Towards An Adaptive Office Environment: Effects Of Sound And Color Of Light On Performance And Well-Being

To study the effects of color of light and sound in the office environment on performance and well-being, an experiment was set up. Fourteen subjects participated in the study. Six different environments were presented while they performed a standardized dual task: three colors of light (i.e. blue, red and a dynamic pattern of lights), two sound conditions (classic piano music and office noise) and a standard condition with no color of light and no sounds. Results show no effects of color of light and sounds on performance. However clear effects on well-being were shown: the objective measures of facial emotions showed significant less negative emotions in the color light conditions compared to the other conditions. The subjective measures showed that the blue and red color light conditions were rated in general more positive. The results of the study are promising and support the necessity to build individually adaptive smart workstations.