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Through this week's lectures, I learned about the multifaceted role of colour in design. It is a powerful tool that influences emotions, focus, feelings, and narratives in design. Colour can greatly enhance the transition between time points or strengthen the story's plot. In another presentation, some theories on constructing visual images using lighting were mentioned, along with practical examples. This made me realize that in a theatrical production, lighting is not a standalone module but part of the performance, combining with other elements to form a whole. This requires considering the story's background, actors' angles and positions, lines, and many other factors to present the entire performance in the best possible way.

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The six principles of lighting design — brightness, colour, angle, shape, movement, and scale — are all crucial elements that make up the final image.

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One point that interested me in this lecture was the mention of the “Ganzfeld effect,” which explains the brain's reaction when there is a lack of visual input, and how lighting design can be used to manipulate the audience's visual and psychological experience. I believe this aligns well with the goals I aim to achieve in the HMsEx course.

“Meaning is generated in and through the act of perception. The viewer perceives visual elements and assigns meaning to the event. Art itself is dependent upon the behaviour of the spectator(s).”

-----------Erika Fischer-Lichte

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As this is my first week experiencing the HMsEx course, factors like colour and lighting have made me think more about how I can design projects throughout the semester that profoundly affect the audience's emotions and experiences. This is more about exploring psychology and emotions to achieve the best effect.

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Based on the list of themes, I initially chose four words: Terrifying, Uncanny, Overwhelming, and Visceral. I then researched and summarized my thoughts on each word.

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- Terrifying

I think this word represents a direct form of fear, which may stem from concerns about the unknown, real threats, or a sense of helplessness in coping with certain situations. If I choose this word, I think it can help the audience experience an uncontrollable, extreme emotion more intuitively.

- Uncanny

Compared to "terrifying," I think this word leans more towards a feeling of unease or strangeness, a bizarre sensation that lies between familiarity and unfamiliarity. This feeling is often subtle but can profoundly affect a person's psychological state. I think this word might stimulate the audience's curiosity or provoke deeper thoughts.

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- Overwhelming

I think this word describes a sensation that is hard to endure. This feeling can be either positive or negative. If I choose this word, I think it will lean more towards expressing an overwhelming emotional impact or an inescapable feeling, which could be very moving.

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- Visceral

I think this word is direct and often represents an instinctive emotional response. For example, crying unconsciously while watching a movie or the instinctive reaction of fleeing in the face of danger. This direct feeling might make the work more realistic and evoke stronger resonance.

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- Final Choice: Uncanny

Based on the research of the previous words, the word I ultimately choose is "uncanny." The reason for my final choice is that this word best embodies complex emotional experiences and effectively conveys that eerie feeling between familiarity and unfamiliarity. This feeling not only causes confusion but also evokes unease and fear. I believe that the thoughts and reflections after viewing a work are often more memorable. I hope to showcase more complex emotional and psychological states through this theme project.

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The image on the right is Related Words for "Uncanny"

Uncanny Art Style Research​

Distortion and Deformation -  Familiar objects are depicted in unusual ways, causing discomfort for the viewer. For example, the human face or body parts may be twisted or rearranged, creating an image that is both familiar and strange​

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Strange Contrasts - Adding unusual or discordant elements to an otherwise normal scene can make the entire picture appear eerie.

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Hidden Threats - Seemingly safe environments hide potential dangers or strange phenomena.​

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Logical Inconsistencies -  Familiar things often appear in illogical ways.​

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Repetition and Cycles - Repeated images or scenes can make the viewer feel trapped in an abnormal and inescapable situation.

Artist and Artwork Research

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Francis Bacon - "Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion" (1944)

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This work is a triptych that depicts twisted and deformed human figures, conveying a strong sense of fear and unease. Through the extreme distortion of the human form, it explores the deep-seated pain and fear within the human psyche. This piece inspires me to think about how the use of colour can be manipulated to express inner fear and a sense of alienation.

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Louise Bourgeois - "Maman" (1999)

This is a gigantic spider sculpture representing the figure of a mother, simultaneously evoking feelings of awe and unease. The work, with its exaggerated proportions and intricate details, conveys a sense of familiarity that is deeply unsettling. Her works often exhibit complex emotions and psychological depth, creating an uncanny atmosphere. This piece makes me consider how to skillfully create a sense of unease.

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Anthony McCall - "Line Describing a Cone" (1973)

This is a light installation artwork that creates a three-dimensional light sculpture through the interaction of light and mist. It generates a peculiar and confusing visual experience. This realization helps me understand how the combination of light and space can create visual effects that are both real and surreal.

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James Turrell - "Breathing Light" (2013)

This is another light installation that creates an immersive experience by changing the colour and intensity of the light. Audience in this work feel the constant transformation of space. James Turrell's work emphasizes the role of light in space, using simple yet powerful visual effects to create a direct experience of light and colour.

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I chose the Capitol Lighting system combined with sound to present my "uncanny" theme. The Capitol Lighting system can precisely control the intensity, colour, and position of the light, which I believe is crucial for creating eerie and unsettling visual effects. By utilizing this system, I can adjust the lighting details in the scene, making the audience more immersed.

Additionally, sound is an essential element in creating an "uncanny" atmosphere. By integrating sound design, this will further enhance the visual effects. Through variations in the rhythm and tone of the background music, as well as occasional sudden sound effects, I aim to provoke tension and unease in the audience.

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During this week, I mainly determined my general design direction and theme. By studying the theme of "uncanny" and analyzing related artists and works, I have clarified my current thoughts.

Under the theme of "uncanny," I plan to use lighting and sound to showcase the psychological and emotional states of mental illness patients. These patients often experience complex and profound emotional fluctuations that are difficult to accurately describe with words. Therefore, I hope to combine lighting and sound, for example, in one scene, soft lighting and tranquil background music can represent moments of calm, while sudden strong lights and piercing sound effects can simulate emotional breakdowns and panic. The diverse interplay of these elements will help to create an uncanny atmosphere. By creating an abstract way to reflect emotional fluctuations, changes in lighting can simulate the rise and fall of emotions, while sound can convey inner anxiety, unease, and fear.

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Epps, P. (2021) Capturing bestial humanity: Francis Bacon’s ‘Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion’. Available at: https://artuk.org/discover/stories/capturing-bestial-humanity-francis-bacons-three-studies-for-figures-at-the-base-of-a-crucifixion.

Webb, J. (2021) If I could go anywhere: I’d revisit Maman, Louise Bourgeois’ 9-metre spider at London’s Tate Modern. Available at: https://theconversation.com/if-i-could-go-anywhere-id-revisit-maman-louise-bourgeois-9-metre-spider-at-londons-tate-modern-157859.

Tate. (n.d.) Line Describing a Cone. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/mccall-line-describing-a-cone-t12031.

LACMA. (n.d.) James Turrell: Breathing Light. Available at: https://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/james-turrell-breathing-light.

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This week's lecture greatly influenced my strategy for the "Uncanny" theme, and analyzing different emotional theory models has given me a clearer concept of how to create more complex emotional states. Among these, Russell's Circumplex Model of Affect has been particularly helpful in developing my concept, providing a clearer framework, especially in the transitions between high arousal and low arousal emotional states. This model emphasizes the bidimensional nature of emotional states—Positive Affect, Negative Affect, and Arousal. Particularly with my theme of mental illness, where emotional expression is inherently unstable, there might be sudden intense emotional shifts even during calm periods. This theoretical model also helps me think about how to precisely control emotional fluctuations in my work, using changes in lighting and sound to reflect different emotional states.

​In week 1, I mentioned that a significant difference between uncanny and terrified is that the peak of fear in uncanny exists before and after the peak in terrified, often accompanied by the audience's moral and self-reflective thoughts. Therefore, the introduction of the OCC model made me consider how emotions are associated with personal expectations, especially in the handling of aesthetic and moral emotions, which will be important for creating a "uncanny" experience.

Among the many audio and video demonstrations I've experienced, the one that left the deepest impression was McFarlane, Verhagen & Brodel's audiovisual plinth at Experimenta: Recharge. The red flashing at the beginning of the video quickly established the tone for the entire presentation. The continuous transition of lighting colors seemed like a multi-layered exploration of emotions. Just as the shadow of the central object was incorporated into the entire presentation, it added a dynamic to the work. It's difficult to explain, but it felt like there was something to focus on that concentrated the attention, making it a very impactful piece.

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Based on my previous concept, I looked up articles on mental health for research

Schizophrenia: Metamorphosing from Imagination to Reality

This article primarily discusses the exploration of emotional changes and inner worlds in patients with mental illness. Through the interactions between Rahul and his imaginary girlfriend, as well as his struggle between the real world and a fantasy world, I can see the instability and complexity of emotional states in individuals with mental illnesses, which aligns with the themes I aim to explore in my project.

Additionally, the article mentions the psychological changes in Rahul following his father's death, reflecting how mental illness patients might use fantasies to escape painful realities. These narratives provide significant inspiration for how I intend to use lighting and sound to represent the emotional states of mental illness patients in my work.

https://myumbrella.co/mental-health-schizophrenia-metamorphosing-from-imagination-to-reality/

Affective Dynamics Across Internalizing and Externalizing Dimensions of Psychopathology

This study primarily investigates how emotional changes manifest uniquely across different types of mental illnesses. It reveals that emotional dynamics can significantly differ based on the type of psychiatric disorder—internalizing or externalizing:

​1. Internalizing Disorders (such as depression and anxiety): Patients often experience intense negative emotions and considerable emotional variability, indicating that their emotional responses are more sensitive and unstable.

2. Externalizing Disorders (such as antisocial behavior and substance abuse): Patients display rapid changes and fluctuations in positive emotions, which are fleeting and transient. This may lead them to seek immediate emotional gratification or stimulation.

​Understanding these emotional dynamics can greatly aid in summarizing the emotional fluctuation curves for the project, prompting me to consider focusing more on either internalizing or externalizing disorders.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7363045/

What Dreams May Reveal About Your Mental Health

This article discusses the relationship between dreams and mental health, particularly emphasizing that certain dream patterns may be linked to neurological and psychological disorders. It also notes that negative dreams (different from nightmares) are not always detrimental. For instance, individuals with schizophrenia might experience dreams that are "flat, disjointed, and fragmented," but this does not necessarily indicate the presence of depression or schizophrenia. This insight is crucial for handling the emotions throughout my presentation and deepens my understanding of how to use lighting and sound in my work to simulate this emotional processing. Conditions like sleep apnea and emotional conflicts mentioned in the article may can also be reflected in my work.

https://mindsitenews.org/newsletter/what-dreams-may-reveal-about-your-mental-health/

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My project draws inspiration from the first and second installments of the game "Hellblade."

​Emotional and Psychological Representation

​The game precisely captures and portrays the protagonist Senua's state of mental illness through visual and auditory effects, such as the screen's distortion and continuous whispers in the background, enhancing the game's immersion and emotional depth. This depiction of complex psychological states inspired me to simulate the emotional fluctuations of mental illness patients through lighting and sound design, and I believe this can be a deeply resonant way to enhance audience understanding of such experiences.

Narrative Techniques

​The narrative technique in the game, through the protagonist's internal monologues and visual flashbacks, deeply explores mental health issues. This method helps players better understand and empathize with the protagonist's psychological struggles. Although my narrative does not employ this direct video narration, I intend to ensure that the entire project has an underlying logic rather than a blind display of the uncanny.

​Interactive Design

​The game engages players directly in the protagonist's mental struggle through puzzle-solving and combat mechanics, which are seamlessly integrated with the narrative in the second installment. This has inspired me to explore how the interaction between lighting and physical space can be used to delve deeper into this theme.

​Technical Application

​The game features extremely smooth animation transitions and 3D sound design, which greatly enhance the realism of the story. Similarly, my project will incorporate sound design to create a multi-layered sensory experience that simulates the variability and complexity of mental states.

