Writing this the Education Estates Conference, guest of Glamox Luxonic. One question that comes up time and again is whether lighting Really makes a difference. Lighting will only ever be one dimension of a dynamic context. But if you are in the ‘every little helps’ camp, it does seem that the lighting can make a difference. Here are some papers you might enjoy.
Bright light can make you feel more alert –
It can also cut down on mistakes and improve reading speed (but not comprehension)…
‘Cool’ light does seem to be a bit of a golden ticket when it comes to remembering what you’ve learnt – a 30 minute burst before you learn something seems to significantly improve your ability to remember it. This paper explains what’s going on in the brain –
It’s tempting to think you should just throw blue light at everything, But this paper suggests that warmer light is better for creative thinking.
And if you feel like throwing your computer out of the window, try adding some animated LED strips to the top and bottom of it – you will be kinder to your computer but make sure you use gentle green and blue ones – red and high intensity lights were perceived as negative and more hostile….