Posted on Monday, March 14th, 2011 by Annat Katz
Philips Wake-Up Light – Living in extreme northern latitudes means going through several long months of complete darkness each year. That’s right, people go to sleep and wake up to what seems like night time, day in day out. Studies have shown that prolonged polar night can lead to depression in humans, and affects their day-time energy since the alarm clock is their only indication that a new day has come.
Philips have studied the effects of the polar night on people and initiated a fascinating experiment; the company handed out free Wake-Up Lights to the community of Longyearbyen, an arctic town in Norway living in a polar night of 11 weeks each year. This special light imitates gradual sunlight in the morning. This means a gradual wake up process rather than an abrupt (and rude) awakening from deep sleep with an alarm clock. What do you think happened? See the experiment video of the below to learn more. Amazing!
