Designing and Controlling Adaptive Lighting using Network-based Agents Methodology

Abstract

The rapid development of lighting technologies, especially the introduction of LED and the integration of computation and sensing technologies into our everyday environments, have opened up new opportunities for lighting design. The driving force for introducing adaptive lighting solutions to urban and indoor environments has been to conserve energy through automated systems and optimised solutions. Although these types of Ambient Intelligence (AmI) systems are technologically sophisticated, they do not consider the role of design and aesthetics, and currently, there is untapped potential in using adaptive lighting in improving the functional and experiential quality of architectural spaces. This paper discusses a design framework called VirtuAUL, which is developed for the design, control and real-world implementation of adaptive lighting. The aim of this paper is to present the details of the developed methodology, where network-based agents are used for designing and controlling adaptive lighting, and to discuss the benefits, opportunities and shortcomings of the developed method. Based on the control methodology, computational agents move in a designer-defined network topology and interact with the physical environment. Information on the environment and its users is conveyed from real to virtual through sensors, and lights reveal the composition of the virtual system. The lighting response is part of a creatively designed adaptive scenario. The use of  the design and control methodology and its function is illustrated in the context of a real-world lighting demo called Urban Echoes.