General Motors Automobile StudyEvaluating Interior Lighting SchemesGeneral Motors Corporation (GM) asked the LRC to produce a lighting specification for automobile interiors. We responded to the request with four documents:
This document included a human factors evaluation of various lighting schemes for the major visual tasks in an automobile interior. We recruited subjects from the Clifton Park Senior Center to experience lighting mocked up in a Cadillac Seville STS and give us feedback on how well different lighting schemes worked. A Specification for Interior Lighting.
Best Practices. What did we learn? The amount of stray light at the driver's eye (from a map light, footwell light, or glove box light, for example) is an excellent predictor of whether the driver will find that light disturbing while driving at night. (Refer to chart: Percentage of participants who consider the lighting disturbing vs. vertical illuminance at the driver's eye--log plot.) We also learned that auto manufacturers could make many simple optical changes that would dramatically improve both the performance and appearance of the interior lighting. |