The LONVIA Edit
Curated insights on space, health, investment, and the future of living.
Inside LONVIA
Why I started LONVIA: one light instead of four devices
The LONVIA
Edit
Curated insights on space, health, investment, and the future of living.
Inside LONVIA
Why I started LONVIA: one light instead of four devices
5 min read
I started LONVIA because the equipment worked and the system did not. A bright-light lamp in the morning, blue-blocking glasses at night, a red-light device in between. Each one addresses a fragment of the same input. Together they ask you to manage your own light exposure by hand, every day, for life. One object, running quietly across the whole day, is the more sensible answer.
What was actually wrong with the set-up?
Nothing, individually. That was the difficulty.
For years I read everything I could find on how environment shapes sleep, energy and recovery. Then I did what most people interested in longevity do. I bought the bright-light lamp. I wore the glasses. I tried the red-light device. I kept a fixed bedtime, blackout curtains, warm bulbs.
Some of it helped. All of it required attention. Each device covered one moment of the day and handed the rest back to me. Remembering the glasses became a task. Sitting in front of the lamp became an appointment. A protocol that depends on daily discipline is not a solved problem. It is a maintained one.
The question I could not put down was simple. Why could a single well-made light not support the body across the whole day, without the accessories?
Why does a well-lit room still fail biologically?
Because rooms are lit for the eye, not for the clock.
Vision and circadian response are two different systems reading the same light. The eye judges brightness and colour. A separate class of retinal cells, the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, judges the spectral content that sets your internal timing. They do not care how pleasant a room looks. They respond to melanopic content, measured as melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance, or mEDI, under CIE S 026:2018.
The gap between those two readings is where most homes sit. Roughly 90 per cent of the day is spent indoors, typically under 200 mEDI lux at the eye. The international consensus published by Brown and seventeen co-authors in PLOS Biology in 2022 sets the daytime minimum at 250 mEDI lux, the evening maximum in the three hours before sleep at 10 mEDI lux, and the sleeping environment at 1 mEDI lux or below.
The evening figure is the one that surprises people who have already done the work. A warm 2700K source at ordinary room brightness delivers in the region of 45 to 90 mEDI lux. That is four to nine times the evening threshold, from a lamp that looks correct and feels calm. Dimming reduces the number. It does not change the spectrum that produces it.
So the beautiful bedroom is not a design failure. It is an unmeasured one. Nobody was ever given the specification.
Why does it have to be one object, and why does it have to look like one?
I spent more than a decade in interior design and sustainable development before any of this. That background decided the form as firmly as the biology decided the function.
A light that corrects your daytime deficit and protects your evening is only useful if it stays in the room. Equipment gets put away. Devices get relegated to a drawer within a month. The object that works is the one you want on the table for its own sake, that earns its place before anyone explains what it does.
That is the whole proposition. Considered design and biological function in a single object, so the environment does the work and you are not asked to think about it. Not a device added to a room. A lamp that belongs in one.
What can be claimed at this stage, and what cannot?
We are prototyping the first LONVIA Lamp now. That is a build update, not a result.
Everything above is drawn from published research using comparable light conditions, not from measurements on hardware. When the accredited spectral validation is complete, the measured figures will be published with their method, and not before. Stating that distinction plainly is part of how this brand intends to operate.
Between now and launch, two things will appear here. Progress on the build, at the level of what the engineering required rather than how it was done. And practical guidance on reducing disruptive light in the hours before sleep, which is useful whether or not a LONVIA Lamp ever stands in your room.
That second part matters to me. The science of light has moved decades ahead of the lighting industry. Closing that distance is the reason the company exists.
With light,
Roksana Fasovska
LONVIA Founder
Frequently asked questions
What is mEDI?
Melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance. It measures how strongly light stimulates the retinal cells that set circadian timing, rather than how bright the light appears. Standard lux measures brightness for vision. mEDI measures biological effect, and the two can differ substantially for the same room.
