We asked Henrik Clausen (Director at Fagerhult Lighting Academy), Daniel Unoson (Head of Lighting Control at Fagerhult) and Philip Jelvard (MSc Student in Lighting Design) to take on this grand test of time, making a journey into the future of 2025, sharing their visions of what might unfold. With light in mind.
In the morning...
"The lighting assists my body and mind in the transition stage from being asleep to being awake. Giving me the sensation of waking up naturally and well rested, whilst keeping my body's circadian rhythm in check. The lighting is not something I have programmed myself. I have done nothing other than set my alarm clock whilst my sub-dermal implant that is connected to my phone monitors my body's vitals, as well as physical and mental state. It uses that information to control the light in a way that is tailored to my current needs."
– Philip Jelvard
"I love to wake up in the morning light and, in summer, my control system gently opens the blinds in my bedroom. In the winter, the same system softly turns on the electric light at a low level with same intensity and colour of the light as I know and love from the summer morning sky. Oh, what a wonderful morning..."
– Henrik Clausen
"The alarm clock wakes you up but the blinds, notified by your phone, are already open allowing for the sunlight to enter your bedroom. During the winter, your "wake up light" (intensity and Tunable White) has been turned on for some time before the alarm rings, to prepare your body for getting up. Connected to your sleep patterns, the coffee machine is prepared and the kitchen smells of lovely coffee. When brushing your teeth after breakfast, your toothbrush measures your cortisol and melatonin levels, inputting the data into the lighting installation you will meet for the rest of the day."
– Daniel Unoson
Philip Jelvard's day
When I leave home, the lighting shuts itself off if I'm the last one in need of the light left in the building. Stepping out of my front door I enter a public space that is no longer my own. Through technology and widespread connectivity, I'm able to ever-so-slightly influence the space I share with other in a way that feels a bit more personal to me as I travel through. Whether I decide to take public transportation or my bike to work, it can be difficult to see myself in the image of the city, but through lighting I'm able to influence the atmosphere whenever I pass or enter one of the city's many nodes and landmarks. A personalised colour, stored on my phone is picked up when I enter the vicinity of one of these public nodes, and with that colour, my person becomes a part of the city's idiom, visualised in the public infrastructure, such as billboards, advertisement monitors etc.
The lighting at work is dynamic, both in regard to the general lighting as well as the individual task lighting. The general ceiling lighting is synchronised to the colour temperature of the sun to boost the impact and the feeling of daylighting all around the office. It also smoothly and seamlessly dims up and down depending on which parts of the office are being used. The task lighting at each workspace is individually adjustable in order to accommodate a range of different tasks, but limited to a set of predefined settings to make it easier to adjust on a everyday basis. The task lighting is focused on the individual work area, limiting light spill and glare to other workspaces and co-workers.
Even though the daylight has started to fade away the city life is still very much at large. While the daylight is getting weaker by the minute, the artificial city light will gradually take its place, harmonising with the natural lights ambient presence, if it is visible, while the sun goes down. The lighting of the city at night is diverse depending on if you are traveling as a pedestrian, cyclist or by vehicle, creating different lighting realms in the same public space.Emphasising the feeling of safety for pedestrians and cyclists and to create a city scape that are interesting to stay and explore, embracing the 24 hour culture.
After work I go to the gym, so I can feel good further indulging in my otherwise unhealthy lifestyle with too little sleep and too much fast food. When I first enter the gym, I go through the reception where the lighting is highly contrasted to emphasis the explicit colour scheme that, in combination with the lighting, creates an intriguing space. Inside the gym the lighting is once again very contrasted to create visual interest while also being highly dynamic, complementing the music playing in the room in order to create an exhilarating environment filled with a lot of energy.
When I'm on my way home the 24 hour city is still alive. Even though retail stores have closed they have still put on a dimly lit storefront window that contribute to the lively atmosphere without overpowering it. The distinct sectioning of the shared space between pedestrians, cyclist and vehicles are now even more distinct with the sun being gone. Natural lighting still plays a factor in the night time city with the luminance from the moon and stars being in harmony with the artificial street lighting. The artificial street lighting is not overpowering in its intensity, whilst also being shaded and angled so it only affects areas where it is needed, leaving the night sky to be visible, creating a more interesting visual experience while being outside.
Henrik Clausen's day
It's still dark when I commute to work in my car and, while driving, I enjoy the interior lighting that I programmed last weekend. It's soft and pleasant and tuned to a warm and barely noticeable level. Just as I like it. I giggle a little thinking back to my youth where I always had two replacement headlamps in the glove compartment - things have really changed since the full LED package has found its way into the automotive industry.
When I arrive at my desk the light is already turned on and everything is set just as I like it. I feel so welcome here. I think back to the day a few years ago, when I had my interview finding my Personal Lighting Preferences. These PLP is stored in my phone and follows me wherever I go. No more boring, glarey, too bright (or dim) wrong colour toned light. Now I have my perfect, favourite lighting with me where ever I go. It's wonderful, it really increases my quality of life! I can't imagine how boring old, static lighting used to feel... Glad that we are over that stage...
