LuVoTem
Voice-controlled lighting that adapts to your emotional state.
Focus: Emotionally Responsive Environments
Video Trailer
LuVoTem — Thesis Trailer
Video coming soon — add a YouTube or Vimeo embed URL tovideo_url in the thesis markdown file.
Abstract
LuVoTem (Luminescence–Voice–Temperature) is an emotionally responsive environment that bridges human affect and physical space. The installation listens to the user's voice—analyzing pitch, cadence, and volume—and translates those qualities into corresponding lighting color, intensity, and temperature.
The project asks: what if your environment could listen? By making the emotional content of speech visible as light, LuVoTem creates a feedback loop between internal states and the built world. Spaces become sympathetic rather than neutral.
Design Challenge
Modern environments are predominantly static. Lighting presets, standardized temperatures, and uniform surfaces treat all occupants as equivalent. LuVoTem challenges this assumption by making the environment an active participant in emotional regulation—drawing on research in chromotherapy, affective computing, and ambient interface design.
Technical Approach
The system uses a microphone array and a lightweight ML model trained to classify vocal affect across six dimensions. Classification results drive a DMX lighting controller linked to RGB LED panels, creating real-time color and intensity mappings. A supplemental thermal controller adjusts radiant heat output.
Outcomes
User testing across 20 participants showed measurable reductions in self-reported stress and increased sense of calm in the LuVoTem environment vs. a static control. The project was presented at the IxDIA Spring Exhibition 2022.
Process Documentation
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