Drivers’ Experiences and Informed Opinions of Presence Sensitive Lighting Point towards the Feasibility of Introducing Adaptive Lighting in Roadway Contexts
Applications of adaptive and intelligent lighting technologies such as presence sensitive lighting, potentially offer solutions for reducing the energy consumption of road lighting while maintaining user comfort and safety. However, little is known about road users’ experiences of such lighting. To...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Smart Cities |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2624-6511/6/4/87 |
| _version_ | 1797583190921052160 |
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| author | Henrika Pihlajaniemi Aale Luusua Eveliina Juntunen |
| author_facet | Henrika Pihlajaniemi Aale Luusua Eveliina Juntunen |
| author_sort | Henrika Pihlajaniemi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Applications of adaptive and intelligent lighting technologies such as presence sensitive lighting, potentially offer solutions for reducing the energy consumption of road lighting while maintaining user comfort and safety. However, little is known about road users’ experiences of such lighting. To address this gap, we conducted a real-world case study of a presence sensitive roadway lighting on a collector road in a housing area in southern Finland. New, controllable LED lighting with PIR (passive infrared) presence sensors was implemented along the road, and test scenarios were designed, programmed, and tested. The lighting was adapted both to motor vehicles using the road and to the measured traffic density along it. Drivers’ experiences and attitudes toward the lighting were collected in a three-phase evaluation with questionnaires from the community of about 1000 households using the road as part of their daily mobility. The results indicate that as an experience, presence sensitive lighting in a road environment was at least as positive as traditional, uncontrolled lighting. User experiences of presence sensitive lighting did not differ from the experiences of uncontrolled lighting regarding pleasantness, uniformity, glare, and road visibility. Most of the drivers (86%) did not notice any dynamic change in the lighting. When informed about the tested lighting strategies, most of the participants (72%) would prefer either one of the intelligent lighting modes to be the permanent lighting solution. The results of this exploratory, real-world study point towards the potential feasibility of this technology from a user experience perspective, as the experienced stability of the lighting was unaltered in the tested scenarios; importantly, it also highlights the need to study adaptive roadway lighting further, especially through confirmatory studies in controlled settings. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:35:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1a9034de5a914d2bb9cb4e6f415f4319 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2624-6511 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:35:22Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Smart Cities |
| spelling | doaj.art-1a9034de5a914d2bb9cb4e6f415f43192023-11-19T03:00:29ZengMDPI AGSmart Cities2624-65112023-08-01641879190010.3390/smartcities6040087Drivers’ Experiences and Informed Opinions of Presence Sensitive Lighting Point towards the Feasibility of Introducing Adaptive Lighting in Roadway ContextsHenrika Pihlajaniemi0Aale Luusua1Eveliina Juntunen2Oulu School of Architecture, University of Oulu, Pentti Kaiterankatu 1, FI-90570 Oulu, FinlandOulu School of Architecture, University of Oulu, Pentti Kaiterankatu 1, FI-90570 Oulu, FinlandVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., Kaitoväylä 1, FI-90570 Oulu, FinlandApplications of adaptive and intelligent lighting technologies such as presence sensitive lighting, potentially offer solutions for reducing the energy consumption of road lighting while maintaining user comfort and safety. However, little is known about road users’ experiences of such lighting. To address this gap, we conducted a real-world case study of a presence sensitive roadway lighting on a collector road in a housing area in southern Finland. New, controllable LED lighting with PIR (passive infrared) presence sensors was implemented along the road, and test scenarios were designed, programmed, and tested. The lighting was adapted both to motor vehicles using the road and to the measured traffic density along it. Drivers’ experiences and attitudes toward the lighting were collected in a three-phase evaluation with questionnaires from the community of about 1000 households using the road as part of their daily mobility. The results indicate that as an experience, presence sensitive lighting in a road environment was at least as positive as traditional, uncontrolled lighting. User experiences of presence sensitive lighting did not differ from the experiences of uncontrolled lighting regarding pleasantness, uniformity, glare, and road visibility. Most of the drivers (86%) did not notice any dynamic change in the lighting. When informed about the tested lighting strategies, most of the participants (72%) would prefer either one of the intelligent lighting modes to be the permanent lighting solution. The results of this exploratory, real-world study point towards the potential feasibility of this technology from a user experience perspective, as the experienced stability of the lighting was unaltered in the tested scenarios; importantly, it also highlights the need to study adaptive roadway lighting further, especially through confirmatory studies in controlled settings.https://www.mdpi.com/2624-6511/6/4/87presence sensitive lightingroadway lightingdrivers’ experiencesuser experienceevaluationsustainability |
| spellingShingle | Henrika Pihlajaniemi Aale Luusua Eveliina Juntunen Drivers’ Experiences and Informed Opinions of Presence Sensitive Lighting Point towards the Feasibility of Introducing Adaptive Lighting in Roadway Contexts Smart Cities presence sensitive lighting roadway lighting drivers’ experiences user experience evaluation sustainability |
| title | Drivers’ Experiences and Informed Opinions of Presence Sensitive Lighting Point towards the Feasibility of Introducing Adaptive Lighting in Roadway Contexts |
| title_full | Drivers’ Experiences and Informed Opinions of Presence Sensitive Lighting Point towards the Feasibility of Introducing Adaptive Lighting in Roadway Contexts |
| title_fullStr | Drivers’ Experiences and Informed Opinions of Presence Sensitive Lighting Point towards the Feasibility of Introducing Adaptive Lighting in Roadway Contexts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Drivers’ Experiences and Informed Opinions of Presence Sensitive Lighting Point towards the Feasibility of Introducing Adaptive Lighting in Roadway Contexts |
| title_short | Drivers’ Experiences and Informed Opinions of Presence Sensitive Lighting Point towards the Feasibility of Introducing Adaptive Lighting in Roadway Contexts |
| title_sort | drivers experiences and informed opinions of presence sensitive lighting point towards the feasibility of introducing adaptive lighting in roadway contexts |
| topic | presence sensitive lighting roadway lighting drivers’ experiences user experience evaluation sustainability |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2624-6511/6/4/87 |
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