Master thesis: A research methodology for outdoor lighting: obstacle detection in the field

Deze Master Thesis is gepresenteerd op het OVL Symposium van 14 november 2023. De presentatie van het symposium is te vinden op OVL Symposium 2023

Visual performance during nighttime should be optimal for all pedestrians to define a public space as ‘safe’ and ‘accessible’. The visual performance of pedestrians can be studied with the use of an obstacle detection task.

In previous studies, the obstacle detection task was studied in a laboratory setting where the visual performance was tested for different obstacle heights, target groups and lighting conditions. These studies, however, do not include the variability that characterizes a natural environment. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a methodology to investigate the  obstacle detection probability for pedestrians in a real setting. The study was conducted with three different target groups in mind: adolescents (20-30 years), elderly (65+ years) and people with a visual impairment. The field study that was executed to validate the methodology was located in Utrecht where participants needed to perform an obstacle detection task in parallel with a facial expression recognition task under different LED lighting conditions. Besides validating the method, this study gave preliminary insights regarding the optimal lighting conditions to make the outdoor environment as accessible and safe as possible for everyone.