Sallie Wormer

“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.” ― Neil deGrasse Tyson

a human-centered research and design portfolio

rethinking light

The challenge of creating a 3D light look-up table as a low-fi prototype.

The challenge of creating a 3D light look-up table as a low-fi prototype.

CHALLENGE

"Redesign lighting for a time some 10 to 15 years in the future."  This meant not only looking at the delivery system of light within homes and businesses, but how people interact with, control and manage that delivery. Oh, and figure it out in six weeks.

Client

Osram Sylvania | Wilmington, MA | 2015, through Innovation Boot Camp

PROCESS

After a week's intense work at Boot Camp, I went home, threw everything out (except the research) and started from scratch on this solo project.  I added to the research base with additional focus groups, interviews, industry literature reviews, and ethnography, and learned so much more about people's desire and need for quality of light.  I ended up thinking about convergences - looking at the window as an actual source of solar-powered and variable-spectrum light (beyond passive transmission) controlled by a 'holographic' interface to more naturally manage three dimensional data. 

Featured
contextual observations
contextual observations

I was curious if people tended to gravitate toward or away from natural light.  I spent several sessions watching behavior in public spaces where there were both windows/outside spaces and places only lit by electric lighting.  I followed up these observations with focus groups to collect specific stories about choices.

focus groups
focus groups

Further study and observation into the very broad topic of “light” seemed to be taking the project in a different direction, so I needed more information about the quality of light and conscious (or unconscious but self-observed) behaviors around light.  I conducted a series of focus groups (not shown for privacy) with hospitality.  I learned much about the confusion and irritation caused by artificial light.

sketches - light window
sketches - light window

If the light wasn't coming from a light bulb, where could it come from?  What would it look like?  If it weren't 'lit', how might that appear?  What other things did I need to think about?

low-fidelity prototype - light window
low-fidelity prototype - light window

It's hard to imagine the color of light when you're not a lighting professional.  However, it was significant in the focus groups that the different 'look' of various new light bulbs (LED, CFL, incandescent) was really problematic and frustrating.  This prototype was a 1/8 scale 'window' to demonstrate the difference between normal daylight/solar collection use and night-time or low light programmable lighting source.

sketch - holographic LUT
sketch - holographic LUT

I truly can't wrap my brain around a 2D light look-up table, which was needed to give users control over the color temperature of the new lighting fixture.  By breaking it down into the appropriate three dimensions, the only thing left is how to display it.  Solution?  3D hologram. 

prototype - holographic interface
prototype - holographic interface

What might an Apple iWatch look like in three projected dimensions?  Would the main interface still be icons?  Does the color temperature representation make any sense at all?  How would text appear, as flat screens or multiple overlays?  Can the eyes' normal depth of focus be utilized?  I had users test these questions and more.  The shape seemed naturally understood but the iconography was a challenge.

Primary Research Findings

Focus groups and testing elucidated themes of dissatisfaction or ambivalent resignation towards artificial lighting, while highlighting a majority preference for natural light environments whenever possible.  Participants who expressed satisfaction with their artificial lighting mostly focused on the aesthetic value of the fixtures, not the characteristics of the bulbs themselves (except in negative ways such as too dim, too slow, mismatched color, or confusing labeling).  Conversely, stories about natural light more clearly described positive characteristics of clarity, brightness, or how it perceptibly changes an individual’s mood to a feeling of well-being.  

Industry research revealed several interesting areas of development, including quantum dot and quantum photonics, plasmonics, hive lighting, and laser diodes. While many of these advances focus on increasing efficiency of energy usage, further research into conscious and unconscious drivers of human light behaviors indicates that, to date, not enough attention has been given to the health-related implications of the quality of artificially-approximated light spectra.

 

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