1. Design Brief

Design a minimal and responsive night-time home lighting to reduce the problem of light pollution and urban energy consumption at night. Designs are to target a currently unsustainable practice, to be replaced with a more sustainable alternative.

2. Problem Space

Environmental impacts

Many cities produce a glow in the night sky that can be seen for 100 miles away. Consequently, 66% of the United States and 50% of the European population can no longer see the Milky Way at night (Cinzano et al., 2001).
Exposure to light at inappropriate times in relationto the solar cycle can desynchronize circadian biological rhythms fromenvironmental rhythms, because the human circadian timing system hasdeveloped under the 24-h solar cycle (Zeitzer et al., 2000).

Characteristics of ALAN affect human health

It was reported that the groups that turned on the light in bed more frequently had an increased risk of breast cancer (O’Leary et al., 2006)
Another study has reported that a group with lower bedroom brightness showed reduced obesity rates (McFadden et al., 2014)
melatonin is suppressed by exposure to artificial light with a high color temperature, but not by light with a low color temperature (Wada et al., 2013b)
Particularly, many of the studies reviewed here showed that exposing children and adolescents to bright light while sleeping results in negative health effects.
short nights associated with evening light exposure can reduce circadian phase advances (Burgess, 2013)

HMWs

Mimic the soft dimmed light from starry sky?
Make the action of turning off the light become a game?
Remind the user the time to turn off their light by an attracting feature?
Shield the light from windows?
Change the intensity of light depending on time?
Diffuse the light like how trees in forest do?
Direct the light more accurately towards where it is needed by using the technique of night animal?
Prevent light from bouncing off from our home into nature or the sky by using matte material?
Keep light close to the ground?

3. Design Process

Methodology: Research. Moodboard. Interview. Persona. Model testing. CAD modeling

Moodboard

Interview

Through a series of interviews with my friends, I embarked on an investigation into their unsustainable lighting habits. The findings revealed several common practices that contribute to unnecessary energy consumption. Many admitted to leaving lights on in unoccupied areas, such as the kitchen or living room, and forgetting to turn them off at night. Moreover, some tended to use brighter settings than necessary, adding to the wastefulness. Surprisingly, I uncovered even more unsustainable behaviors, including individuals who simply don't bother turning off lights in the morning, citing a dislike for natural sunlight or lacking sufficient daylight in their rooms. Additionally, some confessed to arriving home late and being too exhausted to switch off lights, while others found the ceiling lights distracting, leading to unnecessary energy usage. These revelations emphasize the importance of raising awareness about responsible lighting practices and encouraging small changes to reduce our collective environmental impact.

Persona

I have created this persona where his main frustration (pain point) is forgetitng to turn off the light and disturbing others while working during late hours.

Sketches

With these insights, i created some initial sketches for my ideas. After some iteration, I decided to go with this design (right figure) and extend further more on its features.

Testing

I did some testing on the position and direction of the lights by using a simple paper model and my phone flash light. I figured out that the best position would be at the bottom where it can diffuse the light better and create a beautiful gradient glow.

4. Final Design

Main features

Cute/attractive design, Interactive, Day/Night mode, Shield, Longevity.

Details

A design that focus on preventing indoor light exposure at night and light leakage to the environment.

The outer shield serves the purpose of preventing light from escaping through the window, while the inner shield is designed to diffuse light within the room. Both shields can be adjusted to achieve the desired direction of light. A slider at the bottom allows for rotating the shields, and a moon-shaped button indicates a soft, dimmer light option, while the cloud-shaped button signifies protection of the light source from escaping. Additionally, there are two touch buttons available to select the desired light mode.

360 deg view

User Interaction

Day/Night mode buttons for energy savingg.
The shield can be adjusted by the slider to prevent light leakage and overused tensity.

References

1. Cho, Y., Ryu, S., Lee, B., Kim, K., Lee, E., & Choi, J. (2015). Effects of artificial light at night on human health: A literature review of observational and experimental studies applied to exposure assessment. Chronobiology International, 32(9), 1294-1310. https://doi.org/10.3109/07420528.2015.1073158
2. Gallaway, T., Olsen, R., & Mitchell, D. (2010). The economics of global light pollution. Ecological Economics, 69(3), 658-665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.10.003
3. Globe at Night - What is Light Pollution?. Globeatnight.org. (2022). Retrieved 18 May 2022, from https://www.globeatnight.org/light-pollution.php.
4. How Light Affects Your Sleep. Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World. (2022). Retrieved 18 May 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/how-light-affects-your-sleep/.
5. I Can’t Sleep… Can you turn off the lights? - Science in the News. Science in the News. (2022). Retrieved 18 May 2022, from https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2020/i-cant-sleep-can-you-turn-off-the-lights/.
6. Light & Sleep: Effects on Sleep Quality | Sleep Foundation. Sleepfoundation.org. (2022). Retrieved 18 May 2022, from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/bedroom-environment/light-and-sleep.
7. Light pollution. Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. (2022). Retrieved 18 May 2022, from www.awe.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/conservation/light-pollution

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