​Cultural and Visual Language

​The game's visual design is heavily influenced by Norse art, using symbols and totems to enhance the narrative's sense of mystery and depth. Symbolic imagery conveys the protagonist's inner conflicts and transformations. I am considering whether similar symbolic combinations of shapes and shadows could be effectively implemented in the Capitol lighting design to visually support this concept.

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Light

In my lighting design project, considering the emotional diversity of the "uncanny" theme, I plan to primarily use cool tones to create an atmosphere of mystery and unease. According to color psychology research, cool colors like blue and green are often associated with tranquility, solitude, and even sadness, which can deepen the audience's perception of psychological instability. However, to prevent the visual effect from appearing too monotonous or detached, I intend to use warm tones such as orange or red at key moments (such as during scenes of heartbeat, tense expressions, or excitement) to enhance emotional intensity and dynamic changes. The use of warm colors can visually provoke a sense of tension and discomfort in the audience, thereby better conveying the core emotions of the "uncanny" theme.

Sound

​For the audio part, I may consider using 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound to simulates the propagation of sound from different spatial locations, enhancing the immersion of the project and making sound a key means one of expressing changes in psychological state. Additionally, I plan to use variable tones and volumes to reflect different emotional states, such as using sharp and rapidly changing tones in scenes depicting the protagonist's anxiety or panic.

The software that might be used in the project includes Pharos, Reaper, and GarageBand ......

Color and psychological functioning: a review of theoretical and empirical work

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00368/full

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Based on this week's research and further development of my initial concept, I provide a more detailed explanation. This narrative structure will progressively intensify, as outlined in my basic project concept below:

​Part One: Lost (0-30 seconds)

Start of the Story: The protagonist begins to feel slight discomfort in seemingly normal everyday life scenes.

Lighting Design: Use a light blue gradient light that starts to flicker slowly, simulating the visual effect of rapid blinking in reality.

Sound Design: Normal ambient sounds, such as street noise and human voices, gradually blend with low-frequency background murmurs and subtle discordant tones.

​Part Two: Hallucinations (30-60 seconds)

Story Development: Hallucinations gradually intensify, making it increasingly difficult for the protagonist to distinguish between reality and fiction.

Lighting Design: Lights change to rapid flickering, turning to a cold purple color, occasionally interspersed with warm colors (such as orange-red) to highlight emotional tension.

Sound Design: Ambient sounds become incoherent, with sporadic screams and blurred speech added, increasing the sense of chaos.

​Part Three: Struggle (60-90 seconds)

Story Turn: The protagonist tries to fight against the hallucinations.

Lighting Design: Bright white lights flash intermittently, then quickly return to a continuous cold hue.

Sound Design: A mix of tense high-frequency sounds and soothing low tones, such as deep piano notes.

​Part Four: Despair (90-120 seconds)

Story Deepening: The protagonist tries to resist but gradually feels powerless, with increasing fear and chaos internally.

Lighting Design: Cold hues intensify, with light effects tending towards rapid and irregular flickering, becoming colder in tone.

Sound Design: Sounds become sharper and more tense, like intermittent electronic music and uneasy rhythms.

​Part Five: Abyss (120-150 seconds)

Story Climax: The protagonist is completely engulfed in the abyss, unable to escape.

Lighting Design: Lights gradually dim, eventually leaving only a faint deep red glow, symbolizing the protagonist's psyche enveloped in deep fear and despair.

Sound Design: Music and sounds gradually become heavy and monotonous, with low-frequency vibrations and prolonged echoes, creating an atmosphere of despair and helplessness.

​I plan for the entire project to be accompanied by surrounding whispers, creating an inescapable feeling. In the subsequent project development, I will continue to refine the concept and iterate on the specific details and design ideas for the Capitol lighting system.

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Banerjie, A. (2020) Schizophrenia: Metamorphosing from Imagination to Reality. Available at: https://myumbrella.co/mental-health-schizophrenia-metamorphosing-from-imagination-to-reality.

Scott, L.N., Victor, S.E., Kaufman, E.A., Beeney, J.E., Byrd, A.L., Vine, V., Pilkonis, P.A. and Stepp, S.D. (2020) 'Affective Dynamics Across Internalizing and Externalizing Dimensions of Psychopathology', Clinical Psychological Science, 8(3), pp. 412-427. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7363045.

Wise, C. (2023) ‘What Dreams May Reveal About Your Mental Health’, June 7. Available at: https://mindsitenews.org/newsletter/what-dreams-may-reveal-about-your-mental-health.

Elliot, A. J. (2015) ‘Color and psychological functioning: a review of theoretical and empirical work’, Frontiers in Psychology. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00368/full.

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Based on the feedback for Assignment 1, I reconsidered my artistic references and have decided to include the "Hellblade" series of games, "The Welcome Guest," and "Beneath the Roses" as examples in presentation.

During Thursday's lighting test, I realized that I need to learn more about lighting colors and rhythms, as the on-site effects significantly differed from the software simulations. This discrepancy was often hard to predict, such as with colors, lighting placement, and effects. I chose the word "uncanny," but I did not feel this atmosphere was achieved in the test demo; the lighting was too bright, the colors too chaotic, and the effects too complex. These are points I need to change. As mentioned in class, when music is already part of the presentation, it's crucial to control the amount of lighting and be more restrained to avoid conflicts.

After this test, I've realized that lighting design is much more complex than I initially thought. I've decided to scale back some of my earlier ideas about sound design and focus first on selecting the music needed for my work, which is currently a priority. I plan to spend more time refining the lighting design to more effectively convey the concept of "uncanny."

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Color Psychology: How Color Affects Your Emotions And Why

In light design, the application of colors is crucial. I found an article on color psychology that discusses how different colors affect human feelings and how different colored lights impact psychology.

The article covers the psychological and cultural traits of various colors and how to apply color psychology in daily life, such as in clothing, home decor and branding. For example, blue is often seen as a color of truth and wisdom, known to lower blood pressure and heart rate, creating a calming effect; red is associated with passion and attack, suitable for dates. I think it may also be related to our impressions of colors, as red is often associated with blood.

Moreover, the article explores how colors can improve work efficiency, alleviate anxiety, and enhance sleep quality. Color therapy (chromotherapy) has also been proven to effectively treat insomnia, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other health issues.

Key points from the article include:

Different colors can trigger various emotional responses.

Colors affect people's behavior, emotions, attention, and concentration.

Colors significantly influence an individual's judgments and decisions.

For my lighting design project, understanding the principles of color psychology is beneficial. By knowing the reactions different colors evoke, I can more precisely control the selection of lighting colors, envisioning an expected emotional progression to more easily guide the audience's emotions.

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In this post, you'll learn how to decode how different colors impact you and learn to strategically use colors in your wardrobe, home, and business to your advantage.

What is Color Psychology?

Color psychology is the study of how different colors impact your emotions and behavior. It's a field that affects us daily. For example, the color of your shirt can affect both your mood and how others might perceive you.

What color should you wear on a date versus a job interview? What colors should you put in your marketing campaign? How is the color of your home affecting you?

Read on to answer all these questions and learn how to optimize your usage of colors in your own life.

How Different Colors Affect You

We have learned since Goethe's days that each color impacts you based on a combination of three things:

The innate psychology of that color shared across cultures (likely derived from how the color appears in nature).

The cultural associations of that color. For example, In America, green often means luck, and in China, wearing a "green hat" implies infidelity.

Your personal connection to colors. For example, if you love your grandparents and the inside of their house was painted orange throughout your childhood, you may have a pleasant personal association with the color.

So there is no exact science for each color, but we can make some guesses based on human universals. Below are some of the psychological and cultural qualities of each color.

How You Can Apply Color Psychology to Your Life

Knowing the essential quality of each color is a great start. But now, let's dive deeper to learn how to apply what you know about the colors.

The color psychology of what to wear

The colors you choose for your outfit each day will affect your mood, behavior, and how others perceive you. Below is a cheat sheet of when to wear each color.

Blue

Blue is the reliable sky and the calming sea. Blue is a great color to counteract the tension if you want to center yourself or provide a balancing presence for any social drama.

Blue is also a crowd-pleaser since it is most frequently voted as people's favorite color.

Red

People across cultures associate red with love. And sex! People perceive females as more sexually attractive when they wear red blush and lipstick. These makeup styles emulate the body's reaction to sexual arousal, cardiac health, and high estrogen levels.

Yellow

The color of the sun is the happiest of all colors and stimulates joy and optimism. Yellow also grabs attention, which makes it great for traffic signs.

Yellow clothes are an excellent option for casual summerwear; however, yellow is considered an unstable color, so it can be over-energizing for the office and make the wearer look weak.

Green

This color denotes freshness, safety, and harmony. Green is restful on the eyes and produces the least amount of eyestrain, reminding people of leaves and trees. Green is always a solid clothing choice if you'd like to create a grounding and restorative vibe.

It's also associated with money, luck, and the "go" signal for a traffic light-all great characteristics in the workplace.

Brown

Like the trunk of a tree, brown conjures up feelings of strength and stability. But at the same time, brown can seem boring and safe. It's a great color to wear if you want to feel sturdy and play it safe, but it can be hard to stand out in brown.

Brown is also seen as masculine. Wearing a chocolate brown suit can give you credibility if you're a woman in a predominantly male workplace.

Orange

Orange evokes stimulation, vibrancy, and enthusiasm. Orange is the color of fire, citrus fruit, and safety vests.

Orange is also the color of autumn-pumpkins, squash, and fall leaves, and can be associated with melancholy. Though more peachy shades of orange conjure up the warmth.

It's not as aggressive as red but can catch attention, so while a good color for sporty garb, it's best to wear it in moderation.

Orange is also not a crowd favorite and is most commonly marked as people's least favorite color.

Purple

It's also the color of magic. The unnaturalness can make purple seem either mysterious or artificial. A purple scarf, tie, or purse can be a nice, subtle addition to any outfit, giving some extra pzazz and mystique.

Pink

We associate pink with youth, innocence, and childhood sweetness. It can also represent femininity, nurturance, and softness. In nature, we find pink color in flowers.

Pink is Barbie and Victoria's Secret, creating an unlikely pair out of youthful innocence and romance. A pink feminine garment can help you feel either sweet or seductive.

Hot pink has different associations and can feel bold, exciting, and powerful. A hot pink accessory makes a great statement piece to add flare to your outfit.

White

This color is associated with cleanliness, perfection, freshness, and simplicity.

White is always a safe choice for a shirt or scarf. Wearing all white is a statement of purity, which can have a hopeful feeling but is not best for the workplace.

Black

This power color can convey feelings of mystery and seriousness. It is also considered elegant and has a thinning effect. (And who doesn't love that?) Black can mean authority and prestige, so if you want to be treated seriously, the typical black suit with a splash of green or blue works wonders.

Gray

Gray is neutral and balanced. It's the color of concrete and can give an urban aesthetic.

But gray is also lifeless, depressed, and blah. It can imply that people are passive, uninvolved, and lack energy. If you like wearing gray, pairing it with a brighter color, such as blue, can help offset the negative connotations.

Color psychology and home design

As a hint, it's not to make you feel calm and satiated. Actually, the color red can quicken breathing, increase heart rate, and make you hungrier.

Colors impact our moods and our physiological responses. The color of a room dictates the ambiance it casts.

When we think about interior design and what color to make each room, the choices matter.

Bedroom

To optimize your sleep, go for a blue bedroom.

Blue-7 hours 52 minutes

Yellow-7 hours 40 minutes

Green-7 hours 36 minutes

Silver-7 hours 33 minutes

Orange-7 hours 28 minutes

Gray-6 hours 12 minutes

Brown-6 hours 5 minutes

Purple-5 hours 56 minutes

Children's room

Green is an excellent pick to support your child's learning and focus.

