Ageing eyes need 'smart light' - now there is a new business opportunity

I have been experimenting with the new innovation in household lighting that enables me to control the brightness and colour of every single light. I have been  using the Philips Hue system. I am sure there are lots of other manufacturers.

Part of the reason for doing this is my love of gadgets but my main motivation is an awareness of how my ageing eyes need different types of light, for different activities, in different conditions.

It looks like I am not the only one aware of the importance of lighting to older people.

When I talk with marketers about sensory ageing they are all aware of the need for readable font sizes (although few of them do much about it). What younger people, rarely understand, is the way that ageing affects the amount of light reaching the back of the eye.

So if there are any designers reading this blog posting, take note. You can differentiate the effectiveness of spaces, for older consumers, by the type of light you use. Dick Stroud