German researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO in Stuttgart, claim that the human mind is geared to work best under an open sky, with passing clouds and varying illumination, that the constant glare of office lighting is sub-optimal. So they have come up with a “Virtual Sky” ceiling as a solution.
The Virtual Sky is made up of luminous LED-equipped ceiling tiles that project a low-resoltuion moving image suggestive of clouds moving across the “sky” above office workers. These lighting panels simulate dynamic changes in lighting in a way that is not directly obvious to the naked eye so it doesn’t distract people from their work, but fluctuates enough to promote concentration and heightened alertness.
Unfortunately, with nearly 300 LEDs per ceiling tile the system is still rather expensive, but they expect production prices to come down significantly — perhaps because they are now using the virtual sky to improve effecency at the factory that makes it?
I don’t know about you, but I think these would be cool for use in homes, too!
Link: DISCOVERY-NEWS — Cloud-like Ceiling Could Brighten Cubicle Worlds