Living room

There are many ways to design a living room, but one good pick is soft yellow.

Color expert Amy Wax explains in this interview, "Sweet yellows can improve one's mood...Using a softer yellow creates a feeling in the space that is sunny, warm, and spirited."

Wax also recommends gray or beige if you want a "quieter color palette" that you can spruce up with accent colors. If you want a spark of passion, you can use a red pillow, or for a wave of cool you add a blue painting.

Exercise room

Office

For an office, opt for blue and green. In 1999, researchers at Creighton University found that colors significantly influence employees' emotions and efficiency. Workers in blue offices felt the most centered, calm, and hopeful toward their work.

Since blue can lower heart rates and green reduces anxiety and is associated with money, combining blue and green is the best combo for your productive zone.

If you'd like more inspiration, here's an article exploring more office decor ideas.

Color psychology and mental health

For folks interested in personal development, there is a branch of healing called chromotherapy, also known as color therapy.

Here are a few specific ways you can harness the power of color for your own well-being.

Blue lights and work

If you want to improve your focus, look to blue. Blue walls, blue light, blue furniture.

Green glasses and anxiety

The clear and blue glasses did not affect the patient's recovery. And while the green glasses didn't reduce the patient's pain, they were four times more likely to reduce anxiety in the patients. Most patients who wore the green eyeglasses for the experiment asked to keep them!

If you struggle with anxiety, especially as it relates to physical pain, consider incorporating green into your life.

Pink softens aggression

Further, another research team painted a prison holding-cell pink. Data showed that inmate violence decreased when they were in the pink room for 15 minutes, and the calming effects lasted for 30 minutes after they left the room.

If you'd like to induce calm and lessen aggression, then think about pink.

Red light and sleep

Different color lights, especially blue lights, can impact your melatonin release and circadian rhythms, which can screw up your sleep.

If you struggle to fall or stay asleep, consider purchasing a color-changing lightbulb and switching it to red at night or even using a red headlamp.

Colors and pills

By now, you should not be surprised that the color did make a difference! Here's what they found:

When the pill was a stimulant, its effects were more pronounced when the pill was red.

White pills were the most effective pain relievers.

For anti-anxiety pills, blue and white had the most significant effect.

And for hallucinogens, red and yellow pills caused the most potent experience.

In this case, it's likely that the placebo effect is at play and that people's perceptions of what colors of drugs should be impacted the efficacy of those drugs.

The next time you invest in vitamins or anti-inflammatories, consider that the color of the pill makes a difference.

Color psychology for marketing and branding

When people make snap decisions about purchasing a product, up to 90% of their product assessment is based on color. Color also increases brand recognition by 80%.

So if you are creating a brand, e-commerce marketing campaign, or product, your chosen color scheme is significant.

There are a few key considerations when considering colors for your brand, product, or marketing.

And if you'd like additional resources on building your business and setting the right goals, you can check out this course.

Discounted pricing

If you are running a sale, use red for pricing. As marketing expert Sarah Levinger writes: "Thanks to McDonald's, Amazon, & the human brain, consumers have been trained to understand that red = discount. Defaulting red will draw your customer's eye & help them make decisions faster."

Congruity

If you sell water bottles, and your brand coloring is yellow (with no blue), this may appear off to consumers, given the branding zeitgeist of the water bottle market.

Stand out from the crowd

Your brain is likelier to notice and remember stimuli that stand out in isolation. This is called the Von Restorff Effect. Practically speaking, it means that the red tomato below stands out from the green bunch.

And you're also more likely to remember the products or brands whose colors stand out in isolation.

As another example, which Heavy Metal band do you notice first in the following lineup?

The balancing act for brands then becomes how to seem congruous with their customers' expectations while standing out from the crowd.

Brands and associations

Smart brands pick their colors based on color psychology and pre-existing cultural associations. But once a brand builds an audience, its logo's color scheme begins to inform the public's perception of those colors.

For example, when McDonald's launched its logo years ago, they understood that the color evoked joy and optimism. But now, if you brand your logo yellow, you are still accessing the joy and optimism psychologically linked to the color. Still, you are also invoking all of the associations that McDonald's has bled into the color yellow.

So when thinking about how to color your brand, it's worth considering which major brands use which colors because those brands lay dormant in the associative recesses of the client's subconscious. Check out the chart below to see some of the major brand associations of each color.

User testing

If you can, determine what color scheme is appropriate for your brand by either A/B testing or getting user feedback. This way, you can strike the right balance between congruity and standing out.

Your best bet would be to get customer feedback on what colors seem appropriate for your brand and market.

History of Color Psychology

While using colors for marketing and therapeutic reasons is a new and burgeoning field, humans have intuitively understood that different colors affect us differently since the beginning of visual art.

For example, the Egyptians colored their deities gold-a rare and precious metal.

And blue, made from copper and iron oxides, symbolized life in Egyptian art. This is no surprise, given the color of their great life source, the Nile River.

The Eye of Horus comes from a myth where the Falcon God Horus loses their eye; then the Goddess Hathor miraculously restores it. Hence the symbol has come to mean healing and restoration.

Then in 1810, poet, scientist, and novelist Johann von Wolfgang Goethe wrote The Theory of Colors. He ventured his personal theories on each color's psychological and emotional meaning. And here, he planted the seeds for color psychology to sprout in centuries to come.

Frequently Asked Questions About Color Psychology

What colors trigger what emotions?

What colors set what moods?

Can color affect mood?

How important is color psychology?

Bringing Color Psychology Into Your Life

Colors are everywhere and are affecting you in ways seen and unseen. Remember some of the following tips to harness the power of color psychology.

If you've got a hot date, opt for red

Wearing black asks others to take you seriously, but it may also be intimidating

Gray can feel uninspired and bland, so it's good to spruce a gray outfit up with a splash of another color

For your best night of sleep, paint your room the color blue

Orange is a great exercise color because it's stimulating

Green can help with anxiety

Red lights at night will help with your sleep

Pink soothes aggression

If you're building a brand, balance out congruity with standing out

Best of luck with your color journey! And if you'd like to learn more about the psychology of clothes beyond just color, then this article is for you.

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Color Psychology: How Color Affects Your Emotions And Why

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Colors influence your feelings and decisions all the time, and most people have no idea. Learn how colors affect you with color psychology.

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I studied the other example of lighting design to expand my ideas.

First is from Yuanlong Zheng's light show at The Capitol Theatre five years ago. The entire performance felt like a harmonious interaction between music and lighting, especially around the first minute where the transition of lights from the front and sides sequentially was particularly striking. It highlighted the rhythm of the music and orderly guided the audience's eyeline, adding a dynamic feel to the entire performance.

At the beginning, the lighting was primarily focused on the front of the stage, which captured my attention. As the performance progressed, the lighting gradually spread to other parts of the stage, creating an effect of gradual revelation.

In the show, he avoided using overly bright lighting. This choice maintained the audience's focus in the room and prevented harsh lighting from directly impacting the audience.

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The Capitol Theatre light show opening day

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During this week's research and technical segment, I mainly focused on exploring the Pharos Designer software, as this was my first encounter with it. I decided to create a demo to test and see the differences between the simulated and real-world outcomes.

I started by familiarizing myself with the interface layout and watching the video on the modules. I began by creating simple lighting effects such as gradients, flickering, and color transitions, observing the different effects in the simulation interface.

In synchronizing lighting effects with the music timeline, I realized that using existing default effects often does not harmonize well with the music. Thus, regrouping or editing individual light became necessary.

During the test on Thursday, I noted several issues that need immediate improvement:

Color accuracy: There is a discrepancy between colors on the computer interface and in reality, primarily in terms of saturation. Therefore, during the light production process, I believe it is unnecessary to fuss over minor color changes because even if changes are noticeable on the computer, they may not be visible on site.

Number of lights: I think it's best not to have lights on all four walls on at the same time, as this can make the entire scene very bright, to the point where even chairs in the scene are visible, which significantly disrupts the overall atmosphere.

Use of effects: One issue during the test was that the effects were too chaotic. Currently, it is necessary to clearly define the specific locations in the Capitol where the lights should illuminate.

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This week project procress ， I focused on preparing for my presentation and learning how to use Pharos.

I chose the background music for my lighting design, which is "Dukkha" from the album "Annata." The name comes from Buddhism, meaning mental or physical suffering. This sound, combining orchestral and synthesized sounds, creates an atmosphere of melancholy, pain, and discomfort, making it suitable for the concept of the "uncanny." I believe that its integration with the lighting design will highlight the eeriness and themes of mental illness, enhancing the emotional impact of the project.

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Dukkha (Suffering) by The Secession, released 29 July 2017

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Mantell, M. (2023) Color Psychology: How Color Affects Your Emotions And Why. Available at: https://www.scienceofpeople.com/color-psychology/.

Zheng, Y. (2019) The Capitol Theatre light show opening day. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kzixXR9t_w.

The Secession (2017) “Dukkha (Suffering)” Available at: https://thesecession.bandcamp.com/track/dukkha-suffering

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According to the timeline I wrote in my presentation, I plan to start the formal production of the project next week. This week, I further experimented with some functions of Pharos. Beyond trying some basic functions, I found there are several aspects of the software that I need to focus on learning.

For example, during a part of the music, there are two rhythms worth editing for lighting. I need to think more rigorously about which one to choose or find a middle way to avoid being too chaotic.

When I just try according to the music's rhythm, I always neglect the design of the lighting itself. Perhaps this is about how to better balance performance and the technology itself. Always not being able to perfectly integrate is what I consider the biggest problem I have encountered in this experiment.

Additionally, I need to be more precise about the specific placement of each light in the next Capitol setup, making some records. Particularly for the side walls, I always struggle to associate them well with the simulation interface.

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Applying an implicit approach to research on the uncanny feeling

https://www.jasnh.com/pdf/Vol16-No1-article2.pdf

This article mainly discusses various factors that create the "uncanny valley" feeling. The uncanny valley theory states that when robots or other anthropomorphic objects are close to human appearance but not exactly similar, it often triggers discomfort in people, particularly associated with fear and disgust.

I have summarized the key points mentioned in the article:

Moral disgust and the uncanny feeling: The research mentioned that there is a slight association between the uncanny feeling and moral disgust, suggesting that people might feel morally uncomfortable towards certain unnatural-looking anthropomorphic features.

Perceptual defects: When viewers perceive minor defects in humanoid entities, such as unnatural facial expressions or stiff movements, these subtle differences might be interpreted as signs of disease.

Mismatched perception: The article also discusses the perceptual mismatch hypothesis, which posits that when the human brain processes something similar but not exactly the same as humans, it creates a cognitive conflict that results in discomfort.

Although most research on the uncanny primarily focuses on visual impacts, but I think sound can also affect psychology, especially when combined with lighting design. I should focus on designing an intangible environment that is not only visible but also audible. When these sensations are integrated, if it can evoke uncanny associations in the audience, that is the direction to strive for.

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LIGHT SHOW PLSG 2022

This is a light show, themed "Chasing Light and Dreams through Time and Space," showcases the stage, lighting, and all visual elements on a curved surface. The entire design resembles an interstellar spaceship or a time recycling machine, providing me with more design ideas.

In this light show, what first captivated me was the initial combination of the ticking sound and lights, reminiscent of a countdown before the performance officially starts.

Basic on the original distribution of light prototypes, the lights initially progressed gradually with the music along an arc, then about ten seconds later, the 'clock hands' began to accelerate, creating an intersection of lights through rotation—a very smooth transition.

At the 3-minute 30-second mark， rhythm speed up ，but I noticed that no matter how many lighting effects were present, there was always one prominent lighting effect that laid the foundation.

