Shonal Maria Biju

Uncovering the gaps: A Critical Review of Smart Lighting Solutions in Co-Working Spaces

Co-working spaces are shared work environments designed to encourage collaboration, creativity, and flexibility. These spaces have become essential for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses, offering a dynamic and community-driven atmosphere. Lighting is one of the key factors that influences productivity and comfort in these spaces.

Smart lighting, Smart working? As highlighted by Vischer (2020), lighting plays a pivotal role in shaping workplace well-being and productivity. Poor lighting can lead to eye strain, decreased productivity, and general discomfort. Many co-working spaces still rely on traditional lighting systems that fail to meet the diverse needs of users, such as task-specific lighting, mood adjustments, and overall comfort. This can cause users to struggle with maintaining focus or feel physically drained, which impacts performance.

Although some smart adaptive lighting systems exist, they are often not implemented well and do not allow for enough customization. These systems may lack the flexibility required for different tasks or fail to meet individual preferences, making them less effective in co-working spaces. This study aims to address these limitations by offering a more adaptable solution through a new prototype.

My prototype is a smart adaptive lighting system that leverages an app to control lighting based on user preferences. By using mobile phones as lighting devices, users can adjust the brightness and color temperature according to key zones: Focus, Leisure, and Relax. This flexibility allows users to create an environment tailored to their specific needs, enhancing both productivity and comfort. Additionally, the system promotes energy efficiency by enabling users to fine-tune their lighting for different activities.

This research marks the beginning of a new approach to adaptive lighting in co-working spaces. Although the prototype is still in its early stages, it lays the foundation for developing more practical and widely-implemented products. It provides valuable insights into how to create lighting systems that are truly customizable, adaptable, and efficient, offering significant potential for improving the user experience in shared workspaces.