result in severe health impairments – from sleep disorders to even cancer.

Conversely, light can and should be used in a targeted manner to promote it. For instance, to stabilize a disturbed circadian rhythm again as far as possible or to have a preventive effect. The development of dynamic lighting control concepts that change over the course of the day to optimally shape the circadian effectiveness of artificial lighting, based on basic research, represents the overriding goal of our research efforts in this context.

Current research projects include:

• Modeling of color and light preferences in real space
• Light in care (nursing)
• Determination of dose-effect relationships with short-term light intervention
• Investigation of the spectral dependencies of the non-visual lighting effect
• Long-term effects of circadian-effective light in office and industrial hall lighting
• Relationship between light and sleep in relation to hormonal metabolism
• Pupillary behavior