Who is afraid of the dark?

There is a great need for anthropized spaces to be comfortable and give opportunities for reflection and introspection. Cities have existed for several millennia and have always represented, despite the simplicity of their earliest period, physical realities that shape and preserve our spiritual, social and cultural identity. Yet, recently, urban centers are being transformed into mere systems of connection between residences, activities and services, in which stressors that become chronic and turn into neurosis and schizophrenia are silently triggered.

BUdapest at dusk Img by Giulia scione

Urban walks are very powerful in marking our daily experience and shaping our life, as the systemicity and constancy of their frequency are stronger than the most regenerating but sporadic naturalistic experiences. The biophilic hypothesis explains how beneficial and therefore necessary it is to enrich the urban landscape with natural elements, such as water and green, but very little is said about how dangerous it is to deprive man of a fundamental experience for his life cycle and the physiology of his visual system: the dark.

The dark has become the scapegoat of the degradation phenomenon of many urban areas, since the poorly lit areas seem to get a higher perception of risk, which lead to abandon and to degradation. Therefore urban lighting has become a discriminating factor for the quality of life of a neighborhood: the more the areas are illuminated, the more inviting they are, and the greater the success guaranteed for commercial activities. The glow of the metropolitan areas of today produces a diffused light on a territorial scale of 4 lux, which is equivalent to 4 times the glow generated by the full moon. A distorted lighting condition may have an impact on our organism.

Our visual system has been programmed for a photopic (diurnal) vision, but also for a scotopic (nocturnal) vision. The human eye has two distinct types of photoreceptors at the bottom of the retina for these two visual modes. The cones respond to the colors, the shapes, the details of the central view, while the “slower” rodes, responsible of the peripheral sight, respond better to dim light and let us grasp the movement and perceive the surrounding reality in a typical night sky condition.

Does everyday life still offer experience of the dark or this is another important natural condition that is denied to us?

Back to the previous statement about our need to live in a more intimate and comfy environment, it must be said that the concept of darkness is closely linked to the experience of silence, of the vague and therefore of tranquility.

Dark Art Room by

““Do we need darkness to perceive more?””

This is a question asked by C. Tomara in her article about impressions on the PLDC2019 event, in particular for the Dark Art Room installation. Here the author points out how wonderful and at the same time under stimulated it is our visual ability to adapt to the dark.

This consideration reminded me of my recent personal and quite different experience. Recently I found myself retracing a street of my hometown, which was completely dark due to a temporary blackout. My mental state in that moment, quite nostalgic and slightly melancholy, distracted me from the fear of continuing my journey, and despite the darkness, I felt a strong invitation to throw myself into it, to try a new (or forgotten) feeling. The familiarity of the road has certainly helped in reducing the perception of danger, and, instead, let me enjoy the positive feeling of quiet. I felt a strong contact with nature and the positivity of a heartening experience, capable of generating detachment from the anthropized, although I was fully surrounded by cemented volumes, I could feel the asphalt under my feet and see cars driving next to me.

I had a very similar experience, as adult, the first time I walked through fog. The impossibility of perceiving the details of objects and a pervading and diffuse light not returning any depth of the visual field, made me isolate from the reality of the external world and drove me to dialogue with myself.

Foggy urban street

Science could explain this phenomenon of empathy. During the phase of falling asleep, or even that of daydreaming, electroencephalography (EEG), which records the electrical activity of the brain, detects an accentuated activity of the alpha waves in conjunction with a certain visual torpor. We can assume that, vice versa, by creating torpor in vision we can trigger pseudo-dream mental states. The explanation could be in the fact that a poor restitution of the details, of the shapes, of the contrast due to a diffused light on all our visual field, brings us into a dimension detached from reality as we normally perceive it, because it is not typical of the everyday experience.

The visual experience in the diurnal fog is neither the scotopic vision -because it is not a matter of darkness- nor does it allow the central vision, capable of restoring the details and colors of things. Everything is then shaded in a timeless and a-spacial dimension that inevitably leads to a meditative introspection, even more than darkness can make.

The difference between the experience in the dark and the fog lies in the fact that in the first case we can count on minimal but effective space references: just a 0.006 Lux light, which is typical of the night with a starry sky, allows us, through the slow but effective rods activation, to perceive shapes, contours, movements, and therefore to decode the body language of the people around revealing their intentions and emotions. Our being social animals predisposes us to the interpretation of the visual sets, in a sort of simultaneous elaboration of objective elements of the visual scene and the memories and knowledge recalled and combined by the associative visual cortex.

