Philips 2010 Annual Report Download - page 24

3 Our strategy in action 3.3 - 3.3
24 Annual Report 2010
Wake up the town
A unique initiative to help residents of an Arctic town
wake up more naturally improves their moods and
energy levels through the long months of Polar Night.
Few of us relish getting out of bed during the dark winter
months, but most of us have at least a few hours of
sunlight to look forward to, even on the shortest of days.
But imagine living in the Arctic Circle, where almost four
months of continuous darkness makes waking in the
morning all that much tougher. It is total darkness when
you wake up, when you go to work, and when you come
home again. Getting up in winter is difficult in normal
circumstances, but when there is absolutely no natural
indication of night-time turning to day, the task of waking
up can be even more challenging.
That is why in October 2010 we launched a special
experiment called Wake up the town to help the residents
of Longyearbyen – the world’s most northerly town, on
the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard – wake up more
refreshed and ready to take on the day. We provided
many of them with a Philips Wake-up Light, which
simulates sunrise by gradually increasing light output over
a half-hour period.
From October 28, to February 14, the sun never peaks over the horizon
and Longyearbyen enters a period of total darkness.
This sunrise simulation has a profound effect, as Daniel
Adams, light therapy expert and Senior Application
Scientist at Philips, explains. “From our research we know
that every person’s body clock is sensitive to light. When
it is introduced naturally and slowly in the morning it
effectively helps to ‘wash away’ our sleep hormones.
People wake up feeling more refreshed and with higher
energy levels. This is in stark contrast to the jilting effect of