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Light that follows the day
Cooler, brighter light by day, warmer light in the evening, dark at night. The Nobi Light changes its colour temperature with the day on its own, in the Nobi Lights and in Nobita.
One day in the room
The same light follows the day: cooler and brighter towards midday, warmer in the evening, off while the resident sleeps.
Cooler, brighter light to start the day.Daylight indoors, for residents who spend most of their day inside.
Bright daylight at midday.The light follows the day, so the room keeps a natural rhythm.
Warmer, softer light in the evening.Winding down towards the night, in the same light.
No light while the resident sleeps.A routine check does not wake them: the light stays off when a caregiver looks in.
A soft glow when they sit up.Just enough light to see, without waking the room.
Brighter when they get out of bed.A lit path to the bathroom, with no switch to find in the dark.
Back to bed, back to dark.The light fades out again on its own.
The lighting research behind this is summarised below, with all sources.
Why it matters
Light is the strongest signal the body clock has. It tells the brain when it is day and when it is night, and with that it times sleep, alertness and mood.
With age, the lens of the eye yellows and the pupil narrows, so less of that signal reaches the brain. At the same time, residents spend most of the day indoors, where light is dimmer and warmer than daylight. The body clock gets a weak signal by day, and often too much light late in the evening.
more light is needed by people in their 80s and 90s for the same effect on the body clock as a 10-year-old.
Turner & Mainster, 2008 · Br J Ophthalmolmedian daytime light level measured around nursing home residents, with only 10.5 minutes a day above 1,000 lux.
Shochat et al., 2000 · J Sleep Resshorter melatonin night when healthy adults sat in ordinary room light in the hours before bed, compared with dim light.
Gooley et al., 2011 · J Clin Endocrinol MetabWhat the research shows
Studies in care settings that brought more light into the day, and less into the night, found effects on sleep, mood and agitation, especially for people living with dementia.
In a randomised trial in 8 long-term care facilities, all-day lighting tuned to the body clock improved sleep quality in residents with dementia: the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality score went from 10.3 at baseline to 6.7, against 8.4 with control lighting (lower is better).4
A review of 24 randomised trials with 1,074 people with dementia found small to medium improvements in sleep quality, sleep efficiency and night-time awakenings.6
In 12 Dutch care facilities, whole-day bright ceiling light (about 1,000 lux, used for 15 months on average) reduced depressive symptoms by 19% compared with ordinary light (about 300 lux).3
A Norwegian trial with ceiling LED light that follows the day found fewer affective symptoms after 16 weeks.5
In the same trial in long-term care, agitation scores fell by 5.5 points with the tuned lighting, against 1.5 points with control lighting.4
The review of 24 trials found a medium-to-large effect on agitation.6
In the Dutch trial, the light also slowed cognitive decline by 5% and the loss of everyday abilities: the increase in limitations in daily activities was 53% smaller.3
The researchers found no adverse effects of long-term whole-day bright light.3
In the Nobi Light
In the Nobi Pendant and Nobi Ceiling in bedrooms and living rooms, and in Nobita in the bathroom.
The colour temperature changes with the day, from 2700 K to 6500 K, without anyone setting it.
Warmer and softer towards the evening, off while the resident sleeps.
A soft glow when a resident sits up and a lit path to the bathroom, so the night stays dark the rest of the time.
These are independent studies of lighting in general, not trials of the Nobi Light. The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of the molecular mechanisms that control the circadian rhythm.
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