Measuring appearance: Parameters indicated from gloom studies

Abstract

This paper reports on the second stage of a study of gloom, part of a larger study which aims to quantify observers' impressions or general appearance of interiors. 'Gloom' refers to conditions, particularly in working environments such as offices, in which a room appears inadequately lit or underlit despite task area (working plane) illuminances which meet the recommendations of lighting standards and codes. An earlier paper reviewed the previous, largely anecdotal, work on the subject and established empirically that gloom is a commonly held experience. This was determined by making groups of observers appraise a room under three different lighting arrangements. The experiments reported here look at a larger range of conditions: twelve lighting conditions were examined in which the light in task and peripheral areas was varied systematically. By comparing the results from each condition it was possible to assess the importance of the adaptation luminance and the distribution of light in an interior in determining the subjects' impressions of a room.