How much light does the scientific consensus recommend?
Brown et al. 2022 recommends at least 250 mEDI lux at the eye during daytime hours, below 10 mEDI lux in the three hours before sleep, and 1 mEDI lux or less during sleep.
Are warm white bulbs enough for the evening?
Not on their own. A 2700K source at usable room brightness commonly sits between 45 and 90 mEDI lux, above the 10 mEDI evening threshold. Colour temperature describes appearance. It does not describe melanopic content.
Is the LONVIA Lamp available?
Not yet. The first lamp is in prototyping. Waitlist members receive build updates and evening light guidance before launch.
References
1. Brown TM, Brainard GJ, Cajochen C, et al. Recommendations for daytime, evening, and night-time indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults. PLOS Biology. 2022;20(3):e3001571.
2. Chang AM, Aeschbach D, Duffy JF, Czeisler CA. Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015;112(4):1232-1237.
3. Phillips AJK, Vidafar P, Burns AC, et al. High sensitivity and interindividual variability in the response of the human circadian system to evening light. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2019;116(24):12019-12024.
4. International Commission on Illumination (CIE). CIE S 026/E:2018. CIE System for Metrology of Optical Radiation for ipRGC-Influenced Responses to Light. Vienna: CIE; 2018.
5. Price LLA (Reporter). CIE TN 015:2023. Second International Workshop on Circadian and Neurophysiological Photoreception. Vienna: International Commission on Illumination (CIE); 2023.
Ready to shape a healthier future?
Book an introductory conversation to explore how well-being can be integrated into your space or project
Ready to shape a healthier future?
Book an introductory conversation to explore how well-being can be integrated into your space or project
Ready to shape a healthier future?
Book an introductory conversation to explore how well-being can be integrated into your space or project
5 min read
Key Insight
I started LONVIA because the equipment worked and the system did not. A bright-light lamp in the morning, blue-blocking glasses at night, a red-light device in between. Each one addresses a fragment of the same input. Together they ask you to manage your own light exposure by hand, every day, for life. One object, running quietly across the whole day, is the more sensible answer.
I started LONVIA because the equipment worked and the system did not. A bright-light lamp in the morning, blue-blocking glasses at night, a red-light device in between. Each one addresses a fragment of the same input. Together they ask you to manage your own light exposure by hand, every day, for life. One object, running quietly across the whole day, is the more sensible answer.
What was actually wrong with the set-up?
Nothing, individually. That was the difficulty.
For years I read everything I could find on how environment shapes sleep, energy and recovery. Then I did what most people interested in longevity do. I bought the bright-light lamp. I wore the glasses. I tried the red-light device. I kept a fixed bedtime, blackout curtains, warm bulbs.
Some of it helped. All of it required attention. Each device covered one moment of the day and handed the rest back to me. Remembering the glasses became a task. Sitting in front of the lamp became an appointment. A protocol that depends on daily discipline is not a solved problem. It is a maintained one.
The question I could not put down was simple. Why could a single well-made light not support the body across the whole day, without the accessories?
Why does a well-lit room still fail biologically?
Because rooms are lit for the eye, not for the clock.
Vision and circadian response are two different systems reading the same light. The eye judges brightness and colour. A separate class of retinal cells, the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, judges the spectral content that sets your internal timing. They do not care how pleasant a room looks. They respond to melanopic content, measured as melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance, or mEDI, under CIE S 026:2018.
Why does a well-lit room still fail biologically?
Because rooms are lit for the eye, not for the clock.
Vision and circadian response are two different systems reading the same light. The eye judges brightness and colour. A separate class of retinal cells, the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, judges the spectral content that sets your internal timing. They do not care how pleasant a room looks. They respond to melanopic content, measured as melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance, or mEDI, under CIE S 026:2018.
Why does a well-lit room still fail biologically?
Because rooms are lit for the eye, not for the clock.