The part at four minutes and forty seconds was interesting, where the alternating flashes of light created a mysterious spatial sense, like a brief calm after a fast-paced sequence, heightening anticipation for what might happen next.

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The following is a response regarding the research on two articles related to the theory and technology of lighting design

The Science Behind Stage Lighting: Understanding Color, Intensity, and Focus

https://vorlane.com/the-science-behind-stage-lighting-understanding-color-intensity-and-focus/

The article discusses how the visual effects of a stage performance can be enhanced through the color, intensity, and focus of lighting. I have previously conducted research on the color aspect mentioned in the article.

In this article, I main learned the key importance of adjusting light intensity to enhance or reduce the drama of a scene. For example, using soft light in tense or sad scenes can deepen emotional expression, while increasing light intensity in joyful or active scenes can boost energy and dynamism. In the context of the uncanny, I believe that excessive display of light dynamics should be avoided, as improper use can greatly disrupt the atmosphere that has been built up.

The article also mentions that focus control is achieved through the application of hard and soft focus to guide the audience's attention. Hard focus can clearly highlight details, making it suitable for moments that need emphasis, while soft focus allows the light to spread more gently and broadly, which is ideal for creating a dreamy atmosphere.

Stage Lighting Design

https://blog.etcconnect.com/introduction-to-lighting

The article discusses how lighting has evolved from the natural sunlight used in ancient Greek theatres to modern LED systems, which is a new knowledge for me. It describes the importance of understanding how light interacts with the eye, how light is reflected off objects, and how this reflection is used on stage to create the desired visual effects. The concept of "painting with light" is also mentioned, where lighting designers use the stage as a black canvas, manipulating light and color to shape the audience's experience. Understanding the behavior of light is crucial for effective lighting design.

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Capitol Lighting Design Initial Ideas:

Bass Section (maybe for the music intro): Use the front lights, gradually illuminating from bottom to top, to enhance the depth of the bass.

When the Tempo Increases: Use the middle section of the front structure’s lights, flashing in sync with the rhythm to create tension.

High Notes: Use the front and side lights, rapidly switching to match the sharpness of the high notes.

Deep Bass Section: The side lights flash in sync with the bass rhythm, enhancing the unsettling atmosphere. (Not all lights may be used ，aim to avoid excessive brightness.)

Music Ending: Gradually dim all lights to create a fading effect.

Capitol Lighting Effects Initial Ideas:

After this week's experiments with Pharos, I might mainly use the following effects:

Fade: The fade effect can be used in the slower parts of the music to create an unstable, gradually appearing or disappearing feeling.

Strobe: The strobe effect can be employed during the climax of the music to create a fast and unsettling atmosphere.

Sparkle Flicker: This effect can simulate an unstable rhythm, adding a subtle feeling.

Ripple: The ripple effect can be used in certain sections of the music to create a sense of spatial distortion or surreal light effects, which will primarily enhance the visual experience.

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Villacampa, J., Ingram, G.P.D., Corradi, G., and Olivera-La Rosa, A. (2019). Applying an implicit approach to research on the uncanny feeling. Available at: https://www.jasnh.com/pdf/Vol16-No1-article2.pdf

ACME Lighting. (2022). LIGHT SHOW PLSG 2022. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15h1y5vi8KA

Liang, S. (2024) The Science Behind Stage Lighting: Understanding Color, Intensity, and Focus. Available at: https://vorlane.com/the-science-behind-stage-lighting-understanding-color-intensity-and-focus/.

Stamp, K. (2023) Stage Lighting Design, Part 1: Introduction to Lighting. Available at: https://blog.etcconnect.com/introduction-to-lighting.

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Following this week's presentation feedback, I truly need to reconsider the concept of the uncanny, as linking it with mental illness may be jarring.

Feedback mentioned that choosing music that follows all Hollywood soundtrack tropes could result in a very oppressive experience. Perhaps my idea was too reliant on music, neglecting integration with lighting, which could derail the atmosphere. I plan to first use my originally selected music to test if I can capture the uncanny feeling, perhaps just as a Pharos exercise. To better align my lighting design with the essence of the uncanny, I need to familiarize myself with subtle coordination in design. If these stay on paper, they will be of little help. I believe it is essential to start production, even if my music choice might change.

I will reconsider my music choice and document it in my journal for a discussion in Monday's class to finalize the music selection.

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How Music Affects Us Emotionally

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-of-choice/202309/how-music-affects-us-emotionally

This is an article discussing how music affects our emotional responses. It mentions that music is not only an art form but also a tool for touching emotions. The article explains how music stimulates from basic brain stem responses to complex aesthetic emotions. It is closely related to how our brains interpret musical signals. Music enhances its emotional impact through establishing rhythmic synchrony, inducing emotional contagion, and evoking emotional memories.

I also learned about the concept of Binaural Beats in the article, which is an auditory phenomenon. This phenomenon occurs when two different frequency tones are played in the left and right ears, and the brain perceives a new tone whose frequency is the difference between the two tones. For example, if the left ear hears 405 Hz and the right ear hears 415 Hz, the perceived Binaural Beat frequency is 10 Hz. This tone is believed to help enhance focus. (But these effects have not yet been fully scientifically validated).

We listen to music to take great pleasure in its beauty.

The most common motive for listening to music is to influence emotions.

Music helps to channel one’s frustration or purge (catharsis) negative emotions.

I hope to search articles on how music is linked with emotions to help me choose music.

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Key points

We listen to music to take great pleasure in its beauty.

The most common motive for listening to music is to influence emotions.

Music helps to channel one's frustration or purge (catharsis) negative emotions.

Music is remarkable in its ability to evoke profound emotions (chills and thrills) in listeners. We often describe pieces of music as sad, joyful, tender, or harsh. Most music listeners use emotional expression as the most important factor in valuing music and the decision to buy a song. The following describes key factors that explain our emotional responses to music (Juslin, 2019).
1. Brain stem response
The brain stem response is an evolutionary response to any kind of sound that evokes arousal. The brain stem response to sound explains why music in general is pleasurable. For example, music (particularly singing) is known to be intrinsically pleasurable to infants over speaking. Pleasurable music (lullaby) soothes aroused infants.
2. Rhythmic entrainment
Rhythmic entrainment refers to the way the listener moves in synchrony to the beat (for example, dancing, marching, or foot tapping). Being in sync with music is a source of pleasure. It is no accident that dance-like music makes people happy because it is easy to entrain (attune) to its rhythmic pattern. People who dance in synchrony experience higher perceptions of closeness to their fellow dancers, and higher pain thresholds because of endorphin release. Entrainment also explains the energizing effects of music. For example, a jogger listens to techno while running to boost her motivation and speed.
3. Emotional contagion
Music doesn't only evoke emotions at the individual level, but also at the interpersonal level. When people attend concerts, their emotions are in part influenced by the emotions of other people present. When sports fans sing together, their brains release oxytocin that makes them feel an emotional bond with those in their group.
4. Conditioned responses to particular sounds
One way music could express emotion is simply through a learned association. For example, the use of trumpets in Western classical music evokes ceremonial occasions. We hear certain kinds of music as sad because we have learned to associate them with sad events like funerals. The feeling is not the music, but what it reminds us of.
5. Visual imagery
Visual imagery concerns shapes in the music and visual patterns in the listener's mind that are stimulated by the music. For instance, imagining nature, such as mountains or fields, enhances our emotional responses to music such as the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. The passage from Beethoven's Pathétique might evoke such experiences of running downstairs or riding a roller coaster. In a high-tech digital age, for some listeners, the easy country melody is a reminder of the good old days. The lyrics of a certain song describe a scene that reminds you of a joyful time.
6. Musical expectancy
What makes music so emotionally powerful is the creation of expectations. Research shows that anticipation is a key element in activating the reward system and provoking musical pleasure. Unexpected change in musical features intensity and tempo is one of the primary means by which music provokes a strong emotional response in listeners (Salimpoor and colleagues, 2015). For instance, when the music begins softly and then sharply becomes loud, or when a new instrument or voice is abruptly introduced.
7. Episodic memory
Episodic memory refers to the Darling They're Playing Our Tune Theory (Davis 1978). When a particular piece of music becomes associated with specific moments in listeners' lives, it tends to evoke emotions such as nostalgia. Listening to music that was played a lot during a significant life event (for example, a family celebration) many years ago can trigger a deeply nostalgic emotional experience. The feeling is not in the music, but in what it reminds us. For example, the song by Paul McCartney's "Yesterday" is considered a jewel of modern nostalgia.
8. Pleasurable sadness
Sad music evokes a special emotion that people enjoy listening to (Huron, 2011). Listening to sad music can purge a negative emotion, without actually experiencing the loss. Listening to a sad song while in a sad mood is like someone (a friend) empathizing with your experience. It can bring comfort by making us feel connected and that we are not so alone.
9. Aesthetic emotion
Music is one of the most powerful means of evoking aesthetic emotions. Aesthetic emotions include feeling moved, awe, wonder, transcendence, nostalgia, and tenderness. In response to these emotions, we may experience goosebumps, and motivation for the improvement of self and society (Winner, 2019).

In sum, music is capable of inspiring emotions. Music can be used to create an emotional atmosphere such as calming, relaxing, playful, sincere, or intimate. These factors also explain an important emotional benefit of music for mood regulation.

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Music expresses emotion by somehow imitating the dynamics of our inner life.

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This week, based on recommendations, I visited a exhibition, hoping to expand my thinking.

Silent Symphony

During my visit to the "Silent Symphony" exhibition, it was a multi-sensory experience of both sight and sound. The exhibition began in dim lighting accompanied by the subtle sounds of machinery at work. Suddenly, lights on the mechanical installations brightened, bringing a mysterious and technologically charged atmosphere to the space—it felt as if I were stepping into an unknown universe. Subsequently, the mechanical movements became more multi-angular, and the light points displayed a greater variety of changes.

Midway through the exhibition, a sudden tapping sound synchronized with flickering lights and the music's rhythm left me a profound impression. The introduction of deep bass made it feel as if my heart was beating in time with the music, which was quite stirring.

I think the climax of the show was when the red lights on the mechanical devices began to glow, capturing everyone's attention. The rotation of the machinery with the moving lights, as described in the exhibition, "showcased a beauty that oscillates between order and chaos," making it seem as though I was in the midst of the universe. In the final stage of the exhibition, the lights gradually dimmed, leaving only red dots glowing, bringing the experience to a close in a serene and profound atmosphere.

Unfortunately, when I went to see Constellations on Sunday night, the show was canceled for the evening. Perhaps I will go to see it next week.

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Here are four musical options I've reconsidered for my project:

First option: Empty Vessel from Forgotten Gods by Atrium Carceri.

https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/track/empty-vessel

This music primarily utilizes a deep background sound interspersed with discordant tones to create an ethereal and solitary atmosphere. I believe the occasional sharp tones and rhythmic changes enhance the mysterious, uncanny feeling.

Second option: Adrift ，from the game Phasmophobia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_bdDtyow2Y

I chose this song because it expresses a sense of claustrophobia. Its uncanny progression gradually builds, creating an atmosphere filled with uncertainty, like being in an unknown space.

Third option: MELANCHOLIA by Ryan Creep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9WsZoceais

This music features a melancholic, mysterious melody. Particularly captivating is the initial female vocal that quickly draws one into the mood, accompanied by a music box-like ticking sound, giving a sensation of teetering on the edge of danger, which I think aligns well with the uncanny.

Four option: VENTRILOQUIST by Ryan Creep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl1vPsL86LQ

This song, like the previous one, also features a pivotal female vocal part. The song gives me a feeling of tension and contains many variations. Compared to my third choice from the same artist, I think this song might be more suitable for lighting design.