Walking to my car in the parking lot I turn my head and take look at the huge glass facade to see all the personal lighting with its multitude of colours and intensities. But wait, I was the last to leave today, and the control system has changed the lighting to the settings determined by the architect to make the empty building look beautiful against the backdrop of the setting sun. It still amazes me what you can achieve with a combination of great lighting design and innovative technology, it's so beautiful!
Tonight is movie time and, as usual, my favourite choice is in the Sci-fi genre. I love to get inspired by futuristic buildings, interiors and lighting design. in this movie, they made a classic mistake. The moon base had windows and daylight was lighting the commanders office... but, there is no daylight on the moon (or in space for that matter).
Daylight is unique to the Earth and it's a part of our human heritage. I smile when leaving the cinema contemplating how extremely hard it is for us to imagine worlds without daylight as we know it. Live Long and Prosper.
I think about the headlamps of my first car, they were amazing, virtually turning the night to day. By contrast, the headlamps on my new car barely light up the road. On reflection, the headlamps on the old Morris where not superior, it was my eyes sensitivity that was much better at 18 than at 56...
So many old people feel that the world looks different, more dark and scary, as it did when they were young - but somehow, it's all in the eyes of the beholders.
Daniel Unoson's day
Your self-driving car is already heated (if in the north part of the globe), synced with your calendar, it knows in advance what time you will leave and takes you straight to the office. Since the sun is bright today, the glass roof allows for the rays of natural light to enter the car and nurture your body. If it becomes too bright, the tinting adapts to minimize glare.
As you arrive at the garage at work, the lights and ventilation are activated in your office. When approaching the elevator, the door instantly opens as you have been identified by your smart luminaires as having access to this part of the building.
In the elevator, located by the smart luminaire in the office, your phone notifies you that your colleague, who tried to contact you yesterday, is at his desk. You head straight there. Following a short discussion, you move on to your office.
Combing your measured levels, the amount of sunlight you've experienced and your schedule for the rest of the day, the luminaires increase the ambient light to help keep you feeling at your best. When leaving for lunch, the lights in your office turn off immediately to save energy and the ventilation goes down to idle. They are ready to be activated again in 30 minutes as that is your typical duration for lunch.
After lunch, in a meeting with high level of confidential content, all data comm's are made available by LIFI/VLC. 100 % secure and no risk that someone is listening to the discussion. Furthermore, your mobile is put into a "farraday box" in the conference room to make sure no one is listening through your device.
After the meeting, you locate a colleague through the lighting system on the 5th floor. You schedule a meeting in a vacant room in close proximity, available through the same system.
On your way to the highlight of the week, your local floorball match, you drop by the super market to pick up some rice and aubergine. The problem is that they´ve just refurbished the supermarket and you have trouble finding the aubergine. Luckily, the supermarket has the smart lighting system for retailers installed and, via your mobile device, you are not only guided towards the product but also notified that there is an offer on another favourite of yours, limes - happy day!
Back in your car on your way to the arena there is a traffic jam. The connected street poles (with presence sensors) report disruptions to the local traffic management system and street signs and red lights directs you through the city in the best possible manner. Thankfully you are only a few minutes rather than an hour late, which would have been the case in 2018.
At the floorball game, you meet your friend in the parking lot (it is now dark outside) and the light follows you on your way to the illuminated entrance. Since the poles provide you with free WI-FI (not just charging your car) you have perfect high-resolution video on the game going on inside the arena since you are, of course, 5 min late.
The streetlights and your friend accompany you back home. Both of you are very happy since your floorball team won the game.
In the evening...
"My sub-dermal implant has collected data during the day, from when I woke up till I came home. This has constructed a lighting scene in my home that helps me to relax if I have been stressed, or helps me stay energised if I need to get some work done before I go to sleep. Everything is monitored and seamlessly controlled by a light management system so I don't have to do anything."
– Philip Jelvard
"I turn into the driveway and, by taking a quick glance at the way my house is lit, I can determine the activity of my family. The children have retired to bed and the love of my life is watching Sherlock Holmes. I reflect over the amount of information that the light leaving my house and entering my eyes carries. What an amazing bandwidth, and how predictable and alike we all are - it's deeply based in our common heritage and our cultural approach to lighting. What a wonderful world (sung by Louis Armstrong)."
– Henrik Clausen
"The lights at your house have been mimicking presence (based upon previous usage the week before) to deter any potential intruders. The lights in the parking lot activate due to geo fencing when your car arrives in the block. Ensuring you have a nice 'welcome home' experience. When stepping inside, the lights turn red since your friend from the game is joining you for a night cap. The colour is selected based on your previous discussions on Facebook Your tooth brush measures melatonin and cortisol again and any deviations, or high/low measurments, will affect your day tomorrow."
– Daniel Unoson
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