Light Sketching for human experience and ecology
Balancing human experience and ecological impact
Special urban areas like parks present conflicting demands in terms of lighting: people may desire a lighting scheme that allows them to experience the beauty of nature and feel secure, while the flora and fauna may thrive best with as little light as possible. Somehow a balance needs to be found.
The Light Sketching tool by Philip Ross, aims to help find this balance. The system allows the people involved, e.g. the park users, to express their wishes via actual light, live in their real environment. People can literally sketch light patterns on a tablet that are then transformed into real light in the environment through custom designed smart street luminaires. Additionally, the system offers a quantitative measure indicating the relative ecological impact of these ‘Light Sketches’, calculated live based on Longcore et al’s methods.
The City of Eindhoven has conducted first tests in its city park Stadswandelpark. Initial results show the potential to create a win-win situation where park users are more enthusiastic about the lighting while its estimated ecological impact turns out lower than with the standard lighting.
Project conducted in collaboration with Niek Rutten and the City of Eindhoven