Vision and circadian response are two different systems reading the same light. The eye judges brightness and colour. A separate class of retinal cells, the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, judges the spectral content that sets your internal timing. They do not care how pleasant a room looks. They respond to melanopic content, measured as melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance, or mEDI, under CIE S 026:2018.
What was actually wrong with the set-up?
Nothing, individually. That was the difficulty.
For years I read everything I could find on how environment shapes sleep, energy and recovery. Then I did what most people interested in longevity do. I bought the bright-light lamp. I wore the glasses. I tried the red-light device. I kept a fixed bedtime, blackout curtains, warm bulbs.
Some of it helped. All of it required attention. Each device covered one moment of the day and handed the rest back to me. Remembering the glasses became a task. Sitting in front of the lamp became an appointment. A protocol that depends on daily discipline is not a solved problem. It is a maintained one.
The question I could not put down was simple. Why could a single well-made light not support the body across the whole day, without the accessories?
The gap between those two readings is where most homes sit. Roughly 90 per cent of the day is spent indoors, typically under 200 mEDI lux at the eye. The international consensus published by Brown and seventeen co-authors in PLOS Biology in 2022 sets the daytime minimum at 250 mEDI lux, the evening maximum in the three hours before sleep at 10 mEDI lux, and the sleeping environment at 1 mEDI lux or below.
The evening figure is the one that surprises people who have already done the work. A warm 2700K source at ordinary room brightness delivers in the region of 45 to 90 mEDI lux. That is four to nine times the evening threshold, from a lamp that looks correct and feels calm. Dimming reduces the number. It does not change the spectrum that produces it.
So the beautiful bedroom is not a design failure. It is an unmeasured one. Nobody was ever given the specification.
Why does it have to be one object, and why does it have to look like one?
I spent more than a decade in interior design and sustainable development before any of this. That background decided the form as firmly as the biology decided the function.
A light that corrects your daytime deficit and protects your evening is only useful if it stays in the room. Equipment gets put away. Devices get relegated to a drawer within a month. The object that works is the one you want on the table for its own sake, that earns its place before anyone explains what it does.
That is the whole proposition. Considered design and biological function in a single object, so the environment does the work and you are not asked to think about it. Not a device added to a room. A lamp that belongs in one.
Why does it have to be one object, and why does it have to look like one?
I spent more than a decade in interior design and sustainable development before any of this. That background decided the form as firmly as the biology decided the function.
A light that corrects your daytime deficit and protects your evening is only useful if it stays in the room. Equipment gets put away. Devices get relegated to a drawer within a month. The object that works is the one you want on the table for its own sake, that earns its place before anyone explains what it does.
That is the whole proposition. Considered design and biological function in a single object, so the environment does the work and you are not asked to think about it. Not a device added to a room. A lamp that belongs in one.
What can be claimed at this stage, and what cannot?
We are prototyping the first LONVIA Lamp now. That is a build update, not a result.
Everything above is drawn from published research using comparable light conditions, not from measurements on hardware. When the accredited spectral validation is complete, the measured figures will be published with their method, and not before. Stating that distinction plainly is part of how this brand intends to operate.
Between now and launch, two things will appear here. Progress on the build, at the level of what the engineering required rather than how it was done. And practical guidance on reducing disruptive light in the hours before sleep, which is useful whether or not a LONVIA Lamp ever stands in your room.
That second part matters to me. The science of light has moved decades ahead of the lighting industry. Closing that distance is the reason the company exists.
What can be claimed at this stage, and what cannot?
We are prototyping the first LONVIA Lamp now. That is a build update, not a result.
Everything above is drawn from published research using comparable light conditions, not from measurements on hardware. When the accredited spectral validation is complete, the measured figures will be published with their method, and not before. Stating that distinction plainly is part of how this brand intends to operate.
Between now and launch, two things will appear here. Progress on the build, at the level of what the engineering required rather than how it was done. And practical guidance on reducing disruptive light in the hours before sleep, which is useful whether or not a LONVIA Lamp ever stands in your room.
