Uncovering relationships between view direction patterns and glare perception in a daylit workspace

This paper presents the results of an experimental study that aims to provide objective insights as to how luminance distribution in an office setting modulates our view direction (VD) in a daylit workspace while performing office tasks. Using the office-like test facility at Fraunhofer ISE (Freiburg, Germany) to create a range of controlled daylighting conditions, and a wearable mobile eye-tracker to measure eye and head orientation, we assessed VD distributions for subjects performing a standardized sequence of typical office tasks relative to two different daylight conditions: low contrast condition with no direct sunlight as compared to high contrast condition with direct sunlight coming into the room. Our results show that while the participants look more outside the window during a non-cognitive and non-visual office task, this effect is lower under the high contrast lighting conditions. Moreover, the focus of the VDs is on the task area when the participants are performing a task involving visual and cognitive activities.