Urban light design, supported by psychophysiological reasearch, is an excellent design tool, an opportunity to mediate strong and realistic signs with induced and whispered messages, inorder to return a visual set as reassuring as possible, caable of transforming the experience of darkness from uniquely threatening to a positive opportunity for relaxing dialogue with oneself.

We should not be afraid of the dark,and not only because we need it, to fall asleep and constantly align our circadian rhythm, but also because our physiology provide the right tools to engage with it. Darkness engage our rods, prevent their atrophy, and above all, it let us look and see better inside and outside ourselves.

Smart+ Light: Ready, Steady .... FOCUS !

For Euroluce 2019, the biennial International Lighting Exhibition, Rotaliana Srl is going to present a really innovative light. (1)

Smart+ is a task light not only worthy of all the tags of the moment (IoT, smart light, sensor, human-centric, circadian rhythm, biodynamic light, LED, AI) but it is , above all, a wellness tool.

Smart+ Light in the office. Img by Perhaps.Adv

It has been a great pleasure for me to collaborate, on behalf of Neocogita Srl, with a multidisciplinary and competent team that, in addition to the company coordinated by the MEZZALIRA group, includes the industrial design studio “Habits” di Milano and Graffiti 2000 S.r.l., a comunication firm of Riva del Garda.

The name Smart+ is not just a reference to the technology of the lamp, but expresses its mission and concept. It is a light that supports focus, the cognitive activity involved in our mental work when we need to be productive, to take decision or simply to execute a task, whether we are at work or at home.

In this technological age, which often demands us to be hyper-performing, working hard to the limit of our potential, it is fair we use technology to engage in healthy beahviour, in order to be aware of what this means. Our mental and physical well-being are essential for long-term productivity, and therefore, knowing the visceral relationship we have with nature and natural light, is essential to respect our limits and to know how to measure our efforts.

Control with the lamp.

Img by Perhaps Adv

Smart+ light is dynamic for intensity, distribution and color. By color we do not mean only its color temperature CCT (warm or cold) but its spectral distribution, able to range the right circadian efficacy over the course of the day, and therefore to respect our biological clock. I’s difficult to use words, to describe the complexity of this lamp, the naturalness of its light emission, the comfort experienced during its use. Smart+ uses a quality dual LED source that varies the intensity, the emission cone, the spectral diagram, and not only to capture the dynamic of natural light, but also to fit different user profiles, and drive, stimulate and modulate focus for each one of them.

It is a delicate game of calibration, through data collection, interpretation and control, for a light output that takes into account individual needs and inclinations. A dedicated application for smartphones provides easy accessible data and a more personilized use thanks to well suited reports and profiles, which are ready to be shared and to be used for long term programs and goals.

Words don’t come easy to explain the complexity of this lamp, nevertherless you will be amazed when you look at it for the first time, for the simplicity and essentiality of its aesthetic.

Diego Rossi, co-founder of Habits, summed up the whole work behind the realization with these statement:

““From such a large number of variables, an incessant work of ordering and simplification has been required, in order to reach the right balance of abstract forms, capable of expressing the scientific rigor at the base of the project though leaving room for the emotion of light.””

Neocogita, a brainwellness company, had the role to investigate the latest results of research field studying the biological aspects of light, i.e. those factors responsable for the synchronization of the circadian rhythm and other system related. Qualitative and quantitative aspects of light regulate the release of melatonin, responsible for the wake-sleep cycle, but they include the release of other hormones too, such as cortisol and serotonin, which are involved in the regulation of alertness and good mood. Quality lighting not only ensures excellent visibility, provide accent and character to a space, but respects human biology and, with right light emission, support specific cognitive tasks, through a pathway which differs from the one involved in melatonin’s suppression. This recent investigation field, which studies the new neuronal pathways involved in other mental states (alertness above all), has not yet delivered striking outcomes. However, exploring the profound bond between man and light with innovative lighting proposals on the market, is welcomed even by the scientific world.

Daytime lighting Program for a 30’ task. Img by Habits & Neocogita

Smart+ has got the merit of proposing a new light dynamic. The new lighting parameters have been submitted to an experiment and dats analysis, which has produced satisfactory results, in line with project expectations.

Smart+ contributes to the mental and physical ergonomics for working environment, contrbutes to its regenerative property, and it does all that with discretion, enabling to coordinate preset patterns of use to individual physiology parameters. The presentation of the product in Milan will allow all interested people not just to evaluate closely the aesthetic and technological qualities, but also to experience a new interaction with artificial light, which is now characterized as a sort of "personal trainer", able to make user aware of the visceral relationship between man and light. A real celebration of man and of the user experience rather than just a spotlight over the design product itself, which makes Smart+ perfectly aligned with the theme of the italian event and with the current human-centric vision of design.

