New software can model natural light from the occupants' perspective

OCUVIS, a visualization software developed by a soon-to-be-launched EPFL spin-off, lets architects simulate 3D building models to assess the performance of natural light indoors. After specifying the ambient conditions, architects can view the visual and non-visual characteristics of the resulting natural light in their designs. A building's architecture should be designed to take advantage of the way natural light changes according to the season and time of day. While we can see daylight in a given space, the intensity, spectrum, and angle of sunlight can affect building occupants in ways that are hard to anticipate and that they may not even be aware of. For instance, the composition and intensity of light can sometimes have a calming effect, while other times it can have an alerting affect through the secretion of hormones triggered by the retina. OCULIGHT Dynamics, an upcoming EPFL spin-off, has drawn on the results of research completed at EPFL to quantify these effects and build up unique, in-depth expertise in this area. The company recently applied its know-how to develop a groundbreaking web visualization software that enables architects to predict how daylight will impact building occupants based on three criteria: comfort, in terms of glare avoidance; vitality, in terms of non-visual light exposure over the course of a day; and emotion, in terms of the spatial composition and fluctuations of light. Simulating natural light from the occupants' perspective