Sleep disorders are on the rise
Sleep disorders, such as difficulties with falling asleep, irregular sleep patterns, and insomnia deprive our brains from the very much needed rest, and result in poor attention span, suboptimal performance of cognitive functions, which in turn lead to poor school performance, multiple health problems and accidents on the road and at workplaces.
Research shows that the right type of light helps to regulate the circadian rhythm. Aleksandra Stachowska from SWPS University’s School of Form looked into optics and medical research on sleep and mood disorders to design a lamp made of dichroic glass, which can display multiple colors and allows for easy adjustment of the light hue to align it with the time of day.
My intention was to make a lamp that was easy to use and could give the users an opportunity to decide which type of light they need at a given time. I installed a special dome and you just need to turn it by 180 degrees to change the light hue. You can choose the blue light, which is energizing, or the yellow light, which is calming.
Aleksandra Stachowska
Graduate of SWPS University's School of Form
Light that can improve the quality of sleep
Dichromatic is a graduation project of Aleksandra Stachowska, a graduate of SWPS University’s School of Form. The lamp is made of ash wood (base), powder-coated metal (legs) and dichroic glass.
The key component of the lamp is dichroic glass which can display different light colors. The lamp includes two light filters, which adjust the intensity and the color of the light, according to needs of the user. The first filter lets through short electromagnetic waves (i.e. blue and purple colors, and it reflects the yellow and red hues. The blue light suppresses melatonin in the brain and keeps us awake. It is more suited for the fall and winter, when long evenings are conducive to sleepiness.
The second filter works in the opposite way – it lets through the yellow and red waves, and reflects the blue and purple ones. It should be used some time before bedtime, to help induce a good night’s sleep. It is also well suited to spring and summer to help the body wind down after a day spent in the sun, when it was exposed to ultraviolet rays that are energizing. Thanks to the choice of light, Dichromatic helps to regulate hormones in the body and balance the circadian rhythm to help people get ready for a night of good sleep.
Diachromatic allows users to easilty change the ligh to align it with the circadian rhythm:
Photo: School of Form
Photo: School of Form
Photo: School of Form