1. Quartiere Fiera Milano, Rho. Stand B07 – B11 // Hall 13

Artificial Beauty - Natural Intelligence

The TED 2012 presentation by Machael Hansmeyer on the potential of digital and programmed design (CAD) leaves us - even now - in  a state of astonishment, which doesn't know  whether to turn into wonder, skepticism or hope. After a few years we can see that 3D printing has become a reality that makes the reproduction of complex shapes easy and immediate, and even artificial intelligence, back in vogue thanks to reinvented learning algorithms, renews its confidence in its ability to guarantee level of performance that before was  just considered  possible for human intelligence . But can we consider human intelligence itself without limits? Human Intelligence is not yet able to fully understand the secrets of nature and to replicate the randomness of its evolution, harmony and the measure of things. Although the noblest intentions  back up  design and planning,  the design of complex and hyper-performing environments still happen to offer the user/occupant negative and stressful experiences . Natural environments always win over artificial ones: why?

Inspired by cell division, Michael Hansmeyer writes algorithms that design outrageously fascinating shapes and forms with millions of facets. No person could draft them by hand, but they're buildable -- and they could revolutionize the way we think of architectural form.

If we stop at the frame of the minute 3.50 of the video we get a typical example of monstrosity generated by an algorithm "gone out of control". Hansmeyer speaks of a visual effect that expresses what the noise  represents for hearing. In simple words it is a wrong process that in nature would  end with abortion.

Our biology, our being part of an ecosystem, establishes the rules of our relationship with the environment in which we live. These are rules that are biological but also aesthetic, ethical and social. If our feeling is positive or negative, it is established by a law of nature that responds to the same law that has shaped us human beings. Biophilia is a philosophy that supports this law of nature, which, although elusive at times, is the basis of the biophilic hypothesis of biophilic design, the latter one a design protocol  that analyzes and verifies the natural aspects of the anthropized environment with the goal of improving the quality our life and preserving our planet.

Nicola Salingaros, mathematician, is an avid supporter of biophilic design and has much to say about what is established as the right measure and harmony of the aesthetic effect of things. Salingaros uses the fractal and its degree of complexity as a reference, suggesting the values within which you would feel safe from perceptive stimulations, so as to make them neither monotonous (not stimulating), neither annoying (stressful). A fractal encodes geometric structures on different levels and there are no preferences on scales.

All organic tissues have basic geometric structures that are similar to each other,  linking humans, animals, plants and landscapes together. In this  similitude  a sort of "Subliminal Communication" is established among all the natural elements, an attraction towards signs full of meaning that result in a sense of pleasantness and widespread wellbeing. If this concept is intuitive with the visual experience, we must make an  effort  to apply the same to all the other senses, since the principle does not change. We can therefore think of  categories of sounds, textures, smells that are linked to pleasant experiences and meet our positive predisposition.

3D printed COLumns GENERATEd w/ algorithms

Now getting back to the issue about the algorithmic generation of the column shown in the video, a question arises: How to control and manage the artificial creative process to obtain a final result that can be defined not only universally acceptable, but also fair, appropriate, cheap ? And, above all, we question if our sense of beauty and harmony can evolve over time, according to an epigenetic evolution - certainly already underway -  which can adapt us to a new order of things,  educate ourselves to spatial experiences not necessarily due to natural archetypes, but controlled by an intelligence no longer human.

These considerations create an impasse, but a reflection on how technological tools have evolved over the last millennia could help to get out of it. The design and the construction technique have always represented creative forms that delegated the execution to instruments external to our body, and more and more distant from it, from pencil to CAD, from hammer to printer. Yet our brain has gradually adapted to new creations and new technologies,  with small traumas being  very well and very fast recovered.

HAL- From 2001 A Space Odissey  

Different forms of art, above all cinema, have often dealt  with the theme of human losing control over  the machine. The cult movie "2001 A Space Odyssey" is an apocalyptic fable about the destiny of humanity, whose identity is different from the rest of nature. The story is about a mission on Jupiter in which a computer (HAL) turns, from reliable friend and support to a terrible enemy of the last surviving man. The movie tries to face very ancient problems concerning the identity of human nature, its destiny, and the role of knowledge and technique. But the story has an "happy end" , and not because the human mind is able to quell the rebellion and the resourcefulness of the artificial one, but because upstream of this apparent man-machine conflict we find out being the will of human being herself (the authors of the mission), who had set the wrong priorities,  in conflict with her own survival.