LIGHTING DEVICE WITH READING ASSISTANCE

Description

1. Field of the invention.

[0001] The present invention relates to a lighting device. The invention relates more particularly to a lighting device facilitating the reading of content, in particular textual content, for people subject to dyslexia. 2. State of the art.

[0002] Dyslexia is commonly defined as a group of reading disorders that appear in childhood. These are specific learning disabilities whose causes appear complex and have been and continue to be the subject of numerous studies in various fields.

[0003] It is generally excluded to consider that the causes of dyslexia can be solely sensory, social or psychological.

[0004] Studies in the field of neuroscience suggest that it may be a specific neurological disorder.

[0005] Advances in medical imaging have highlighted the role of certain areas of the brain in the processes of reading and language control.

[0006] Solutions for treating dyslexia disorders rely on work and fun activities tailored to the specific challenges of each individual. The goal of such support is to provide the individual with reading difficulties with autonomy. Known methods are developed around work in fields such as psychology, psychomotor skills, and orthoptics, for example.

[0007] Recently, studies have been conducted establishing a correlation between specific features of the vision mechanism and the presence of specific dyslexia disorders. The publication "Left-right asymmetry of the Maxwell spot centroids in adults without and with dyslexia" (Le Floch A, Ropars G. 2017, Proc. R. Soc. B 284: 20171380, http: / / dx.doi.org / 10.1098 / rspb.2017.1380) mentions the role of the foveas, located in the human eye, in the construction of perceived images, at the cerebral level, and the fact that identical or substantially identical characteristics for both eyes of the same subject lead to dysfunctions in the process of vision and phonological processing at the cerebral level. The transmission of a mirror image from one hemisphere to the other, for example, significantly disrupts the process of reading graphic elements or textual content in subjects with disorders characteristic of dyslexia.Disorders related to fixation instability and / or postural instability, or even binocular convergence defects related to the oculomotor muscles, can also cause visual clutter such as the mirror effect. 3. Summary of the invention.

[0008] The invention makes it possible to improve at least some of the drawbacks of the prior art by proposing a lighting device adapted to facilitate the reading of content, such as graphic content, on any type of media, and in particular on a paper medium. The proposed device operates periods of successive activation and deactivation or suppression of a light beam in the visible light spectrum. The light beam is thus activated and deactivated (suppressed) periodically from the lighting device according to successive cycles operated at a predetermined frequency within a range of values ​​from 60 to 90 Hz, thanks to a tunable system then functioning as a visual anti-clutter device. This system takes advantage of the Hebbian mechanisms in the neurons of the cortex. The successive activation periods each have a duration within a range of values ​​from 15 to 30% of the total duration of the cycles operated.

[0009] The invention relates more particularly to a lighting device comprising a control unit and a lighting module adapted to the generation of a light beam in a visible light spectrum, characterized in that said lighting device is configured to periodically activate and deactivate said lighting beam according to successive cycles operated at a predetermined frequency Fd, each cycle having a duration T and comprising a period of activation of the light beam of duration T1 preceded or followed by a period of deactivation of the light beam of duration T2, in that the frequency Fd is comprised in a range of values ​​from 60 to 90 Hz, and in that the duration T1 of the periods of activation of the light beam is comprised in a range of values ​​from 15 to 30% of the duration T of the cycles.

[0010] According to the invention, "deactivation" of the light beam is understood to mean a total absence of emission of the light beam or even an emission of power well below the emission level of the activation phase, so that the resulting difference in perception induces similar effects, on a dyslexic subject, to the effects discovered due to the absence of beams according to the cycles previously described. The deactivation of the light beam can therefore be total (the light beam is totally absent after deactivation) or partial.

[0011] According to one embodiment of the invention, the predetermined frequency Fd of the light beam is defined by a user of the lighting device.

[0012] According to one embodiment of the invention, the predetermined frequency of the beam is selected discretely, i.e. from a plurality of predetermined frequencies in the aforementioned frequency range.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the invention, the frequency Fd varies over time, in order to further facilitate, in certain cases, the elimination of visual clutter and binocular stability.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the invention, the frequency Fd varies by increasing in successive steps up to a maximum value according to a first speed, called the growth speed, then varies by decreasing in successive steps up to a minimum value according to a second speed, called the decrease speed, the increasing and decreasing variations being repeated iteratively over time.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the invention, said rate of decrease is equal to said rate of growth.