That second part matters to me. The science of light has moved decades ahead of the lighting industry. Closing that distance is the reason the company exists.
Frequently asked questions
What is mEDI?
Melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance. It measures how strongly light stimulates the retinal cells that set circadian timing, rather than how bright the light appears. Standard lux measures brightness for vision. mEDI measures biological effect, and the two can differ substantially for the same room.
How much light does the scientific consensus recommend?
Brown et al. 2022 recommends at least 250 mEDI lux at the eye during daytime hours, below 10 mEDI lux in the three hours before sleep, and 1 mEDI lux or less during sleep.
Are warm white bulbs enough for the evening?
Not on their own. A 2700K source at usable room brightness commonly sits between 45 and 90 mEDI lux, above the 10 mEDI evening threshold. Colour temperature describes appearance. It does not describe melanopic content.
Is the LONVIA Lamp available?
Not yet. The first lamp is in prototyping. Waitlist members receive build updates and evening light guidance before launch.
References
1. Brown TM, Brainard GJ, Cajochen C, et al. Recommendations for daytime, evening, and night-time indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults. PLOS Biology. 2022;20(3):e3001571.
2. Chang AM, Aeschbach D, Duffy JF, Czeisler CA. Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015;112(4):1232-1237.
3. Phillips AJK, Vidafar P, Burns AC, et al. High sensitivity and interindividual variability in the response of the human circadian system to evening light. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2019;116(24):12019-12024.
4. International Commission on Illumination (CIE). CIE S 026/E:2018. CIE System for Metrology of Optical Radiation for ipRGC-Influenced Responses to Light. Vienna: CIE; 2018.
5. Price LLA (Reporter). CIE TN 015:2023. Second International Workshop on Circadian and Neurophysiological Photoreception. Vienna: International Commission on Illumination (CIE); 2023.
References
1. Brown TM, Brainard GJ, Cajochen C, et al. Recommendations for daytime, evening, and night-time indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults. PLOS Biology. 2022;20(3):e3001571.
2. Chang AM, Aeschbach D, Duffy JF, Czeisler CA. Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015;112(4):1232-1237.
3. Phillips AJK, Vidafar P, Burns AC, et al. High sensitivity and interindividual variability in the response of the human circadian system to evening light. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2019;116(24):12019-12024.
4. International Commission on Illumination (CIE). CIE S 026/E:2018. CIE System for Metrology of Optical Radiation for ipRGC-Influenced Responses to Light. Vienna: CIE; 2018.
5. Price LLA (Reporter). CIE TN 015:2023. Second International Workshop on Circadian and Neurophysiological Photoreception. Vienna: International Commission on Illumination (CIE); 2023.
With light,
Roksana Fasovska
Roksana Fasovska
LONVIA Founder
Inside LONVIA
Why I started LONVIA: one light instead of four devices
5 min read
I started LONVIA because the equipment worked and the system did not. A bright-light lamp in the morning, blue-blocking glasses at night, a red-light device in between. Each one addresses a fragment of the same input. Together they ask you to manage your own light exposure by hand, every day, for life. One object, running quietly across the whole day, is the more sensible answer.
Key Insight
What was actually wrong with the set-up?
Nothing, individually. That was the difficulty.
For years I read everything I could find on how environment shapes sleep, energy and recovery. Then I did what most people interested in longevity do. I bought the bright-light lamp. I wore the glasses. I tried the red-light device. I kept a fixed bedtime, blackout curtains, warm bulbs.
Some of it helped. All of it required attention. Each device covered one moment of the day and handed the rest back to me. Remembering the glasses became a task. Sitting in front of the lamp became an appointment. A protocol that depends on daily discipline is not a solved problem. It is a maintained one.
The question I could not put down was simple. Why could a single well-made light not support the body across the whole day, without the accessories?
