New model informs lighting design that works better for aging eyes

08 October 2026

New model informs lighting design that works better for aging eyes

Accounting for changes in color vision that occur as we age, researchers model lighting setups that improve older adults' ability to perceive colors

WASHINGTON - Researchers have developed a new computational model that accounts for the effects of aging on our eyes' ability to discriminate color. It could help guide lighting designs that make it easier for older adults to perceive colors while preserving the expected appearance for people with typical color vision.

"As people age, the lens inside the eye gradually yellows and absorbs more short-wavelength light, which can make similar colors harder to discriminate," said research team leader Qi Dai from Fudan University in China. "We incorporated these age-related changes into a model that can be used to guide the spectrum, or mixture of wavelengths, used for white lighting to make it easier for older adults to perceive colors."

In the Optica Publishing Group journal Optics Express, researchers from Fudan University and OPPLE Lighting report results from a study that used the new model to design lighting spectra that account for how aging eyes perceive color. In a group of adult volunteers ages 70 and older, the resulting lighting improved color discrimination compared with an LED-simulated D50 daylight reference at nearly the same color temperature, while familiar colors still looked natural.

"Lighting that accounts for age-related changes in color vision could help older adults remain confident and independent in performing tasks such as reading labels, sorting medications, judging food or choosing clothing," said Dai. "In a family home or care facility, lighting designed with aging eyes in mind could support older users while retaining the characteristics needed for general use."

Modeling age-related color vision changes

Conventional ways to measure color quality generally use a mathematical representation of human color vision. However, this doesn't account for how the eye's sensitivity to different wavelengths changes with age due to lens yellowing.

"We wanted to find out if we could use new knowledge about how vision changes with age to guide the design of white light that measurably helps older adults distinguish colors while retaining conventional lighting color-quality requirements," said Dai. "Our work provides a practical link between describing aging vision and designing lighting to support it."

The researchers developed a model that estimates how easily a person would be able to distinguish similar colors based on the illumination light's spectrum, the wavelengths reflected by colored objects and age-adjusted sensitivities of the eye's three cone types.

The researchers used their model to evaluate 11,541 possible light spectra that met standard requirements for white light and color rendering near 5000 K, which is a neutral, daylight-like white. They found that spectra that otherwise appeared similar could differ substantially in how they were predicted to affect the ability of older adults to distinguish between similar colors.

Based on this analysis, the researchers selected two lighting spectra: P1, which was optimized to improve color discrimination, and P2, which was designed to balance color discrimination with natural-looking colors. For a modeled 85-year-old observer, P1 was predicted to recover about 49% of the age-related loss in color discrimination while P2 recovered about 36%.

From research to lighting solutions

To see if these optimized spectra helped with color discrimination in people, the researchers asked 34 adult volunteers, ages 70 and above, to perform a color-sorting test under lighting with both the P1 and P2 spectra and an LED-simulated daylight reference. For all three conditions, the illuminance and color temperature were nearly identical.

Both optimized spectra significantly improved performance on the color-sorting test compared with the simulated daylight reference. At the individual level, 26 of 34 participants (76.5%) improved color discrimination when the P1 spectrum was used, and 22 of 34 (64.7%) improved with P2.

"The findings suggest that the model could be used to design everyday lighting that makes it easier for older adults to see colors while keeping familiar object colors looking natural," said Dai. "Since the spectra also met conventional criteria for white-light chromaticity and color rendering, they could be used for lighting spaces shared by people of different ages."

Dai adds that their approach could be expanded to capture how displays appear to older viewers or to other groups with known differences in spectral sensitivity. However, this would require dedicated modeling and human testing.

OPPLE Lighting is now working towards translating the findings into practical lighting products. The researchers note that before wider adoption, additional studies should evaluate the approach in everyday settings and at other commonly used illuminances and color temperatures. Testing lighting solutions with people of a wider range of ages, including younger users, would also provide valuable information for lighting that is used in shared spaces.

Paper:

C. Lu, G. Bao, Z. Tao, C. Liu, L. Guo, C. Zhu, H. Ma, Q. Dai, "Enhancing Color Discrimination in Older Adults through Age-Adaptive Spectral Optimization of Lighting," Opt. Express, 34, XXXX (2026).

DOI: 10.1364/OE.609942.

About Optica Publishing Group

Optica Publishing Group is a division of the society, Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide. It publishes the largest collection of peer-reviewed and most-cited content in optics and photonics, including 19 prestigious journals, the society's flagship member magazine, and papers and videos from over 1200 conferences. With over 520,000 journal articles, conference papers and videos to search, discover and access, its publications portfolio represents the full range of research in the field from around the globe.

About Optics Express

Optics Express reports on scientific and technology innovations in all aspects of optics and photonics. The bi-weekly journal provides rapid publication of original, peer-reviewed papers. It is published by Optica Publishing Group and led by Editor-in-Chief Siddharth Ramachandran of Boston University, USA. Optics Express is an open-access journal and is available at no cost to readers online. For more information, visit Optics Express.

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