[0016] According to one embodiment of the invention, said successive steps are of equal duration.

[0017] According to one embodiment of the invention, said successive steps vary in duration so that the value of said frequency Fd evolves according to a triangle, saw, or sinusoidal waveform between said maximum value and said minimum value.

[0018] According to one embodiment of the invention, the duration T1 of the periods of activation of the light beam varies over time.

[0019] According to one embodiment of the invention, the beam produced in a visible light spectrum is generated from one or more LED-type elements.

[0020] Advantageously, the use of a frequency range from 60 Hz makes it possible to avoid the effects of blinking perceptible to the human eye, the limit of perception of blinking by the eye being around 60 Hz, for humans (excluding animal species and insects).

[0021] Advantageously, the alternation of periods of activation and deactivation (or suppression, or even significant attenuation, or even inhibition) of the light beam, established in the spectrum of visible light and applied to (directed towards) a support, allows a "focusing" of the brain of a subject looking at this illuminated support, on an image representative of the content represented on the observed support, then, a disappearance or quasi-disappearance of this same image from the subject's view before it is transmitted in the form of a mirror image between one cerebral hemisphere and the other cerebral hemisphere of this subject looking at this illuminated support. The time required for the brain to transmit an image, perceived by the eye, between one hemisphere and the other hemisphere, in the form of a mirror image for the latter, is of the order of 10 ms.

[0022] Thus, the brain favors the transmitted image over its mirror image, and the confusion existing in the subject who presents a strong similarity of the characteristics of his two foveas, is less or significantly reduced for the reading of the content (graphic and / or textual) represented on the support, in particular when this content is representative of one or more textual contents.

[0023] According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the use of a switch configured to selectively obtain a permanent light beam (ordinary lighting) and a non-permanent light beam (lighting according to the invention) allows a user subject to dyslexic disorders to compare his usual reading performance (obtained with ordinary lighting) with his performance obtained under electronic control of the light beam according to the invention, after possible optimization of his own parameters (frequency and duty cycle parameters allowing the user to obtain better reading comfort). 4. List of figures.

[0024] The invention will be better understood, and other features and advantages will appear on reading the description which follows, the description making reference to the appended drawings among which: there figure 1is a diagram representing an EL signal for controlling (monitoring) a lighting module according to a particular and non-limiting embodiment of the invention. figure 2 is a structural representation of the architecture of a LIGHT lighting device according to a particular and non-limiting embodiment of the invention. 5. Detailed description of embodiments of the invention.

[0025] On the figure 2 , The modules represented are functional units, which may or may not correspond to physically distinguishable units. For example, these modules or some of them are grouped into a single component. On the contrary, according to other embodiments, some modules are composed of separate physical entities.

[0026] There figure 1is a temporal representation of an EL signal for controlling the activation and deactivation (suppression) of a lighting beam in the visible light spectrum, in a LIGHT lighting device, according to a particular and non-limiting embodiment of the invention. The EL signal varies according to time t and periodically takes two successive states. According to the preferred embodiment, an assertion of the EL signal in the high state controls an activation of the lighting beam of the LIGHT lighting device capable of thus illuminating, in a discontinuous manner, graphic and / or textual content on any support, such as a book, for example. The EL signal deactivates (suppresses or inhibits) the light beam of the lighting module when it is positioned in the low state. The EL signal is a periodic signal of predetermined frequency Fd such that Fd = 1 / (T1+T2).T1 is the activation period of the light beam in the visible light spectrum, i.e. the period of illumination of a medium bearing a pattern representing graphic and / or textual content towards which the beam is directed. T2 is the period, called the deactivation period, during which the beam is removed or made inactive, or in other words the period during which the graphic and / or textual content on a medium towards which the beam is directed is no longer illuminated by the beam. The terms "graphic content" are to be interpreted here as any content represented on any medium, in particular in paper format but not only, and consisting of elementary elements such as, for example, juxtaposed points or pixels, so that the content represents elements of various shapes and in particular one or more textual contents constructed from signs or symbols of one or more alphabets.

