For my Bachelor Thesis at Eindhoven University of Technology, I investigated the impact of dynamic daylight patterns on spatial perception, focusing on caustic reflections and perceived relaxation. The individual Bachelor Thesis was completed as part of the "Advancing the Sun Simulator Setup" Innovation Space Bachelor End Project (ISBEP). This challenge was provided by the Intelligent Lighting Institute (ILI).
Using TouchDesigner, caustic light patterns were generated and edited onto an indoor office environment using Adobe After Effects. With the stimuli an online pairwise comparison study was conducted, examining whether dynamism, movement speed, and density influenced perceived relaxation. Findings revealed that dynamism alone had no significant impact. However, slower-moving and more sparse caustic patterns were consistently rated as more relaxing, while faster, denser patterns were perceived as less relaxing.
These insights highlight the potential of dynamic daylight pattern integration in biophilic design and human-centric lighting, offering new ways to enhance comfort and well-being in built environments. The full report can be seen here.
Dynamic Stimuli with Low Speed and High Sparsity
Caustic Patterns (TouchDesigner)