Emergency lighting and wayfinding provision systems for visually impaired people: Phase II of a study

Abstract

This paper complements the data presented in phase I of this study. This paper looks at three new escape lighting systems, and compares them with three systems tested previously. In addition to testing their suitability for 30 people with different visual impairments, results are presented for 12 normally sighted people. Using the facilities at the Building Research Establishment, it has been possible to examine the performance of ceiling-mounted emergency luminaires providing two levels of illuminance, LED strips in two configurations, LED strips with overhead luminaires and miniature incandescent wayfinding strips. Speeds of movement are presented here, along with subjective responses. Comparisons are made with findings from normally sighted people. There are no significant differences in the walking speeds under the lighting systems, but the visually impaired subjects had significantly different opinions on the ease with which they could see where to go.