The concept of Human Centric Lighting is not new. Long before current research into the non-visual effects of light, pioneers of architectural lighting such as Richard Kelly and William Lam formulated the principles of perception-oriented lighting design in terms of light for seeing, looking at and viewing, or ‘activity needs’ and ‘biological needs’. In combination with the new findings of chronobiology, we have worked out a formula that explains precisely and in a practical way what Human Centric Lighting is all about.

Human Centric Lighting, or HCL for short, stands for a planning approach that puts people and their requirements at the centre of lighting design. Human Centric Lighting addresses the visual, emotional and biological effects of light. In addition to visual criteria such as the specific visual task and good orientation in the room, it also includes the non-visual effects of light on people. In addition to cones and rods, the two photoreceptors for vision, our eyes also have another light-sensitive receptor type. This was only discovered at the beginning of the 21st century and adopts a role in the synchronisation of our day-night rhythm. In line with this, HCL-oriented architectural lighting takes into account the visual perception of architecture, the visual task as well as the emotional and biological component.