Effect Of lighting on response inhibition in real and virtual offices

Abstract

Light is an integral part of any human activity. Before the invention of the light bulb, the only source of this light energy was the sun. With the invention of the artificial lighting, humanity has conquered the need of relying on the sun as the only source of lighting. In the modern world where most people work in offices, they are constantly exposed to these artificial lightings. This raises the question of whether certain adjustments to the artificial lighting can boost the productivity of the workers in the office. This paper discusses the effect lighting temperature on the performance of the participants doing a modified Eriksen Flanker Task. The experiment conducted in this paper used a modified Eriksen Flanker Task to measure the participants’ reaction time and accuracy. The test involves the participants doing two Flanker tasks under two different lighting conditions. The experiment was conducted on Virtual Reality as well as on Physical Environment. Results from the study show that there is no statistical significance between lighting conditions and the accuracy of the participants. However, a strong preference of cool lighting is much preferred based on the participants. Since the study is done on a limited number of participants, further research should be conducted to prove the validity of this study.