We found that entry sequence in the Museum of Art has two areas where
people may experience visual discomfort. This visual discomfort may arise
due to the short distance between dark areas and bright areas. When one
moves from space to space the almost immediate transitions can adversely
affect the visual experience of the space. The human optical system may
require up to several minutes to adjust and become comfortable with significant
changes in light levels. The speed at which the eye adjusts to the different
lighting condition is very individual; reaction time varies from user to user.

The two main areas that we see as problems in the Museum of Art are
the main building entrance and the sequence from the middle of the south
stairs to the main upstairs gallery space. We suspected that these areas
would be the main areas of focus for our case study, because of the personal
experiences we each had in the space. According to the measurements of
the lighting situation within the space, we were able to see that our initial ideas
of the space seem to be accurate.

For most people, the change in lighting levels would not be great enough to
cause safety problems, but some users may encounter problems. One
potential trouble spot is the step up just past the lobby. People with less
visual acuity, may find this difficult to see while their eyes are adjusting to the
relative darkness. Some people may also have difficulty with varying degrees
of illuminance on the staircase to the second floor. Most people will require at
least a minute or two of adjustment time in the gallery before they are able to
really examine the intricate details of the objects it contains.

One other factor that may be at work here is glare. The museum
photos show possible glare in a couple of spots, which happen to be the
same ones where high contrast between illuminance levels occurs. The
light streaming in from the courtyard is very bright compared to the
darkness of the entry lobby. The same thing happens when moving up the
stairs looking at the three large windows in the landing. Finally, once
visitors have arrived in the Chinese Gallery, and their eyes have
adjusted, if they glance back out to the upper landing area they might
experience glare.

		Numbers refer to Photos of Musuem.

The Museum of Art is scheduled to undergo extensive renovation.
http://uoma.uoregon.edu/more/campaign.html The stairs appear to be
running parallel to the courtyard on either side. This will probably
eliminate the problem of high illuminance half way up the stairs.
Another solution is to increase the illuminance by 2-3 footcandles in the
Chinese Gallery.