The purpose of the study was to investigate Virtual Reality as a visualization tool for communicating light and lighting design in projects. In the study, we sought to answer whether there are differences in light and spatial experience between a VR model and a physical environment. The VR model was created on the basis of visual evaluations of a physical environment and was therefore not based on light technical parameters (illuminance, luminance etc.). The data was collected by conducting an experiment where 35 subjects were put in two groups, an experiment group (n=30) and a control group (n=5). The subjects gave numerical input through a leader-led questionnaire about their experience of light and spatial dimensions in the VR model and the physical environment. The results showed that there was no significant statistical difference between how the experiment group experienced the light in the VR model compared to the physical environment. The experiment group also considered that the spatial dimensions in the two environments were equal except for a minor deviation concerning how high/low they experienced the room. In the results, a difference can be seen in how test subject with and without knowledge of light evaluated the environments which suggests that there may be a deficiency in how design is communicated between people with knowledge of light and people without knowledge of light. Following these findings, the presenting method of visualizing light in VR seems very promising and should be seen as a basis for further practical use of the tool.

Väntrum och ångest har en stark koppling med varandra. Majoriteten av Sveriges befolkning besöker ett väntrum som patient minst en gång per år. I dagsläget planeras belysningen i första hand för vårdpersonalens behov och förutsättningar. På grund av detta blir ljusmiljön och väntrumsupplevelsen för patienter kan bli lidande. För att kunna skapa tillfredställande väntrumsmiljöer undersöktes det om det finns någon koppling mellan ångest och ljusnivå. I studien undersöktes även ljusupplevelsen och inverkan av fönster med utsikt på patienters ångest.  Studien undersökte påverkan av låg och hög belysningsstyrka samt påverkan av fönster på ångest. Dessutom undersöktes hur olika rumsutformning och belysningslösning påverkar upplevelsen av ljusmiljön och miljöns inverkan på måendet. Med hjälp av en förstudie kunde ett experiment utformas där fyra olika ljusscener testades. För att undersöka om fönster och utsikt har en påverkan, har två typrum skapats: ett med fönster och ett utan fönster.  Deltagarna i studien bestod av 16 kvinnor och 8 män med en blandning av studenter och yrkesverksamma som fick svara på 5 enkäter. Enkäter utvecklades från väl validerade metoder för att få svar från deltagarna angående hur de har mått de senaste två veckorna. Även hur deltagarna kände och upplevde ljusscenerna under experimentet, detta för att kunna besvara studiens frågeställningar.  Resultatet visade inga signifikanta skillnader gällande belysningsstyrkans eller fönsters påverkan på ångest. Men resultatet visade också att det fanns signifikanta skillnader i ljusupplevelsen när det kommer till ljushet, trygghet, ljusfärg samt bländning. Slutsatsen av studien är att belysningen kan påverka ljusupplevelsen och måendet. Men mer forskning behövs när det kommer till belysningsstyrkans samt fönster och utsikts påverkan på ångest. / Waiting rooms and anxiety have a strong connection with each other. Most of the Sweden's population visit a waiting room as patient at least once a year. At present, the lighting is primarily planned for the health professionals´ needs and conditions. Because of this, the lighting environment and the waiting room experience for patients suffers. To be able to create satisfying waiting room environments, this study wants to examine whether there is a connection between anxiety and light level. Also, it studies how the light will be experienced and if windows with views affects patient’s anxiety.  The study examined the influence of low and high illuminance and the influence of windows on anxiety. In addition, it was investigated how different room shapes and lighting solution affect the experience of the light environment and the environmental impact on the mood. With the help of a prestudy, an experiment could be designed where four different light scenes were tested. To investigate whether windows and views have an impact, two types of test rooms have been created: one with windows and one without windows. The participants in the study consisted of 16 women and 8 men with a mixture of students and professionals who had to answer 5 questionnaires. The questionnaires were developed from well-validated methods to get answers from the participants regarding how they have felt the last two weeks. Also, how the participants felt and experienced the light scenes during the experiment, in order to be able to answer the questions of the study.  The result showed no significant differences regarding the effect of illuminance or window on anxiety. The result showed however that there were significant differences in the light experience when it comes to brightness, safety, colour of the light and glare. The conclusion of the study is that the lighting can affect the light experience and the mood. But more research is needed when it comes to illuminance and windows and views impact on anxiety.