Illuminance measurement by mobile devices with a diffuser dome: a comparative analysis of different platforms and applications

Viviane Godinho Vaz,Elisabeth Costa Monteiro,Daniel Ramos Louzada,Roberta Dutra De Oliveira Pinto

doi:10.1051/ijmqe/2021021

Viviane Godinho Vaz, Elisabeth Costa Monteiro + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1051/ijmqe/2021021

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Abstract

Studies in the literature suggest that smartphone-based applications are not suitable for measuring illuminance levels. The measurement of this photometric quantity is useful in several sectors, including monitoring the adequacy of lighting conditions in workplaces. This work investigates the contribution of attaching a diffuser dome to the embedded light sensors of smartphones and tablets associated with different applications on their performance for measuring illuminance. Two experimental arrangements were developed using an LED lamp (294.84 lx, 475.58 lx, 880.39 lx) and a xenon arc lamp (607.94 lx, 1013.72 lx, 4012.26 lx, 23933.33 lx). In the comparative analysis, the impact of using diffusion dome attachment was evidenced, indicating its potential to enable some of the device/application combinations to achieve adequate performance for being applied in the daily assessment of illuminance.

Highlights

Luxmeters are commonly used to measure the illuminance of environments in industries, offices, hospitals, residences, schools, restaurants, and other spaces
The present work evaluates mobile smartphones and tablets’ performance for illuminance measurement, combined with different applications, investigating the contribution of a diffuser dome attached to the devices
We considered a 10 % limit for defining appropriate discrepancies between illuminance values obtained by each combination of apps and operating systems of mobile devices, listed in Table 1, and the reference illuminance value

Summary

Introduction

Luxmeters are commonly used to measure the illuminance of environments in industries, offices, hospitals, residences, schools, restaurants, and other spaces. The International Technical Standard ISO 8995-1: 2002 [1] and the European Technical Standard EN 12464-1:2011 [2] provide guidelines on appropriate lighting characteristics according to the type of activity being carried out and recommend average illuminance values for performing visual tasks in working environments. For reception desks of offices, restaurants, or hotels, 300 lx is specified, while 500 lx is required for their kitchens. This same illuminance level is recommended for laboratories in industry or educational buildings, office rooms for writing, typing, reading, or data processing. Higher levels of 1000 lx are associated with operating theatre of health care facilities and leather industry rooms for quality control or color inspection. The required illuminance varies from 500 lx, 1000 lx, and 5000 lx, respectively, for general lighting, the illuminance at the patient, and the operating cavity

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