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In my practice on Pharos, I created a forty-second light display based on the previously selected music, "Dukhha." As the music begins and the rhythm gradually rises, I chose to use deep red lighting focused at the front of the stage. Through various fading effects, the lights gradually illuminate, creating a visual interplay. When the first two consecutive vocals appear in the music, I introduced deep blue, causing the front lights to light up from left to right in sequence and quickly extinguish, with a duration of about half a second. The alternating left and right changes create a flickering effect, enhancing the visual dynamism.

At the 23-second mark, during the bass-heavy part of the music, I used a dark gray to control the ceiling lights and applied a 2D burst effect that radiates outward from the center, creating a wave-like visual effect. Following this, as the consecutive vocal parts continue, the side lights begin to flicker, combined with the sparkle effect of the front lights, causing the lighting to flicker randomly, creating an almost ethereal presence. The goal is to enhance the overall design's mystery and ambiguity.

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Heshmat, S. (2023) How Music Affects Us Emotionally.Psychologytoday Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-of-choice/202309/how-music-affects-us-emotionally.

Frost, B., Meckin, D. (2024). Silent Symphony.Now or Never. Available at: https://nowornever.melbourne.vic.gov.au/event/silent-symphony.

Atrium Carceri, 2003. Empty Vessel. Available at: https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/track/empty-vessel

Adrift (Phasmophobia cover version), 2022. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_bdDtyow2Y

Ryan Creep, 2016. MELANCHOLIA. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9WsZoceais

VENTRILOQUIST, 2020. Ryan Creep. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl1vPsL86LQ

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In Thursday's class feedback, we first discussed my music selection from last week's journal, which I received advice that the choices were more inclined towards horror. Uncanny should be subtly progressive with ups and downs. Therefore, after viewing the visual examples I created last week, we decided that I should proceed with my original music choice (Dukkha) for the production, to facilitate the Capitol test after school starts on Thursday. For the visual part, I received advice that when the music's heavy beats cause the ceiling lights to ripple, choosing white light would be too bright. Perhaps I could consider slightly yellowish lights to address this issue.

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In feedback, it was mentioned that I still confusion between horror and uncanny. Therefore, I researched some articles to help clarify the differences between horror and uncanny.

Emotional Aspect:

Uncanny: Evokes a subtle feeling, mingled with unease or discomfort.

Horror: This is a more direct emotion, often involving direct scares, and many times by threatening life to evoke intense fear.

Thematic Aspect:

Uncanny: Usually relates to ordinary scenes from daily life, but these objects or scenarios contain slight, unusual distortions that make them unsettling.

Horror: The aim of horror is more to stimulate the audience's adrenaline, focusing on a visceral impact.

Artistic Aspect:

Uncanny: May require deeper thought and exploration from the audience to uncover the abnormalities hidden beneath ordinary appearances.

Horror: More straightforward, for instance, using exaggerated elements, gory scenes, etc.

Auditory Aspect:

Uncanny: Often incorporates subtle background sounds to enhance the overall atmosphere.

Horror: Utilizes sudden loud noises, high-decibel screams, or rapid music to match exaggerated visual elements.

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Constellations

This week I attended the "Constellations" exhibition, an immersive experience created through the combination of mist and light, feeling as though wrapped in mist. The entire viewing process felt like being in the universe, where each beam of light seemed to abstractly represent unknown space, with the mist becoming a perfect medium for the light. The emotional progression of the show gradually increased, starting from just a few simple beams of light to eventually displaying colors and rousing music toward the end. I am not sure if this was the intent of the artist, but it gave me the feeling of the sun, with the atmosphere and emotions reaching a climax. It was a fantastic experience.

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Light and visual perception

https://www.lapd.uk/news/light-and-visual-perception/

Through this article, I learned how light determines our perception of space, which opens up more ideas for me in terms of brightness distribution and color application.

The article mentions how light affects our visual perception through key factors such as brightness, contrast, color, and pattern. For example, brightness significantly impacts our perception of the size, shape, and texture of spaces, and appropriate brightness distribution can make spaces more tangible, thereby enhancing our experience of architectural spaces. It also includes a point I had not heard before: "Light shapes visual perception by modeling and activating the surfaces around us through the creation of shadows."

The study by Flynn et.al shows that indirect lighting or reflective lighting conditions can bring positive feelings to people, such as "pleasant" and "harmonious," but this requires designers to understand and control the brightness distribution in space.

As previously received in the feedback during the presentation, I did not mention how I will better use this type of indirect lighting. This is also an issue I am thinking about, and I hope to have a new idea through iterations in the production process.

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The effects of light are complex and interactive. Find out how light determines perception of space, touching on brightness, contrast, colour and pattern.

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This week, based on class feedback, I have determined my current work direction and plan to use the holiday period to catch up on progress so that I can participate in the Thursday test. My Pharos records will be consolidated and documented in next week’s journal.

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Studio Lemercier. (2024). Constellations. Now or Never. Available at: https://nowornever.melbourne.vic.gov.au/event/constellations

Michel, L. (2023). Underpinning your horror in the uncanny. Available at: https://countercraft.substack.com/p/underpinning-your-horror-in-the-uncanny

Conliff, L. N. (2017). Psychological horror: Pareidolia and the uncanny valley. Available at: https://medium.com/@LNConliff/psychological-horror-pareidolia-and-the-uncanny-valley-6b284a7d986

Mainelli, S. (2024). Uncovering the horror of the uncanny. Available at: https://www.urbanlegendnews.org/features/2024/02/28/uncovering-the-horror-of-the-uncanny/

Seonmi Ahn, 2019. Light and visual perception. Available at: https://www.lapd.uk/news/light-and-visual-perception/.

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After this week's Capitol test, I think there are several points that need improvement:

1. Currently, the music I chose has two vocal parts in the first half of the audio. I highlighted these two sounds with two consecutive flashes of light and, based on feedback, set the fade out of this light to 1 second for a smoother end, which I think matches well with the fade-out of the sound itself.

2. For the two yellow lights on the ceiling , I plan to keep this effect but change the color. I have tested deep purple and deep pink, and currently, I lean more towards deep purple. In the next test, I intend to use different colors for the two ceiling lights and compare the actual effects.

3. Some lights need to be better synced with the music. For example, around the 40-second mark, I noticed a delay in the lighting.

4. At the end of this test, there were two quick red flashes, but I think the coverage of the light was not extensive enough, so I added to the ceiling as well, but to avoid being too bright, I only added two rings, a small part.

5. Feedback indicates that the current lighting design does not convey an uncanny atmosphere, which has led me to reconsider whether I have a misunderstanding of the word "uncanny." I am now considering changing my descriptive word to better align with what I intend to design.

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In reconsidering the adjectives for my work, I have chosen "Awesome" and "Amazing" for further comparison.

"Awesome" usually describes something that is profoundly impressive or awe-inspiring. I think this word with a strong emotional , capable of triggering deep experiences. These feelings are generally positive. In my work, I use some lighting designs combined with music to enhance these recollections, which makes this word fitting.

I chose "Amazing" because it is commonly used to describe responses that exceed expectations. This word often brings about a positive, exhilarating experience, especially when the music I choose features unexpected rhythmic changes.

I will finalize my choice of adjective during the classroom discussion on Monday, based on these reflections.

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17 Seconds （Nike Savvas，2016）

https://artistprofile.com.au/nike-savvas-17-seconds/

On Monday, I attended an exhibition at RMIT Gallery, and the piece that interested me most was called "17 Seconds." This artwork creates a unique visual effect through the combination of light and reflection, producing bright light when illuminated with a flashlight. Afterward, I researched more about this work, the art work which aims to evoke the subtle connections between memory and cognition. In its 2016 exhibition, the piece also included an installation made of multiple transparent spheres arranged into a cube, adding more interactivity to the work.

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After repeatedly watching a video of last Thursday's demonstration, I adjusted some details in my current design:

1. Regarding the "vocal" parts mentioned in the reflection, after trying different durations, I initially kept the fade-out time for the first voice at 0, but changed the second to 0.5. However, this created a strong sense of discontinuity, especially when the two sounds are close together, so I adjusted both voices to have a 0.5 fade-out. Additionally, I modified some aspects on the side wall lights to make the overall lighting more coherent based on this experiment.

2. Observing the side wall, I noticed that some colors were not very clear, so I adjusted some of the light intensities.

For the next phase of lighting editing, which will begin with the part where the rhythm changes are most intense, I will retain the previous design of synchronizing light flickers with the drum beats. After two quick red flashes, it transitions into the next stage. Compared to the previous more subdued sections, I will use larger blocks of lights to match the bass beats in the music, making the side lights a more significant part of the editing, with the ftont lights serving as support. I want to try adding a design where lights light up quickly sequentially from front to back to match some high-pitched sounds in the latter part of the music.

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In this week's lighting design, I completed the first minute of the music part and adjusted some previous designs. Compared to the beginning, I focused more on designing the vocal rhythm on the side walls and ceiling. I hope that the alternating flashing on the ceiling can create a transition to gradually heighten the mood, bridging to the upcoming climax of the music. For the heavy drum beats in the music, I chose to use the front lights to represent them, as I believe this is the area where the audience's focus is most easily concentrated, quickly drawing attention to the upcoming changes. Between approximately 54 seconds to 1 minute and from 1 minute 4 seconds to 1 minute 10 seconds, I used the Sparkle effect on the side walls aim to enrich the peripheral vision with the lighting effects.

There is a musical climax with two different rhythm in the second half of the music; I plan to complete one of them and then proceed to the next capitol test.

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Savvas, N., 2016. 17 Seconds. Available at: https://artistprofile.com.au/nike-savvas-17-seconds/

Merriam-Webster, (n.d.), 'Definition of awesome', available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/awesome

Merriam-Webster, (n.d.), 'Definition of amazing', available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amazing

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This week, my primary focus was on creating from the one-two minute of my lighting design and preparing for the milestone presentation.

During the design process this week, I concentrated particularly on the starting part of the musical climax (part 1) to its end. I plan to make further adjustments through tests next week. Currently, I am concerned that some effects I wish to showcase might not fully manifest due to the short duration of the flickers. However, in Pharos, these effects match the music.

I am puzzled about some ideas for the lighting design of the second musical climax. I want it to be distinct from the first part because the end of the second part coincides with the end of the music, marking a process of reaching a peak and then diminishing. This will be a major focus for me in the coming days.

Last week, I mentioned reconsidering the adjective to describe my project. After feedback in this week's class, I have confirmed my new adjective as "awesome"

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Don Norman on Emotional Design: What We Can Learn

https://procreator.design/blog/don-norman-on-emotional-design/

I read an article about emotional design, which mainly discussed the importance of emotional design in modern interfaces and user experience. The article emphasized how design should balance aesthetics, functionality, and emotional appeal.

Here are some key points I summarized from the article:

Definition and Importance of Emotional Design: Emotional design goes beyond mere functionality and aesthetics. It aims to connect with users on an emotional level.

Three Levels of Design: The article discusses three levels of design: visceral, behavioral, and reflective. Each level focuses on the visual appeal, usability, and emotional connection of the design, guiding designers in their approach.

Application of Emotional Design: The article also explores how to apply the principles of emotional design in practice, including a comprehensive consideration of aesthetics, usability, and personalization to enhance the emotional aspect of design.

Emotional design has always been something I've tried to incorporate into my designs, but it often feels foreign and seems like a point that grows more distant as I explore it further.

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ProCreator Blog: Design, Technology, Innovation

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Don Norman on Emotional Design: What We Can Learn

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Master emotional design to create memorable user experiences. Explore practical strategies, inspiring examples, and emerging trends.

