The Assessment of Affective, Social Appraisal and Behaviours of Human Scale Lighting Experience

Abstract

AbstractSeveral studies have been exploring the relationship between lighting variables, urban environment and people perception to understand their reciprocal influence. Through a literature review of indoor and outdoor lighting research, the chapter focuses on understanding the modalities and location of experiential fruition (in-situ real location, laboratory installation, image- and visualization-based experiences, and immersive experiences through augmented reality technologies). The research has also evidenced the different research procedures, methods and tools to develop technical/objective and subjective environmental assessment, highlighting the specific features related to data acquisition (direct elicitation and observation techniques) and data elaboration. The aim is to summarise traditional and experimental methodologies, to report advantages and disadvantages, to evidence the importance of exploring in a scientifically reliable way the affective, social appraisal and behaviours of laypersons in relation to the lighting design and luminous atmospheres of the nocturnal urban environment. Besides, the implication in practice has been discussed highlighting the importance of the systematic use of objective and subjective assessment of outdoor lighting before, during and after a project of lighting design to educate lighting designers and decision-makers toward more human-oriented lighting practice.KeywordsSubjective environmental assessmentObjective environmental assessmentResearch proceduresResearch methodsResearch tools