Focus

Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Lighting Design Interaction Design Arduino
Jan - Jul 2014

Focus helps you concentrate. It uses blue light which improves: alertness, cognitive performance, cortisol secretion and brain blood flow. This makes it ideal for tasks where you have to absorb information. Focus makes you less sensitive to distractions and absorb information faster.

Inspired by the sun

Focus is a lamp that helps you concentrate by introducing concentration cycles indicated by ambient light. Cycles are inspired by the sun and use similar light properties to raise your alertness. When you switch it on it fades to orange (sunrise). From here it transitions to blue and like this for 45 minutes (midday). After, the light will fade back to orange and eventually will turn off (sunset). At the end of the cycle Focus flashes its light 3 times to make sure you take a break. After your break you can start a new cycle.

During late hours you are more sensitive to blue light. To not impact your circadian rhythm when concentrating at night or in the evening, Focus emits less blue light at these times.

Focus is curved to create an isolated working area. The lights on the side give the impression it is a part of your desk. Focus can be dimmed to your liking and has 3 modes: on/concentration/off. There are no buttons, instead Focus has proximity sensors that are used to control the modes

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