Gloom as a psychophysical phenomenon

Abstract

An aim of interior lighting design is to produce a lighting arrangement which not only provides adequate task illuminance but also a pleasantly lit environment. Unfortunately, current lighting design practice tends to emphasise task area illuminances, a practice which frequently leads to interiors being judged to be inadequately lit despite measured task area illuminances being more than adequate. Some observers have described such interiors as 'gloomy'. This paper reports on the first stage of a study of the gloom effect. The overall objective is to produce a predictive model for this psychophysical phenomenon, but this first stage reviews the previous, largely anecdotal, work on the subject and establishes experimentally that gloom is a commonly held experience. That this is so enables the exploration of those physical, psychological and physiological elements which may be the determinants of the experience.