Medical Lighting and its Versatility

There are two windows in my room, but because my room is situated in the corner of the inside of the H-shaped 15 Westminster building, I do not get any light from the outside. So when I step out of the building to go to classes, it always amazes me how much light there is outside. It refreshes me, and it makes me feel that it is going to be a good day. On the other hand, if it is cloudy and dark when I exit the building, it feels almost disappointing and discouraging.

Lights have incredible impacts on humans, not just physically, but also psychologically. Therefore, lights, whether natural or artificial, have been used to aid people’s lives throughout history. The history of light therapy can be traced back to the time of the ancient Greeks. Hippocrates, who is known as the father of modern medicine, used to prescribe sunlight as a cure for a number of illnesses.

Nowadays, light is used for medical purposes to treat many different illnesses.

One of the many illnesses is the seasonal affective disorder. The best cure is the natural sunlight for this disorder, but the technology has let us create a product called the light box, which omits artificial light that is as intense as the sun light. These light boxes are almost like an everyday object to the people with the disorder, so it seems like careful considerations were taken into account when designing the “boxes.” There is a wide variety of light box designs, and they come in many different sizes and forms to fit into any kind of environment.

Among many different types of lights, the far infrared lights are known to help relieve pain, reduce inflammation, better blood circulation and fast recovery. The far infrared light is actually a band of light that we perceive as heat, and it is capable of penetrating deeper into human body without heating the air in between. The far infrared activate and ionize the water molecules in human body and aids in the healing and beauty purposes. Considering the fact that human bodies are composed of 90% water, the effect is tremendous. Nowadays, there are many different products to get the help of far infrared light therapy, such as a sauna box, light box, and so on.

The concept of light therapy has been adopted by the MINI Cooper. MINI Cooper has a feature called “mood lighting,” and lights are embedded in the interior of the car, like in the armrests and the footwells, in addition to the standard map and dome lighting. The colors range from blue through pink to orange, and different colors are to reflect different moods of the driver. Colored lights have been proved to have a significant impact on people’s moods, and MINI Cooper cleverly incorporated this concept into the design in order to provide the driver and the passengers with a more enjoyable experience.

Above is Apple’s MacBook Pro, with its “breathing” LED. Apple computers have this unique feature of breathing status LED indicator, which indicates when the computer is in the sleep mode. The blinking rate mimics the typical rhythm of breathing. This usage of light does not serve any medical purposes, but I found it relevant to the topic, since the calm, rhythmic “breathing” is almost therapeutic and Zen-like in a way. It is definitely not something that would be prescribed by a therapist or a doctor, but it has a pleasant visual appeal, and its anthropomorphic characteristic draws the user’s attention. It is an interesting and intriguing way of incorporating light into the design to make the product more engaging.

Lights are just versatile and can be applied to anything. As we have seen, even the concepts that were originally developed for medical purposes can be adapted to serve entertainment purpose in everyday life.

Reflection

Honestly, I never imagined myself majoring in “design” until I came to RISD. In fact, I had never even thought of going to an art school until senior year in high school. But now, here I am, majoring in Industrial Design and RISD.

When I first came to RISD, my first choice major was Graphic Design. I had always enjoyed drawing and making posters, and I had always considered myself a “2-D person” prior to RISD, so Graphic Design appeared to be the most natural and obvious path to take. On the other hand, Industrial Design was something very foreign and vague. I had no idea what it was about. Back then, the way I defined Industrial Design was extremely simple; a “3-D” major.

After being in the Industrial Design department for almost a year and a half, ID is no longer just a “3-D” major to me. I am starting to sense the meaning of industrial design. I believe industrial design is about everything. It is about people and their stories. It is about solving problems and creating experiences. It is about the balance between function and emotion plus the aesthetics. It is about the three dimensions, x, y and z. It is also about the four dimensions, as the “experience” created by industrial design involves the user’s “time.” But it is also two-dimensional, since drawing and graphic/surface design are also a major part of ID. It is about the environment and sustainability. It is about asking the right question and answering it. It is about finding the right opportunity.

After all, it is about care – about the world, people, the environment, beauty, or yourself. Some people say that ironically, ID is the major that damages the environment and creates the most landfills amongst all the majors at RISD. This may be true indeed, because practically, us making urethane foam models is nothing but using up resources and creating more “stuff” to be thrown away. But at least we are caring about something – thinking about someone. There are so many people in this world and every one of them has countless numbers of stories. Whatever we do will mean something to someone in this world. Industrial design is like the butterfly effect, and we, as industrial designers, are trying to create a positive and creative butterfly effect that solves some kind of problem in this world.

Perhaps, my definition of industrial design has not got any more specific. It is still very vague, but that is because the field does not have a boundary. Industrial design is about almost everything, and that is what I enjoy the most about the field; it means that I could basically do anything in the future.

I never really had a “dream” in my life. I always had so much trouble in elementary school when I had to do the assignments where you draw or write about what you want to become in the future. In high school, when my mother asked me about what I wanted to do in college and afterwards, I told her that I had no idea, and I remember my mother getting very, very worried about me.
I still do not have a dream. But now, I think I at least have some idea about what I want to do in the future. I want to be a part of making this world a better place, even if it is a very small part. I still remember Dr. Bruce Becker’s story about a boy and the starfish. Everything matters. I do not aspire to become super famous or prosperous. I just want to be able to contribute to bringing about a change – hopefully a positive change – in the world.

Until now, I think I have been living a rather spoiled life. I used to live in the Philippines, one of the less developed countries, when I was in middle school. And frankly speaking, I used to dislike the place a lot, because the air was polluted and I did not want to see the poor people. It hurt me to see the poor people, perhaps because I did not want to admit the fact that I was spoiled. Maybe that was why I enjoyed living in the Netherlands so much; because it was clean and peaceful, and everyone was well-off, so I did not have to face the depressing and unfortunate side of the world.

But now, I think it is time to face the reality, instead of running away from it. I would like to care. Care more about the world and the people. After my sophomore year in ID, I started caring more about the environment. Now that I have been through History of ID and attended the Better World by Design Conference this semester, I am starting to think more about the people as well.

Life is not eternal, and in fact, it is rather short, but I think it is long enough to care about something, and initiate a change.