Exploring the Roles of Lighting in Human-Product Interaction

Abstract

Lighting enables humankind to visually perceive everything in the dark since they invented artificial lighting sources such as candle and light bulb. Nowadays lighting is used not only to brighten the space but also to play a more diverse roles in human-product interaction. For instance, the LED indicator on a battery charger lets the user recognize whether the batteries are fully charged or not. Although lighting is getting deeply pervasive to our daily lives, few studies on the interaction between human and lighting have been done. Therefore, this study aims to identify the role of lighting in human-product interaction. To figure out what kinds of role lighting plays in human-product interaction, literature study was conducted. Four roles of lighting were identified: 1) Visibility, 2) Information transfer, 3) Visual aesthetic enhancement and 4) Emotion induction. Based on the four roles, a conceptual framework was made in order to provide a better understanding of the relationship between human and lighting. Further implications to the design practice are discussed as well.