TY - CONF
T1 - The effects of light and visual environment in office support spaces on fatigue, sleepiness, and workplace productivity through the autonomic nervous system
AU - Ogawa, Satoshi
AU - Ikaga, Toshiharu
AU - Ichihara, Maki
AU - Harimoto, Kazuyoshi
N1 - Funding Information:
I would like to thank Ms. R. Okamura (then at Keio University) and Ms. S. Aoki (then at Keio University) for support and advice in completing this work. We are grateful to everyone who participated in the experiments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Improvements in workplace productivity bring significant benefits to companies, and so previous research has focused on how the indoor office environment affects workplace productivity. Recently, the effect of support spaces, such as “refresh corners”, on workplace productivity has been investigated. Light and the visual environment also affect the fatigue and sleepiness of workers through the autonomic nervous system. Hence, support spaces could improve workplace productivity by alleviating fatigue and sleepiness. In this study, we conducted a human subject experiment in the autumn of 2013. The working efficiency of participants was measured during simulated work while they used a support space with different light and visual environments. In addition, the participants wore a heart rate monitor to measure their autonomic nervous state and they answered a questionnaire on fatigue and sleepiness before and after support space use. An open support space activated the parasympathetic nervous system and reduced fatigue. Moreover, having blinds open to allow daylight in also activated the sympathetic nervous system and decreased sleepiness. Lower levels of sleepiness before work improved working efficiency for idea generation. These results suggest that using open support spaces with daylight reduces fatigue and sleepiness, and increases workplace productivity.
AB - Improvements in workplace productivity bring significant benefits to companies, and so previous research has focused on how the indoor office environment affects workplace productivity. Recently, the effect of support spaces, such as “refresh corners”, on workplace productivity has been investigated. Light and the visual environment also affect the fatigue and sleepiness of workers through the autonomic nervous system. Hence, support spaces could improve workplace productivity by alleviating fatigue and sleepiness. In this study, we conducted a human subject experiment in the autumn of 2013. The working efficiency of participants was measured during simulated work while they used a support space with different light and visual environments. In addition, the participants wore a heart rate monitor to measure their autonomic nervous state and they answered a questionnaire on fatigue and sleepiness before and after support space use. An open support space activated the parasympathetic nervous system and reduced fatigue. Moreover, having blinds open to allow daylight in also activated the sympathetic nervous system and decreased sleepiness. Lower levels of sleepiness before work improved working efficiency for idea generation. These results suggest that using open support spaces with daylight reduces fatigue and sleepiness, and increases workplace productivity.
KW - Autonomic Nervous System
KW - Light and Visual Environment
KW - Workplace Productivity
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M3 - Paper
AN - SCOPUS:85052470577
T2 - Healthy Buildings Europe 2015, HB 2015
Y2 - 18 May 2015 through 20 May 2015
ER -