About

Yvonne de Kort is a Full Professor and Chair of Environmental Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). With her group, she investigates the effects of lighting conditions on human functioning (e.g., alertness, stress, sleep, and health), specifically targeting light effects for day-active people in real-world conditions. This explicitly includes both visual effects and circadian and acute effects beyond vision, via our biological clock and neural regions related to alertness and mood. The research brings together insights from psychology, chronobiology, and neuroscience and aims to translate fundamental insights in human responses to light to implications for the design of environments, lighting scenarios, and intelligent lighting solutions. Additional research topics include the restorative and invigorating effects of light and nature scenes. Yvonne manages the interdepartmental Sound Lighting research program in TU/e’s Intelligent Lighting Institute and the Mental Health program in TU/e’s Center for Humans and Technology. She coordinates national and European projects, among which the European Training Network LIGHTCAP, under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie ITN framework.

LECTURE: "Daylight – See me, feel me, touch me, heal me!"

Our technological tools to create indoor electric light are ever advancing, and yet in virtually every context there seems to be nothing better than “the real thing”. In my presentation I will review the scientific evidence for the importance of daylight and sunlight indoors for human health and wellbeing, and the different mechanisms through which these effects (may) emerge. We hope this may inspire architects and engineers to design for even better daylight access and perhaps even better electric lighting solutions.