[0027] Thus, textual content affixed to a medium corresponds here to content interpretable in one or more languages, capable of being read and interpreted by a subject, user of the lighting device, positioned so as to look at the medium thus illuminated for a reading or viewing operation. Such a device is, for example, a desk lamp, a torch, a headlamp, a pen-lamp, a flashlight, a telephone lamp, a smartphone lamp, a watch-lamp, a key ring lamp, a ceiling light, a floor lamp, a light bulb, a lighting tube, a projector, a car projector, an overhead projector, a luminous wall covering, a luminous carpet, a luminous bracelet, a luminous frame, a mini-lamp to be positioned on a book by means of a fastening system, a device configured for interior lighting (of a room) or a device configured for exterior lighting, urban or not.This list of examples is not exhaustive. According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the duty cycle T1 / (T1+T2) between the periods of activation and deactivation (or inhibition) of the light beam, respectively of durations T1 and T2, has a value between 15% and 30% of the cycle, and the frequency Fd of variation of the EL signal is between 60 Hz and 90 Hz.

[0028] Preferably, the signal frequency is equal to 70 Hz or 84 Hz and the duty cycle T1 / (T1+T2) is equal to 20%.

[0029] Advantageously, the control signal EL can be easily forced for a prolonged period into its state associated with an activation of the light beam, which corresponds to a disengagement of the lighting method implemented in the LIGHT device according to the invention. It would thus be possible not to implement the method for controlling a light beam, in a lighting device according to the invention, in the case where, for a non-dyslexic subject, visual discomfort would appear due to the discontinuity of activation of the lighting beam.

[0030] Advantageously, it is possible to refine the adjustment of the frequency Fd in the range of values ​​described in order to adapt the period T to the sensitivity of a user of the LIGHT lighting device, in the indicated frequency range. Indeed, each individual has their own sensitivity in terms of vision and perceives more or less variations in the frequency of a light beam. Thus, fine adjustment can be made accessible to the user via an adjustment button, a slider, implemented in hardware or via any user interface (graphic elements of a menu on a control screen, for example).

[0031] There figure 2is a structural representation of a LIGHT lighting device according to a particular and non-limiting embodiment of the invention. This figure represents the overall architecture of the LIGHT lighting device, also commonly called a “lamp”. The LIGHT device comprises two main modules which are a CTRLU control unit and a LIMOD lighting module. The CTRLU control unit is the heart of the system in terms of control and comprises a conventional bistable (or chopper) circuit, suitable for generating the EL signal. The bistable chopper circuit of the CTRLU control unit delivers the EL signal characterized by the frequency Fd and by its duty cycle T1 / (T1+T2).Obviously, the CTRLU control unit includes all the usual elements implemented in such an architecture, such as, for example, one or more operational amplifiers, resistors and capacitors, one or more diodes, a power supply, a reset circuit, a power supply supervision circuit, a power interface, a current amplifier, the list of these elements is not exhaustive. The architectural details of the CTRLU control unit are not described further since they are not useful for understanding the invention. According to one embodiment of the invention, the CTRLU module includes a bistable circuit built around an operational amplifier, coupled to a current amplification circuit. Advantageously, the use of a current amplifier makes it possible to obtain sufficient average energy for correct illumination although the light beam thus generated is discontinuous.The LIMOD lighting module is a lighting module suitable for generating a light beam in the visible light spectrum, or significantly wider. Advantageously, the beam can be more or less focused to then be configured for illuminating a more or less large surface. Such focusing can be achieved by the use of optical elements (lenses) or mechanical elements (diaphragms), or both at the same time.

[0032] Advantageously, the light beam is produced from one or more electroluminescent objects of the LED type, from the English acronym "Light-Emitting Diode" and which means "light-emitting diode". Obviously, the light beam can be produced from other luminous elements, as long as the deactivation of the beam can be sufficiently rapid to respect the cycles comprising periods of illumination and inhibition of the beam (periods of non-illumination).

[0033] The term "beam inhibition" should be interpreted here as a total disappearance of the beam or a significant reduction in the level of illumination produced by the beam.