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https://chinati.org/collection/dan-flavin/

This artwork is from Dan Flavin's 1996 "Marfa project (untitled)", where Flavin constructed two parallel, inclined corridors. These corridors contain light barriers, installed either in the middle or at the end. Each barrier is made of fluorescent lights, allowing viewers to see through to the other side. Each light fixture contains two differently colored bulbs that emit light in opposite directions. The light barriers in the six buildings utilize four colors: pink, green, yellow, and blue. Each long arm's end has two windows, allowing daylight to enter the building, providing a view of the vast landscape.

I really like how this work uses space and color cleverly to enhance the viewer's visual experience. Flavin's approach to structuring layout and color coordination to control and guide the viewer's feelings is an interesting experiment.

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This week's technical research focuses on explaining the current layout of my lighting groups:

Firstly, named front 1-4 (marked in red): This section mainly consists of four horizontal lights in the front triangular area from bottom to top.

Secondly, Front side (L, R) (marked in green): These are the lights on the front left and right sides.

Thirdly, Front (L, R) (marked in blue): I have divided the front into left and right sections, which will feature sequential flashing during the design.

Fourthly, Side 1-6 (marked in purple): Originally, the default layout only had horizontal side light groups. I have divided them vertically to achieve effects like lights responding from front to back.

Fifthly, Top 1-2: I have divided the ceiling lights into front and back sections.

This also includes some obvious groups like 'unless ceiling', and the reassignment of some lights that were missed in the original default groups.

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While creating the content between one to two minutes this week, my approach was to design three different types of lighting effects, based on the music's beats and offbeats, and then develop some basic variations to fill in the gaps.

Firstly, from approximately one minute and thirteen seconds to one minute and twenty-six seconds, I used two quick red flashes as the start, similar to previous tests. The side and ceiling lights received positive feedback, and I continued to combine these two aspects in this segment. However, to avoid repetitive positioning that might lead to aesthetic fatigue, I divided the lights into two sections—front and back—synchronized rhythmically with the music. This time, I controlled the number of side and ceiling lights, activating the front left and right lights. At one minute twenty seconds, there's a quick flash at the front, aimed at creating a seamless transition with the pause in the music.

From one minute and twenty-six seconds to one minute and forty seconds, I staggered the ceiling and side lights in a progressive alternating sequence. To match the music, I synchronized the two "dong dong" sounds with a quick succession of flashes at the front and the ceiling, aim to focusing the audience's attention rapidly.

From one minute and forty seconds to about one minute and fifty seconds, as the music includes a scream-like sound escalating from soft to loud, I designed the lights to turn on and off sequentially from front to back, creating an effect of the lights advancing forward. I hope this can be realized as imagined during the Capitol showcase.

In the final quiet segment following this musical climax, I aimed to elevate the mood to its peak. I used quick alternating flashes include the side walls, ceiling, and front sections. As the music cuts off, all lights suddenly light up and then gradually dim with the music's fade out. I'm not sure if this will illuminate the entire Capitol, but even if it's very bright, I think it would serve as an excellent mood transition （mood pused).

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Chinati (n.d.). Dan Flavin. Available at ：https://chinati.org/collection/dan-flavin/

Ahuja, R. (2024). Don Norman on Emotional Design: What We Can Learn. Available at ：https://procreator.design/blog/don-norman-on-emotional-design/

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This week, I primarily worked on my process presentation and a two-minute light test at Capitol. This was the first test after changing the adjective to awesome, and it received better feedback compared to the previous term, uncanny. One concern I had was that some effects with short flashing durations might not fully display during actual tests, but fortunately, most of the effects were presented well. The issues that did not manifest were mainly due to discrepancies between the light intensity and the arrangement of lights on-site compared to in Pharos—simple adjustments should resolve this. The light intensity was also within control; changing the ceiling lights from yellow to deep purple was a successful decision, as it reduced the previous sense of disjointedness. After the first viewing, I considered whether there should be a pause in the lighting to moderate the mood and whether more colors should be added. The feedback received suggested that pausing the lighting isn’t necessary at this stage, and I should continue with the current approach to complete the remaining content. As for the colors, it was suggested to reduce the number of colors or stick to one color. However, I think maintaining the current color choices might still be good, as I need two contrasting colors in certain parts of the music to highlight the visual impact.

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HOW CAN LIGHT ART MANIPULATE THE VISUAL PERCEPTION OF SPACE?

https://oda.oslomet.no/oda-xmlui/bitstream/handle/10642/9790/Rahimi_Steen_EPDE2020_1212.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

This article mainly discusses how light is manipulated in the realms of art and design to alter visual perception and the sense of space. I chose this article in my journal because it encompasses numerous case studies related to my previous research, including the thoughts of the authors and more scholarly analyses. The article talk about how light, as a physical and dynamic medium, adds both aesthetics and functionality to spaces and objects. Light not only alters the visual appearance of spaces but also influences how people feel and experience them.

The article choose a lot of the artworks of James Turrell to gather data on how light affects visual perception. One

of them is James Turrell's Skyspace, which utilizes the interplay of light and color to enhance spatial perception.

In the final part, there a concluding point which i'm very agree: "The core intent of light art is to evoke emotional or perceptual responses; light is not merely an element of space, but deeply intertwined with the observer or user." This, I think, that's a significant difference between light art and video art. With light, you don't need to constantly gaze at it; merely being within its presence allows you to feel its impact. This is more about designing a sensory experience for an individual.

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Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life preview at the Tate Modern

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1HNfYj3dIo

One of the art installations in this exhibition video attracted me a lot （At the beginning of the video）. It uses light, color, and reflection to overlap colorful shadows. When people pass by, different overlapping colored shadows are projected on the white wall opposite. i think it is wiil be a very interesting experience. The technique of this work is not complicated, but it successfully integrates the interaction between people and shadows. It is full of energy, as the colors flow with the movement of people. This makes the experience and the scenes people see different each time, giving the work more space for variation.

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Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life preview at the Tate Modern

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After the Capitol test on Thursday, I made some modifications.

Firstly, around the 1:57 mark, the side lights light up, which I intended to be a wave moving from top to bottom, lighting up in sequence and then extinguishing, similar to how the red light moves from front to back at the front. However, in the actual test, only the uppermost side lights were notably bright, failing to replicate the effect seen at the front. Therefore, I increased the brightness of this part and readjusted the response times, adding a slight fade-out effect at the end.

There were also some detail modifications, such as two quick red flashes near the end, which were actually implemented but might have conflicted with the earlier fade-out and subsequent lights. After reviewing the test video, I decided to remove these red flashes; I think there are already enough lighting elements, and it might be beneficial to eliminate some superfluous part.

In the next design process, the music will reach the fastest part of the rhythm. Therefore, I want to make some clear differences from before, achieving an effect of gradually rising and then abruptly dropping.

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This week I created the lighting from 2:00 to 2:40

Starting at 2:06, accompanied by the drum beats of the music, I began with the flicker at the very center of the ceiling, and with each drum beat, the light expanded outward, finally ending with the flickers on both sides of the walls. After that, I focused the design on the front lighting, afer two flickers at the top of the front and two flickers at the sides of the front which the entire front was illuminated.

Around 2:16, the same effect as above repeated, but to reduce the monotony of repeating the same cycle many times, I swapped the positions of red and dark blue. Throughout the 2:06 to 2:30 period, accompanying the subtle scream in the music, I interspersed the previous effect of lights gradually lighting up from front to back. However, to avoid clashing with the front and ceiling lights, I dimmed the brightness to keep it mainly as an auxiliary effect.

Starting around 2:30, the rhythm became more intense, but I didn’t want to use faster flickers or chaotic effects because I felt that a limit had already been reached, and adding more would be excessive. So in this section, I connected the front and side lighting, with the front-left and part of the left wall lighting up with each single drum beat. Then, on the heavier drum beats, half of all the lights lit up and flashed quickly twice. During this time, I had the front lights (excluding the left and right sides) light up in sequence—left, right, top—and then gradually fade out as a transition between the two flashes.

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White, M. (2019) Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life preview at the Tate Modern. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1HNfYj3dIo

Rahimi, Z. and Steen, L.（2020）How Can Light Art Manipulate the Visual Perception of Space? Available at: https://oda.oslomet.no/oda-xmlui/bitstream/handle/10642/9790/Rahimi_Steen_EPDE2020_1212.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

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This week, my focus is on completing the last forty seconds of the lighting design and preparing for a capitol test next Thursday. Following my previous work, I plan to create a different variant at the music peak's ending to enrich the visual experience. In the last 40 seconds, there will be two instances where the music stops midway, with the final stop lasting about five seconds. During this pause, I plan to turn off all the lights, and when the sound finally resumes, the lights will follow immediately to reach the ending.

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Science Fiction: What’s Wrong? The Sounds of Danger Versus Hearing Dangerously

https://rmit.instructure.com/courses/138995/files/41322184?wrap=1

In this article, the author discusses the impact of sound design on audiences in movies and analyzes examples of sound design in science fiction films.

I summarized several key points mentioned in the article, mainly including:

1. The "value-added function" of sound: mainly about how sound "adds value" in movies by increasing the realism and emotional depth of visual content.

2. Materialization and dematerialization of sound: The materialization of sound makes fictional environments and events appear more real, and dematerialization of sound makes the audience doubt their perceptions.

3. Cues of space and time: Sound design manipulates audience perception through spatial and temporal clues, such as using sound to indicate the spatial layout of a scene or the passage of time.

4. The association of sound with emotion: Sound can affect the emotional response of the audience, for example, by inducing fear through tense sound effects or inducing calmness through soothing music.

5. The impact of sound on audience identity: Sound shapes the audience's viewing experience, even the sense of identity of the audience, through sound design that can make the audience feel like part of the movie, or an external observer.

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Stephen Knapp - Lightpaintings

https://www.lightpaintings.com/

This week, in my creative research, I learned about the series of works by Stephen Knapp - Lightpaintings. In his works, he uses glass and light as paintbrushes, which gives me the feel is that the rather ethereal light presents a more diverse appearance through the glass, it feels like giving the light a sense of physicality. In the Lightpaintings, Knapp cuts glass into different shapes, which are often very unique according to the desired angles of refraction. When the light from the spotlight passes through the specially coated glass with a metallic coating, it is separated into each beam of colored light. Moreover, by adjusting the angle of the glass, different appearances are presented in refraction and reflection, which I think are very creative works. In most light art, it is common to observe the light directly rather than through a medium like this.

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I recorded a complete video simulating the interface in Pharos to facilitate comparison with live testing.

Currently, I am a bit concerned about the section from 2:04 to 2:30. In this segment, in order to adapt to the rhythm of the music but not to be too chaotic in this part, I repeated the same type of light sequence four times, although I made a change in color and direction within it. However, I am still worried that it might lack freshness in actual observation.

Another part is that from previous testing experience, some rapid flickering effects randomly appear on the capitol, some are the same as in the simulation, and some are different. Especially from 2:55 to 3:05, there will be a lot of large-area light alternation flickering, and the frequency is very fast; I am not sure how much this will differ from in Pharos.

These two parts will be my main focus during the live test next week.

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This week, I completed the remaining part of the lighting design from 2:40 to 3:20, dividing the final section into three distinct parts for execution.

The first part (which closely ties into the previous design progress and wraps up the music's climax) spans from 2:40 to 2:55. In this section, my plan is to amplify the visual impact with rapid flickering. This involves alternating the lights quickly between the left and right sides at the front, followed by the entire front suddenly lighting up. Meanwhile, the left and right sections of the ceiling alternate flickering, with the center suddenly lighting up. Immediately afterward, I divide the side walls into three segments, lighting them up sequentially from front to back, and both sides will light up in response to the flickering. Near the end, I introduce subtle variations to make the ending feel more fitting.

The second part, from 2:55 to 3:05, occurs as the music begins to soften, but has not yet reached its true conclusion. I use the Sparkle Properties effect to create a smooth transition in the calming area. At 3:00, the ceiling begins to flicker rapidly, followed by the side walls. Finally, ripples from the ceiling spread outward to the surrounding walls to bring the section to a close. A fade-out effect lasting around three seconds will be applied to the surrounding walls, allowing the atmosphere to gradually settle.

