2009 Volume 33 Issue 1 Pages 37-45
This study investigated how focusing light on different elements of a scene affects the stress-alleviating, restorative experience. Three night time scenes were created with the Lightscape computer program. Each scene was illuminated in two different ways, one focusing light on roads and parking lots and the other on vegetation, resulting altogether in six views. It was expected that focusing light on vegetation would result in higher ratings of restorative experience. The simulated views were rated by 35 participants using the Perceived Restorativeness Scale (PRS) and the Restoration Outcome Scale (ROS). In accordance with our hypothesis, focusing light towards greenery vs. parking lots and roads resulted in higher PRS and ROS ratings. The results suggest that lighting offers considerable potential for enhancing the restorativeness of urban night time environments.