RADIANCE WORKSHOP:
SCIENTIFIC APPLICATIONS USING RADIANCE
Mehlika Inanici
University of Michigan, College of Architecture and Urban Planning
2000 Bonisteel Boulevard Ann Arbor, MI, 48105.
Through appropriate modeling, rendering, and image technology, high dynamic range synthetic images can be utilized as lighting laboratory settings. The presentation demonstrates the potential of Radiance images beyond the basic luminance / illuminance distribution analysis to visual performance and comfort studies on threshold and supra-threshold lighting levels.
Advanced lighting analysis requires substantial amount of information, which is cumbersome and expensive to achieve through physical measurements. Moreover, feasible methods of measuring some of the lighting indicators have not been developed outside laboratory conditions. Therefore, these indicators are inaccessible to majority of the lighting professionals. Radiance images, that incorporate physically accurate high dynamic range lighting data, offer unique information. Virtual Lighting Laboratory (VLL) is a computer environment, where the user has been provided with matrices of illuminance and luminance values extracted from Radiance images. The underlying idea is to provide the ‘laboratory’ to the designer / researcher to explore various lighting analysis techniques instead of imposing limited number of tools.
The novelty and capabilities of the VLL are exemplified in different architectural settings. The analysis include basic studies that refer to checking quantities and ratios against recommendations; as well as advanced studies that investigates photopic and scotopic luminance variations in the specific regions of the visual field, i.e. foveal, binocular, and peripheral vision under dynamic conditions. Capabilities within VLL are expanded through virtual equipments, such as contrast meter, integrating sphere, and scotopic luminance meter. It is an ongoing study and further features will be added.
VLL proposes substantial restructuring in architectural lighting design / research through:
· Endorsement of advanced analysis by making indices accessible outside laboratory conditions;
· Substitution of expensive physical lighting equipment with virtual ones;
· Transformation of psychophysical experiments from simple scenes to complex architectural settings;
· Exploration of new lighting indices that embraces recent research findings and overcomes some of the deficiencies of the previous studies; and
· Transformation of lighting analysis from static lighting indices to dynamic lighting indices.
Mehlika Inanici is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Michigan, College of Architecture and Urban Planning (Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA). She received her Bachelor of Architecture (1993) and Master of Science in Building Science (1995) degrees from METU, Department of Architecture (Ankara, Turkey). She has a Master of Science degree in Architecture (2002) from the University of Michigan.
She has worked as a teaching and research assistant. She has published on architectural lighting, thermal performance analysis, and energy efficient building design. Currently, she is interested in lighting analysis through computer modeling and visualization. She has been using the Radiance software for three years. Inanici is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) and International Building Performance Simulation Association (IPBSA).
Contact Information:
Address: The University of Michigan,
College of Architecture + Urban Planning
Office: 2224B
2000 Bonisteel Boulevard,
Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
E-mail: inanici@umich.edu