Affective lighting in built environments: A scoping review of evidence, technologies, and future directions

Affective lighting systems were developed through the application of emotional theory and empirical research to address human needs. These systems transcend traditional lighting design, which provides adequate light to maintain human comfort, and are tailored to improve the emotional state and well-being of users. Yet, research in this area is dispersed across disciplines, limiting a clear understanding of the field’s progress and potential. To address this gap, this paper presents a scoping review of 63 studies on affective lighting published between 2014 and 2024. The review consolidates current knowledge, evaluates technological integrations, and identifies critical areas for advancement. It highlights the potential of affective lighting to enhance everyday environments and impact diverse user groups by validating systems in real-world settings, adopting standardized visual and circadian metrics, studying electric lighting in tandem with daylight, deploying multimodal privacy-respectful sensing, and pairing user agency with unobtrusive automation. This paper offers a technology-oriented synthesis that consolidates affective lighting research findings and bridges evidence across disciplines.