[0034] It is the ability to successively activate and inhibit the lighting of a support which presents one or more graphic and / or textual contents, under control of the bistable module of the CTRLU unit, which advantageously allows the brain of a subject to favor an image rather than its mirror image, perceived from the support when the latter is illuminated by the LIGHT lighting device according to the invention. Advantageously, this makes it possible to consequently help the reading and deciphering of textual contents, in a subject presenting dyslexic disorders.

[0035] The CTRLU control unit includes an EL signal at its output for activating (or extinguishing / inhibiting) the lighting beam, connected to the input of the LIMOD lighting module.

[0036] In other words, the variations in the control signal of the lighting beam EL, operated by the control unit CTRLU comprising a bistable circuit, at a frequency Fd, make it possible to act on the lighting of a graphic content represented on any support, so that this graphic content is successively lit then less (or no longer at all) lit, periodically, on the support, according to successive cycles of total length T operated at a predetermined frequency Fd. According to the invention, the successive lighting periods T1 each have a duration included in an interval of values ​​ranging from 15 to 30% of the duration T of said cycles. The frequency Fd of the cycles (each comprising a period of activation of the beam and a period of deactivation of the beam) is between 60 and 90 Hz.

[0037] According to one embodiment, the frequency Fd is fixed.

[0038] According to another embodiment, the frequency Fd varies over time.

[0039] According to a particular embodiment, the frequency Fd varies by increasing in successive steps up to a maximum value according to a first speed, called the growth speed, then varies by decreasing in successive steps up to a minimum value according to a second speed, called the decrease speed, the increasing and decreasing variations being repeated iteratively over time.

[0040] According to a particular embodiment, the rate of decrease is equal to the rate of growth.

[0041] According to a particular embodiment, the successive steps are of equal duration.

[0042] According to another particular embodiment, the successive steps vary in duration so that the value of said frequency Fd evolves according to a triangle, saw, or sinusoidal waveform between said maximum value and said minimum value.

[0043] Advantageously, the duration T1 of the activation periods varies over time, evolving continuously or discontinuously between limit values ​​ranging from 15 to 30% of the duration T of the cycles. Here, "continuously" is understood to mean an evolution by increment of successive steps of equal durations.

[0044] The wobulation phenomenon thus created and applied to the predetermined frequency Fd (variation of the frequency Fd) makes it possible to scan a large number of frequencies between 60 Hz and 90 Hz, some of which will be more effective for reading assistance. These more effective frequencies vary depending on the dyslexic subject. By scanning all the frequencies between 60 and 90 Hz, the device of the invention does not require any prior adjustment and becomes effective for a large number of users. This wobulation phenomenon thus makes it possible, in certain cases, to further reduce problems linked to dyslexic disorders.

[0045] The same advantage arises from variations in the duration T1 of the light beam activation periods.

[0046] According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the LIGHT lighting device is configured to generate a first continuous light beam throughout its duration of use and a mobile or filtering device, controlled or moved, periodically masks or inhibits the light beam so that a second beam is generated with frequency and duty cycle characteristics such as those previously described (Fd between 60 Hz and 90 Hz and T1 / (T1+T2) between 15 and 30%. As non-limiting examples, according to this embodiment, a first beam can be interrupted cyclically by a rotating element having solid surfaces and empty surfaces, or opaque surfaces and translucent surfaces, adapted, by their rotation, to generate the second beam, the effect of which is then the same as that described in the first embodiment described previously.

[0047] The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but applies to any device for lighting graphic and / or textual content on any medium, implementing successive operations of activating a lighting beam and inhibiting this same beam, periodically, according to successive cycles operated at a predetermined frequency Fd between 60 Hz and 90 Hz such that the successive lighting periods T1 each have a duration included in an interval of values ​​ranging from 15 to 30% of the duration T cycles operated.

