A mixed bag

This week is a slightly random collection of articles I’ve come across that you might enjoy.

This article is about shopper motivation when buying LED lights. Apparently we feel anticipated guilt when we opt for a product that goes against our stated values (sustainability, well-being) or the social norm – but we do not get a warm glow of pride when we do so… – Feelings of guilt and pride: Consumer intention to buy LED lights

It’s perhaps not so surprising that we don’t feel great when we spend more on LED lights given how many burn out long before their rated lifetimes – Identifying methods to better estimate LED product lifetime

This something a bit space age – how neural network modeling can help to cut energy use and maintain light levels – Daylight adaptive smart indoor lighting control method using artificial neural networks

And this is about old age… useful when considering lighting design for older people – Shedding light on walking in the dark: the effects of reduced lighting on the gait of older adults with a higher-level gait disorder and controls

Here’s one for the amateur chefs… If you’re crowing about your croissants, use bright, warm light (think wood-fired oven glow) but if you’re boasting about your brownies, go for a fresh daylight look. This study explains how brightness and colour temperature (warm / cool) matters more than whether they’re hungry or not… – The impact of illuminance level, correlated colour temperature and viewing background on the purchase intention for bread and cakes

And finally in case you’re reading this with a strong coffee, this paper by Cajochen and his team might encourage you to think again – regular caffeine intake of just 150mg (that’s 3 expressos or 1.5 cups of regular coffee ‘delays REM sleep promotion and attenuates sleep quality in healthy men. ‘ Perhaps bright light might help (of course I would say that wouldn’t I!) This study found that ‘Bright light, as an alternative to or combined with caffeine, could reduce sleep-related crashes on the road’. – Bright Light Could Be an Alternative to the Caffeine for Improving Driving Performance in Chronically Sleep-Deprived Young Drivers