Low Vision Computing

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Proper Lighting

"Indoor" lighting, while okay for people with normal vision, becomes both too dim and just downright dingy as the retina's response to "warm" colours drops.

The human eye normally has functioning receptors (cones) for red, green, and greenish-blue (not blue). Every other colour is synthesized by a combination of the retina and the optic nerve before it's presented to your brain.

This is why even people without low vision can argue about what colour is the dress because vision is a complex process.

As another example, there are no yellow colour receptors in the human eye, and yet we perceive yellow.

As your vision deteriorates, the cones that see the longer, less energetic red photons become less sensitive, in the end resulting in red/green colour blindness.

This doesn't mean you can't perceive red - just that the red you see is synthesized from the green and blue inputs, same as all other colors are synthesized.

It also means that lights that are "warmer" (richer in red) don't cut it for room lighting.

The Solution? Daylight LED Lighting, Rich In Higher-Energy Blue Photons.

The claims that blue light interferes with sleep are easily demonstrated as bogus, and reveal the ethnocentric bias of those making such claims.

In countries where it gets too hot to work in the afternoon sun, people sleep through it, even though they've spent the mornings exposed to blue-rich daylight.

Or just look at the people who fall asleep beside an outdoor pool or on the beach during the bright daylight hours and wake up with major sunburns.

The claim that "blue light affects the sleep cycle" is demonstrably false, just another example of "junk sciencey stuff" that may sound good in theory, but theory and observational reality are often different.

So if you're physically tired, you'll find it easy to sleep. If you've spent the day doom-scrolling on anti-social media, you'll find it much harder. Blame your lifestyle, not "blue light."

There Are Two Ingredients To Proper Lighting For Low-Vision Folks:

   1. Quality of light: Light of the wavelengths that the remaining receptors in the eye can still use;

   2. Quantity of light: Lots of it;

Between having fewer active receptors, holes in the retina, floaters, cataracts, etc., normal levels of indoor light are too dark. Show-room lighting levels (3x - 4x normal) work much better.

Yes, your home may look to outsiders like you're running a grow-op, but "normal" levels of lighting are a serious problem.

How do you achieve this proper lighting? By using enough daylight 10 watt and 15 watt LED lights. 10 watt (often labeled 60-watt-equivalent) put out about 800 lux. 15 watt (often labeled 100-watt-equivalent) put out 1500 lux.

The Problem Of Glare

Lighting where you can directly see the bulb is not pleasant. The solution is to either use a globe or shade so you don't see the actual bulb, or to bounce the light off another surface, preferably the ceiling.

By looking at the ceiling, you can also see the location of any darker areas that might need more light fixtures. As you can see from the first picture,the area directly above the work area is well lit, and lots of glare-free light is being reflected back down.

The 8 x 15-watt daylight LEDs (first photo), 4 behind or above the 100" video wall, and 4 mounted atop the two 65" side screens, all reflecting off the ceiling, do a great job illuminating the work area.

The rest of the room can use lamps, chandeliers, etc., to provde "fill" lighting, again with no direct views of bare bulbs.

You'll know when you have enough lighting when you're no longer having a hard time seeing stuff that you couldn't see "in the darkness". This means not struggling to find TV remotes, markers, pens, keys, USB sticks, or trying to read papers on your work table.

Bonus - Enough Daylight LEDs Helps Combat Depression

People with low vision certainly have reason to be depressed, what with the everyday problems, and the additional problems finding a job, the social isolation, etc.

Some people with depression spend hours every day staring into a "light box" that puts out lots of light. Why not just turn your home into a "light box"? This way, you don't lose several hours a day just sitting staring into a box at nothing.

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Email: barbra@lowvisioncomputing.com

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