The third part, from 3:11 to approximately 3:20, comes after a roughly five-second music pause. The final ending will be marked by the return of a distinctive vocal part, echoing the beginning of the piece. However, unlike before, it is no longer just limited to alternating on the front left and right sides, but the entire venue's lighting is divided into left and right parts, and a longer fade-out time is added to the end.

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Verhagen, D.(n.d), Science Fiction: What’s Wrong? The Sounds of Danger Versus Hearing Dangerously. Available at: https://rmit.instructure.com/courses/138995/files/41322184?wrap=1

Knapp, S. (n.d). Lightpaintings. Available at: https://www.lightpaintings.com/

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This week, some unexpected situations arose during the capitol test, so my focus this week has been on refining the parts that have already been tested on site. However, I have not made significant changes to the parts that have not yet been tested; I want to see the actual effects before making decisions. The remaining work is to prepare the final presentation, organize some materials that can be used, and prepare for next week's capitol test.

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Light design and atmosphere

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281336144_Light_design_and_atmosphere

This week i research the article which discusses the role of light and darkness in atmosphere design, which primarily helps me understand how light changes spatial perceptions and how darkness is reevaluated and utilized to create atmospheres. In a dark environment, the perception of the light caught by the eyes and the music heard by the ears is greatly enhanced. So there needs to be some contrast in the overall lighting design.

The article analyzes three different light and shadow projects, explaining how light and darkness serve as powerful elements in creating atmospheres. The author believes that light and darkness not only enhance the sensory experience of space but also evoke emotional responses from audiences, thereby jointly creating a unique atmospheric environment.

Next are some summaries of the key points from the article:

Dual Role of Light and Darkness - The crucial role of light and darkness in creating and transforming spatial sensations.

Cultural Influence - Light perception is influenced by cultural and historical backgrounds, leading to different experiences and reactions.

Co-creation of Atmosphere - The atmosphere is co-created by light, space, cultural responses, and audience interaction.

Reevaluation of Darkness - In recent years, darkness has been reevaluated as an element that can enhance the sense of mystery and intimacy in a space.

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Jennifer Steinkamp: The Seasons

video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGhCyzpzNP4

In this art series, Steinkamp mainly combines light and projection within an existing space to create a 3D visual effect of a tree that simulates the seasonal changes in the natural environment, including things like falling leaves and changes in leaf color. Throughout the demonstration of the work, the tree is constantly rotating, and the branches also have a swaying effect with the wind. I really like the way the flow of time is shortened and displayed in this way, because for me, I usually do not specifically observe the changes in trees at different times, as this is something taken for granted in daily life. When understanding such a work, it makes me think a lot about the passage of time and the cyclical nature of everything in the world.

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This part, I want to explain again about the new groups I edited after the last description:

Front (top L & R): This part is the left and right sections of the triangular lightat the front of， excluding the top.

Front (top): This part is the top section of the triangular light at the front, excluding the left and right sides.

Ceiling left & right: The ceiling lights are divided into left and right sections.

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This week, I mainly refined the overall design details by repeatedly reviewing the content from previous tests. This primarily includes adjusting and further optimizing the match between lighting and music, response times, and the shades of colors. I would like to explain the reasons for modifications at several parts: 1:36, 1:59, and 2:47.

At 1:36, originally the ceiling lights and the side lights lit up and extinguished in sequence to achieve a gradual effect. In this process, there were two accents where I previously had the entire ceiling flash simultaneously, but this largely disrupted the continuity. Therefore, I changed it so that only the corresponding section of the ceiling flashes when it lights up, then it continues to connect with the original effect.

At 1:59, originally the lights on both sides from front to back created a ripple-like effect, previously limited to the middle four vertical rows. I extended this effect to the entire side and removed other lights that were originally on at this time, focusing solely on the sides.

At 2:47, where the music accompanies a heavy sound, I previously just lit up all the side lights to correspond with the music. I modified this part to start from a dark shade and brighten immediately when the drum sound hits.

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Edensor, T. (2015) ‘Light design and atmosphere’, Visual Communication, 14(3), pp. 331–350. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281336144_Light_design_and_atmosphere

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2022. Jennifer Steinkamp: The Seasons. Available at: https://www.mfah.org/exhibitions/jennifer-steinkamp-the-seasons-21-22.

Joslyn Art Museum, 2020. Curator-led Virtual Gallery Talk: "Judy Crook, 2". [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGhCyzpzNP4

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Since this week's capitol test will be postponed to next week, my main work this week will be primarily creating slides for the presentation. Last week, I focused on the details of the parts that had already been tested. However, I think this week I will make modifications to the untested parts based on what I can imagine. These will not be major changes because I think I still need to observe how some of these designs look in reality.

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New Light on the Mind’s Eye

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4601080/

This article primarily discusses the relationship between the pupil and light. The pupil dilates or constricts in response to changes in brightness, but this process also involves whether we notice the light source, and even our mental imagery of the light source can affect the pupil's response.

The authors found through binocular rivalry experiments that the pupil's response to light actually reflects our visual awareness, how we interpret what we see, and how our attention is distributed. For example, even imagining a bright scene can cause our pupils to constrict.

Key Points of the Article:

Pupillary light response: Traditionally viewed as a low-level reflex, but actually involves complex cognitive processes.

Awareness and perception: Changes in pupil size reflect an individual's perception of brightness and state of awareness.

Influence of attention: The pupillary response is influenced not only by the intensity of light but also by whether we are paying attention to the light source.

Mental imagery: Even without actual visual stimulation, merely imagining a bright object can cause the pupil to constrict.

Balance between visual sensitivity and acuity: Pupil size helps regulate the focus of light on the retina, affecting the perception of detail and sensitivity to dim stimuli.

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Abstract

The eye's pupils constrict (shrink) in brightness and dilate (expand) in darkness. The pupillary light response was historically considered a low-level reflex without any cognitive component. Here, we review recent studies that have dramatically changed this view: The light response depends not only on a stimulus's brightness but also on whether you are aware of the stimulus, whether you are paying attention to it, and even whether you are thinking about it. We highlight the link between the pupillary light response and eye-movement preparation: When you intend to look at a bright stimulus, a pupillary constriction is prepared along with the eye movement before the eyes set in motion. This preparation allows the pupil to rapidly change its size as your eyes move from bright to dark objects and back again. We discuss the implications of these recent advances for our understanding of the subtle yet important role that pupillary responses play in vision.

Keywords: pupil size, eye movements, visual perception, arousal

The eyes' pupils constrict (shrink) in brightness and dilate (expand) in darkness. This is the pupillary light response. The light response has been studied for more than a millennium ( Loewenfeld, 1958) but was historically considered a low-level reflex without any cognitive component. However, recent studies have shown that the light response is far more than a reflex, and reveals what you attend to, how you interpret what you see, and even what you think about. Here, we review these recent advances in our understanding of the pupillary light response. In addition, we discuss how changes in pupil size help to find the optimal balance between visual acuity (how sharp you can see) and sensitivity (how well you can detect faint stimuli) and are therefore a crucial aspect of how you perceive the world.

The Light Response Reflects Awareness, Interpretation, and Mental Imagery

Cognitive effects on the light response were first shown using binocular rivalry (e.g., Harms, 1937; Naber, Frassle, & Einhauser, 2011). In binocular rivalry, different stimuli are presented to each eye. When the stimuli are too different to be fused into a single percept, visual awareness flips back and forth between the left and right eye. (You can experience binocular rivalry by looking at your own nose. Although each eye sees your nose from a different angle, you consciously perceive your nose from only one angle.) With respect to the light response, something remarkable happens when images of different brightness are presented to each eye: The pupil constricts when the bright stimulus, relative to the dark stimulus, dominates awareness (see Fig. 1). The light response therefore reflects which stimulus you consciously perceive at a given moment.

Fig. 1.

The effect of visual awareness on the pupillary light response in a binocular rivalry experiment ( Naber, Frassle, & Einhauser, 2011). When awareness switches from a dark stimulus (presented to one eye) to a bright stimulus (presented to the other eye), the pupil constricts (orange line). Conversely, when awareness switches from a bright to a dark stimulus, the pupil dilates (blue line). On the x axis, 0 seconds corresponds to the moment that the participant indicates that his or her awareness has switched. Error bands indicate standard errors.

Similarly, recent studies have shown that the pupil responds to the perceived brightness of pictures, which is not always the same as their actual brightness ( Binda, Pereverzeva, & Murray, 2013b; Laeng & Endestad, 2012; Naber & Nakayama, 2013). For example, a picture of a sun is generally perceived as brighter, and elicits a stronger pupillary constriction, than a picture of an indoor scene-even when both pictures are really equally bright. Strikingly, your pupil even constricts when you imagine a bright stimulus, without any visual stimulation ( Laeng & Sulutvedt, 2014). Together, these studies show that the light response is not driven solely by the amount of light that enters the eye but is related to high-level vision and even mental imagery.

The Light Response Reflects Visual Attention

You always see multiple objects. While you work on your computer, you look at your screen but, from the corner of your eye, might also see your keyboard and cup of coffee. You do not fully process everything you see, but selectively attend to only a few objects at a time. If you attend to an object, you respond to it more quickly, and perceive it more clearly ( Carrasco, 2011). A crucial question is whether attention affects vision even at the earliest possible stage: as light enters the eye through the pupil.

The effect of attention on the pupillary light response was recently tested in several studies ( Binda, Pereverzeva, & Murray, 2013a; Mathôt, van der Linden, Grainger, & Vitu, 2013; Naber, Alvarez, & Nakayama, 2013). In one of our experiments, participants looked at the center of a display that was divided into a bright and a dark half ( Fig. 2a; Mathôt et al., 2013). Participants identified a target stimulus that could appear on either side of the screen, on the bright or the dark background. We used a staircase procedure to ensure that there was no difference in how easily the target could be identified on a dark or a bright background. Just before the target stimulus appeared, a cue (a voice saying "left" or "right") indicated the probable location of the target. Participants used this information to anticipate the location of the target and shifted their attention to the cued side of the screen while keeping their eyes on the display center (i.e., covert attention).

Fig. 2.

The effect of covert visual attention on the pupillary light response. Panel (a) shows an example of a voluntary-attention experiment in which participants direct their attention to the left or right side of the screen based on an auditory cue (cf. Mathôt, van der Linden, Grainger, & Vitu, 2013). Panel (b) shows an example of a reflexive-attention experiment in which attention is drawn to the left or right by a sudden movement (cf. Mathôt, Dalmaijer, Grainger, & Van der Stigchel, 2014). Panel (c) shows an example of a feature-based-attention experiment in which participants attend to one of two intermingled sets of dots (cf. Binda et al., 2014b). The pupil is larger when attention is voluntarily directed at a dark (blue), relative to a bright (orange), surface (d; Mathôt et al., 2013). After a reflexive shift of attention, the pattern is initially similar (i.e., a larger pupil when attending to a dark surface) but inverses after about 1 second, corresponding to inhibition of return (e; Mathôt et al., 2014). Error bands correspond to 95% confidence intervals.

Figure 2d shows the results of this experiment. First, overall pupil size increased over time, regardless of the brightness of the attended side. This was related to the effort that participants invested in the task, which affects pupil size in a way that is more or less independent of the light response (reviewed in Beatty, 1982; Goldwater, 1972; Laeng, Sirois, & Gredebäck, 2012). More importantly, when participants attended to the bright side of the screen (orange line), their pupils constricted relative to when they attended to the dark side (blue line). This difference arose about 0.6 seconds after the cue was presented.