Claims

1. A lighting device (LIGHT) for facilitating the reading of graphic and / or text content on any support by dyslexic subjects, said lighting device comprising a control unit (CTRLU) suitable for the generation of an activation and deactivation command signal (EL) of a non-permanent light beam and a lighting module (LIMOD) suitable for the generation of said non-permanent light beam in a visible light spectrum, said lighting device (LIGHT) being controlled by the activation and deactivation command signal (EL) of said non-permanent light beam, said lighting device (LIGHT) being configured to periodically activate and deactivate said non-permanent light beam according to successive cycles operated at a predetermined frequency Fd which is a reciprocal of the sum of an activation period of said non-permanent light beam and of a deactivation period of said non-permanent light beam, each cycle having a duration T and comprising a period of activation of said non-permanent light beam of duration T1 followed or preceded by a period of deactivation of said non-permanent light beam of duration T2, the predetermined frequency Fd being such that Fd=1 / (T1+T2), the activation and deactivation command signal (EL) of said non-permanent light beam being characterized by the predetermined frequency Fd and the cyclic ratio thereof T1 / (T1+T2), the predetermined frequency Fd being comprised in an interval of values going from 60 to 90 Hz, and a duration T1 of the activation periods of said non-permanent light beam being comprised in an interval going from 15 to 30% of the duration T of the cycles, said device being characterized in that same comprises a switch configured for selectively obtaining a permanent light beam called ordinary lighting and said non-permanent light beam under electronic control, so as to allow a user subject to dyslexic problems to compare their usual performance in reading with ordinary lighting to their performance obtained under electronic control of said non-permanent light beam.

2. The lighting device according to claim 1, according to which the control unit (CTRLU) is configured for varying according to time, the activation and deactivation command signal (EL) of said non-permanent light beam taking successively a high state and a low state, said non-permanent light beam being deactivated in the low state and being activated in the high state.

3. The lighting device according to claim 2, characterized in that the control unit (CTRLU) is configured for forcing said activation and deactivation command signal (EL) of said non-permanent light beam, in a prolonged manner, into a state associated with an activation of said non-permanent light beam, so as to obtain a disconnection of the lighting implemented by said lighting device.

4. The lighting device according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said predetermined frequency Fd is equal to 70 Hz or 84 Hz and the cyclic ratio T1 / (T1+T2) is equal to 20%.

5. The lighting device according to claim 1 to 4, wherein said lighting device (LIGHT) is configured for varying said predetermined frequency Fd over time.

6. The lighting device according to claim 4 wherein said predetermined frequency Fd is called a wobbling frequency, drawing on the Hebbian mechanisms of neurons of the cortex and the lighting device (LIGHT) is configured for varying said predetermined frequency Fd increasing by successive steps up to a maximum value according to a first speed, called speed of increase, then decreasing by successive steps down to a minimum value according to a second speed, called speed of decrease, the increasing and decreasing changes being repeated iteratively over time.

7. The lighting device according to claim 6, wherein said speed of decrease is equal to said speed of increase.

8. The lighting device according to claim 6, wherein said successive steps have equal durations.

9. The lighting device according to claim 6, wherein the lighting device (LIGHT) is configured for varying said successive steps in duration so that the value of said predetermined frequency Fd changes according to a triangular, sawtooth or sinusoidal wave form between said maximum value and said minimum value.

10. Th lighting device according to any of the preceding claims wherein the lighting device (LIGHT) is configured to vary the duration T1 of said periods of activation of said non-permanent light beam over time.

11. The lighting device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said non-permanent light beam is generated by one or a plurality of LED type elements.

12. The lighting device according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that same is of a type comprised in the list: a desk lamp, a torch, a frontal lamp, a penlight, a pocket lamp, a telephone lamp, a smartphone lamp, a watch lamp, a key-ring lamp, a ceiling light, a floor lamp, a bulb, a lighting tube, a projector, a car headlight, an overhead projector, a luminous wall covering, a luminous mat, a luminous bracelet, a luminous frame, a mini-reading light to be positioned on a book, a device configured for interior lighting or else a device configured for outside lighting, whether urban or not.

13. The lighting device according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that same is a desk lamp or a mini-reading light to be positioned on a book.

14. A method for facilitating the reading of a graphic and / or text content on any substrate by a dyslexic subject, characterized in that said method uses a lighting device such as defined in any of the preceding claims.

15. The method for facilitating the reading of a graphic and / or a text content according to claim 14 wherein said predetermined frequency Fd is defined by the user of said lighting device.