Everyone knows that lighting can affect mood, but the quality of illumination can also impact how well people learn, according to one enlightening study. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that replicate daylight conditions have been proven to boost concentration and attention for children. At least one LED maker now is offering LED lighting solutions designed for schools.
Along with improved energy efficiency and longer lifetimes, LEDs have the major advantage of being available in all colors of the spectrum, including blue and white. This allows the creation of light sources that can reproduce the hue and color temperature of daylight.
Lighting manufacturer OSRAM described a system using strips of blue and white LEDs that are electronically controlled to recreate daylight conditions. By adjusting the output of each strip of the LEDs independently, lighting conditions can be mixed dynamically in order to attain a specific color temperature. According to OSRAM, the combination of blue and white LEDs can produce a color temperature of up to 14,000 kelvins. This approximates daylight sky. Furthermore, the lighting intensity and color temperature can be adapted to suit peoples’ inner clock based on the time of day. OSRAM refers to this as “biologically optimized lighting.”
Collaborating with the German Transfer Center for Neuroscience and Learning, OSRAM conducted a study on how the simulated daylight lighting impacted students’ ability to learn. At schools in Ulm, Germany, the Center examined whether the lighting could help improve pupils’ alertness and concentration in the morning. The center conducted the test during the months of November and December, when lighting levels are low during the morning hours. Tests were conducted at separate high schools. At each school, two classes were test subjects, with one group using standard classroom lamps and another employing biologically optimized lighting.
The students were given standardized psychological tests designed to measure their level of concentration on a set task.
OSRAM reported that the test results were positive, with better test results from students in the classrooms with biologically effective lighting. The pupils exhibited better attention, retention and speed compared to those in the control group. The conclusion of this specific test is that lighting schemes oriented to natural conditions have positive effects on the biological organism.
The potential for this lighting technology to be used more widely in schools is easy to see.
However, sophisticated LED lighting control may have applications beyond educational settings.
Groundbreaking work conducted by Professor John Flynn has showed how environmental lighting arrangements can affect human impressions and behavior.
With electronic control and the wide color palette, temperature variation and brightness enabled by LED technology, lighting systems could be tailored to influence how people perceive and react in certain environments. For example, certain lighting could compel patients to be calmer in a dental clinic, or could make shoppers feel less inhibited at a hip retailer.
For LED makers, the study of how their products can affect learning, mood and behavior could represent an exciting opportunity to differentiate their products and expand their markets.