This experiment showed that your pupils adjust to an object if you attend to it, even if you do not look at it directly. This is important, because elements in a visual scene can differ strongly in brightness: Your keyboard might be dark, whereas your monitor might be bright. While looking at your monitor, you may covertly (i.e., without moving your eyes) attend to your keyboard to localize your fingers. As we will describe later in this review, perception benefits from an optimal pupil size, so if you attended to the keyboard with a pupil size that was tuned to the brightness of the monitor, this would result in suboptimal perception. Therefore, even though the benefit is presumably small, a link between the pupillary light response and visual attention is beneficial.

In the experiment described above, participants shifted their attention voluntarily. But attention can also be drawn involuntary toward a location. Such reflexive shifts of attention are typically studied by presenting a salient cue, such as a sudden movement, in your visual periphery ( Fig. 2b). Even when this cue is irrelevant for the task, it still captures attention.

We recently showed that the pupillary light response is also affected by reflexive shifts of attention in the absence of eye movements ( Mathôt, Dalmaijer, Grainger, & Van der Stigchel, 2014). As shown in Figure 2e, participants' pupils first constricted when the cue was presented on a bright background (orange line), relative to a dark (blue line) background, but relatively dilated for longer intervals after cue presentation (i.e., the pupil-size difference, indicated in green, switched from positive to negative). The early constriction reflects a rapid reflexive shift of attention to the cued location, whereas the later dilation reflects a phenomenon called inhibition of return. In a behavioral response-time task, inhibition of return refers to the finding that responses are slower when a target is presented at a cued location, relative to an uncued location, for long intervals between the cue and the target. This is likely a "been there, done that" mechanism that prevents attention from being drawn to the same location over and over again. Interestingly, participants who showed strong pupillary inhibition (i.e., the negative pupil-size difference in Fig. 2e) also showed strong inhibition of return (i.e., slowed responses to targets that appeared on the cued side of the screen).

Attention may be drawn not only to locations but also to features such as color and shape. For instance, while approaching a bookshelf looking for a specific red book, you can attend to the red books only. Binda, Pereverzeva, and Murray (2014) showed that pupil size is also an index of feature-based attention. In their experiment, two sets of dots (one bright, one dark) were presented at the same location ( Fig. 2c). Participants could therefore select the cued set of dots only on the basis of its brightness. Crucially, the pupil constricted when the bright dots, relative to the dark dots, were attended. This shows that the pupil is not only an index of spatial attention but a proxy for various forms of selective attention: Whatever visual information is important (be it feature or location) will be echoed by the pupil.

The Light Response Reflects Eye-Movement Preparation

In the experiments described above, participants did not move their eyes. This is artificial, because in daily life you usually look directly at what you attend to. Therefore, numerous researchers have proposed that attention and eye movements are linked ( Rizzolatti, Riggio, Dascola, & Umiltá, 1987): Whenever you shift your attention, you also prepare an eye movement to the attended location. To come back to our daily-life example: When you look at your monitor but want to localize your fingers, you quickly make an eye movement to the keyboard. Before this eye movement is executed, attention has already shifted to the end point of the eye movement. However, the to-be-fixated object (the keyboard) might have a different brightness than the currently fixated object (the screen). An important question is whether the pupil prepares for this change in brightness. We recently showed that this is indeed the case: When you prepare an eye movement toward a bright object, a pupillary constriction is prepared along with the eye movement itself, before the bright object has been fixated ( Mathôt, van der Linden, Grainger, & Vitu, 2015). This is useful, because it reduces the effective latency of the light response, which is long (approximately 0.25 s). This way, preparation allows the pupil to track the rapid changes in visual input that occur as your eyes shift from dark to bright objects and back again.

A Balance Between Visual Acuity and Sensitivity

Although the light response is the primary determinant of pupil size, the pupil also dilates in response to arousal in a way that is independent of the light response. Here, we use "arousal" in its broadest sense, sometimes described as "the intensity dimension of thought" ( Just & Carpenter, 1993). In general, anything that increases arousal also elicits a pupillary dilation: sexy pictures, mental arithmetic, keeping something in working memory, effortful listening, etcetera (reviewed in Beatty, 1982; Goldwater, 1972; Laeng et al., 2012). Irene Loewenfeld, one of pupillometry's pioneers, aptly summarized that "man may either blush or turn pale . . . but his pupils always dilate" ( 1958, p. 237).

But why does the pupil respond to arousal and light in this way? The same pupillary responses are found across many vertebrate species and have even evolved independently in squids and octopuses ( Douglas, Williamson, & Wagner, 2005), strongly suggesting that they serve an important function. Although there is no definite answer, there are several credible hypotheses that each explain one aspect of the pupillary response. Below, we synthesize these hypotheses to provide a comprehensive understanding of the important role that pupillary responses play in vision.

One function of the light response is to find a balance between visual acuity (how sharp you can see) and sensitivity (how well you can detect faint stimuli). The eye's lens is imperfect and distorts light in ways that reduce acuity. The severity of these distortions depends on pupil size: the smaller the pupil, the sharper the image ( Campbell & Gregory, 1960). Another benefit of a small pupil is that it sees sharply across a wide range of distances (i.e., increased depth of field). However, a small pupil also has disadvantages: It does not capture much light, which leads to reduced sensitivity, and provides a slightly reduced field of view. Crucially, the optimal size of the pupil depends on how much light is available. In darkness, vision is limited by the scarcity of light, and the pupil therefore dilates to capture more light. In brightness, light is abundant, and the pupil therefore constricts to obtain the sharpest image. Plausibly, cognitive effects on the pupillary light response may serve to optimize pupil size specifically for objects that you attend to, or prepare an eye movement toward.

But why does arousal trigger a pupillary dilation, apparently perturbing the balance between visual acuity and sensitivity? This may be related to Aston-Jones and Cohen's (2005) proposal that there are two modes of behavior, exploitation and exploration, that are linked to pupil size. During exploitation, arousal is low (compared to exploration), and you are focused on one task, such as reading a book, that requires fine visual discrimination. In this mode, visual acuity is more important than sensitivity, and the pupil therefore constricts. During exploration, arousal is high, and you are in a vigilant state, ready to detect mates, predators, and other things that require immediate action. In this mode, visual sensitivity is more important than acuity, and the pupil therefore dilates. Pupil dilation in the absence of light changes may thus reflect a shift from exploitation to exploration mode, and a concomitant shift in the optimal balance between visual acuity and sensitivity.

Taken Together . . .

. . . it is clear that the pupillary light response is far more than the low-level reflex that it was historically thought to be. The extent to which a bright stimulus triggers a pupillary constriction depends on many cognitive factors: visual awareness (are you consciously aware of the stimulus?), interpretation (how bright does the stimulus subjectively appear?), and visual attention (are you paying attention to the stimulus?). We have emphasized the link between pupillary responses and eye-movement preparation: When you prepare to look at a bright stimulus, a pupillary constriction is prepared along with the eye movement itself. Preparation allows the pupil to rapidly adjust its size, as your eyes shift from dark to bright objects and back again.

We have highlighted the important role that pupillary responses play in vision. The pupillary response to light balances visual sensitivity, which is highest for large pupils, and acuity, which is highest for small pupils ( Campbell & Gregory, 1960; see Woodhouse & Campbell, 1975, for other functions). The function of pupillary dilation in response to arousal is less clear but may be understood in the same way: Arousing situations are generally those that require enhanced visual sensitivity, and the pupil therefore dilates when aroused. In summary, the pupillary light response reflects mental state in exquisite detail. It is truly a mind's eye.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared that they had no conflicts of interest with respect to their authorship or the publication of this article.

Funding: The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Research Executive Agency Grant Agreement n° 622738 awarded to S. Mathôt. In addition, this research was funded by Vidi Grant 452-13-008 from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research to S. Van der Stigchel.

Recommended Reading

1. Binda P., Pereverzeva M., Murray S. O. (2013a). (See References). Shows that the pupillary light response is affected by covert visual attention.

2. Laeng B., Sirois S., Gredebäck G. (2012). (See References). A review of recent advances in pupillometry that focuses mostly on pupillary dilation and arousal, and is therefore a useful complement to our review, which focuses mostly on the light response.

3. Loewenfeld I. E. (1958). (See References). A classic but remarkably current review of pupillary responses.

4. Mathôt S., van der Linden L., Grainger J., Vitu F. (2015). (See References). Shows that the pupillary light response is linked to eye-movement preparation. [DOI] [PubMed]

5. Naber M., Alvarez G. A., Nakayama K. (2011). (See References). A study using binocular rivalry to show that the pupillary light response is linked to visual awareness (see also Fig. 1 in this review).

References

Harms H. (1937). Ort und Wesen der Bildhemmung bei Schielenden. Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, 138(1), 149-210. doi: 10.1007/BF01854538 [DOI] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Current Directions in Psychological Science are provided here courtesy of SAGE Publications

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New Light on the Mind's Eye: The Pupillary Light Response as Active Vision

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The eye's pupils constrict (shrink) in brightness and dilate (expand) in darkness. The pupillary light response was historically considered a low-level reflex without any cognitive component. Here, we review recent studies that have dramatically ...

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lvan Navarro - Heaven or Las Vegas

https://www.designboom.com/art/ivan-navarro-heaven-or-las-vegas/

This is a series of fluorescent light wall sculptures created based on the floor plans of 12 famous skyscrapers around the world. The works use light and mirrors to create a strong sense of depth and an effect of infinite extension, simulating the viewer looking down into the interior of the entire building from above. The series maintains a uniform color scheme of light and dark greens. Additionally, each piece incorporates meaningful words such as "surrender," "resist," and "you say so," which I think gives the work more to ponder beyond the original architecture.

What I like about this work is that it uses simple elements—light and mirrors—to create a complex visual experience. Especially when these works are hung on the wall, it is like a bottomless space that draws the viewer's gaze.

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This is a screen recording of this week's key detail modifications. I will observe the actual effects in the next simulation and decide whether to implement this new idea or continue with the previous concept.

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This week, my modifications mainly about the segment starting from 2:04 minutes until the end. Apart from some specific adjustments to delays and color details, one point I'd like to explain, which I mentioned in last week's journal, （from 2:04 to 2:30 seconds）. I used a repeated effect four times and was unsure if it would become tedious. This week, I revised this part, specifically from 2:23 to 2:30 seconds, reducing the repetition to three times and using a new arrangement for the new idea to transition smoothly into the subsequent lighting effects.

As I repeatedly watched this simulated demonstration, I considered how I, if as an audience member, would want to see a new design after a certain number of repetitions. I felt that three times was the limit, thus a simple variant as a transition for the fourth time was appropriate.

In this week's modifications, as illustrated in the images, I divided the lighting on the ceiling and the walls into strips, progressively moving from the back to the front along with the drumbeat, reaching the front at 2:26 seconds and then climbing to the top of the triangular lighting （front）. I chose to end this progression at the front top because it makes for a good transition to link the stopping effect; this would naturally shift the audience’s focus from the side to the front, making the transition smoother. The specific simulated effect is recorded and available in the Research-Technical part.

Additionally, I removed the red ripple effect on the side near the 2:30-second mark at the end, because when the front lighting modification moved from the ceiling to the wall and focused on the front, the side lighting instead became a distraction. This contradicted one of the purposes of my modifications, so I chose to eliminate it.

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Db, J. (2011) 'Iván Navarro: Heaven or Las Vegas'. Available at: https://www.designboom.com/art/ivan-navarro-heaven-or-las-vegas/

Hypebeast. (n.d) 'Ivan Navarro "Heaven or Las Vegas" Exhibition'. Available at: https://hypebeast.com/2011/3/ivan-navarro-heaven-or-las-vegas-exhibition

Mathôt, S. and Van der Stigchel, S. (2015) 'New Light on the Mind’s Eye', October. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4601080/