Providing light to simulate a natural environment

Abstract

A process for providing a desired environment in an indoor space includes providing light from one or more light sources suitable for meeting a set of general illumination parameters and dynamically adjusting the light from the one or more light sources based on a set of simulated environment illumination parameters while maintaining the light within the general illumination parameters. By dynamically adjusting the light from the one or more light sources, the feelings of the desired environment may be evoked within the indoor space. By maintaining the light output within the set of general illumination parameters, the effect of the dynamic adjustment may minimize distraction caused thereby.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for simulating a natural environment in an indoor space, the method comprising:
 generating simulated environment illumination parameters based on environmental data describing a desired environment; and   providing light from one or more light sources based on the simulated environment illumination parameters.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the light from the one or more light sources based on the simulated environment illumination parameters comprises:
 providing light output from the one or more light sources meeting general illumination parameters, wherein the general illumination parameters specify one or more light output characteristics that are suitable for general illumination of the indoor space; and   dynamically adjusting the light output based on the simulated environment illumination parameters such that the light output remains within the general illumination parameters.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the general illumination parameters include one or more of hue, saturation, brightness, color, color temperature, and color rendering index. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein dynamically adjusting the light output based on the simulated environment illumination parameters such that the light output remains within the general illumination parameters comprises:
 adjusting light output of a first light source; and   compensating for the adjustment of the first light source with a second light source such that average light output of the first light source and the second light source remains within the general illumination parameters.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the environmental data describing the desired environment is at least partially obtained from a sensor. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the environmental data comprises processed sensor data obtained via a network. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the environmental data comprises raw sensor data obtained via a network. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the environmental data describing the desired environment comprises simulated environmental data describing the desired environment stored in a database. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating simulated environment general parameters based on the environmental data; and   dynamically adjusting one or more environmental conditions based on the simulated environment general parameters.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the environmental data comprises one or more of illumination conditions, weather information, and sounds. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising controlling the one or more environmental conditions based on general environmental parameters, wherein the general environmental parameters specify one or more environmental parameters that are suitable for an indoor working environment. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the one or more environmental parameters comprise one or more of sound, temperature, or air circulation. 
     
     
         13 . An intelligent lighting network, comprising:
 a plurality of lighting fixtures, each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures comprising:
 a light source; 
 processing circuitry; and 
 a memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the processing circuitry cause the lighting fixture to:
 generate simulated environment illumination parameters based on environmental data describing a desired environment; and 
 provide light from the light source based on the simulated environment illumination parameters. 
 
   
     
     
         14 . The intelligent lighting network of  claim 13 , wherein providing the light from the light source based on the simulated environment illumination parameters comprises:
 providing the light output from the light source meeting general illumination parameters, wherein the general illumination parameters specify one or more light output characteristics that are suitable for general illumination of an indoor space; and   dynamically adjusting the light output based on the simulated environment illumination parameters such that the light output remains within the general illumination parameters.   
     
     
         15 . The intelligent lighting network of  claim 14 , wherein the general illumination parameters include one or more of hue, saturation, brightness, color, color temperature, and color rendering index. 
     
     
         16 . The intelligent lighting network of  claim 13 , wherein the environmental data describing the desired environment is at least partially obtained from a sensor. 
     
     
         17 . The intelligent lighting network of  claim 16 , wherein each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures further comprises the sensor. 
     
     
         18 . The intelligent lighting network of  claim 16 , wherein each one of the plurality of lighting fixtures further comprises communications circuitry configured to receive sensor data from the sensor. 
     
     
         19 . The intelligent lighting network of  claim 13 , wherein the light source comprises one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs). 
     
     
         20 . The intelligent lighting network of  claim 13 , wherein the memory stores the instructions, which, when executed by the processing circuitry further cause the lighting fixture to:
 generate simulated environment general parameters based on the environmental data; and   dynamically adjust one or more environmental conditions based on the simulated environment general parameters.