Why does a well-lit room still fail biologically?
Because rooms are lit for the eye, not for the clock.
Vision and circadian response are two different systems reading the same light. The eye judges brightness and colour. A separate class of retinal cells, the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, judges the spectral content that sets your internal timing. They do not care how pleasant a room looks. They respond to melanopic content, measured as melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance, or mEDI, under CIE S 026:2018.
Why does a well-lit room still fail biologically?
Because rooms are lit for the eye, not for the clock.
Vision and circadian response are two different systems reading the same light. The eye judges brightness and colour. A separate class of retinal cells, the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, judges the spectral content that sets your internal timing. They do not care how pleasant a room looks. They respond to melanopic content, measured as melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance, or mEDI, under CIE S 026:2018.
Why does a well-lit room still fail biologically?
Because rooms are lit for the eye, not for the clock.
Vision and circadian response are two different systems reading the same light. The eye judges brightness and colour. A separate class of retinal cells, the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, judges the spectral content that sets your internal timing. They do not care how pleasant a room looks. They respond to melanopic content, measured as melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance, or mEDI, under CIE S 026:2018.
What was actually wrong with the set-up?
Nothing, individually. That was the difficulty.
For years I read everything I could find on how environment shapes sleep, energy and recovery. Then I did what most people interested in longevity do. I bought the bright-light lamp. I wore the glasses. I tried the red-light device. I kept a fixed bedtime, blackout curtains, warm bulbs.
Some of it helped. All of it required attention. Each device covered one moment of the day and handed the rest back to me. Remembering the glasses became a task. Sitting in front of the lamp became an appointment. A protocol that depends on daily discipline is not a solved problem. It is a maintained one.
The question I could not put down was simple. Why could a single well-made light not support the body across the whole day, without the accessories?
The gap between those two readings is where most homes sit. Roughly 90 per cent of the day is spent indoors, typically under 200 mEDI lux at the eye. The international consensus published by Brown and seventeen co-authors in PLOS Biology in 2022 sets the daytime minimum at 250 mEDI lux, the evening maximum in the three hours before sleep at 10 mEDI lux, and the sleeping environment at 1 mEDI lux or below.
The evening figure is the one that surprises people who have already done the work. A warm 2700K source at ordinary room brightness delivers in the region of 45 to 90 mEDI lux. That is four to nine times the evening threshold, from a lamp that looks correct and feels calm. Dimming reduces the number. It does not change the spectrum that produces it.
So the beautiful bedroom is not a design failure. It is an unmeasured one. Nobody was ever given the specification.
Why does it have to be one object, and why does it have to look like one?
I spent more than a decade in interior design and sustainable development before any of this. That background decided the form as firmly as the biology decided the function.
A light that corrects your daytime deficit and protects your evening is only useful if it stays in the room. Equipment gets put away. Devices get relegated to a drawer within a month. The object that works is the one you want on the table for its own sake, that earns its place before anyone explains what it does.
That is the whole proposition. Considered design and biological function in a single object, so the environment does the work and you are not asked to think about it. Not a device added to a room. A lamp that belongs in one.
Why does it have to be one object, and why does it have to look like one?
I spent more than a decade in interior design and sustainable development before any of this. That background decided the form as firmly as the biology decided the function.
A light that corrects your daytime deficit and protects your evening is only useful if it stays in the room. Equipment gets put away. Devices get relegated to a drawer within a month. The object that works is the one you want on the table for its own sake, that earns its place before anyone explains what it does.
That is the whole proposition. Considered design and biological function in a single object, so the environment does the work and you are not asked to think about it. Not a device added to a room. A lamp that belongs in one.
What can be claimed at this stage, and what cannot?
We are prototyping the first LONVIA Lamp now. That is a build update, not a result.
Everything above is drawn from published research using comparable light conditions, not from measurements on hardware. When the accredited spectral validation is complete, the measured figures will be published with their method, and not before. Stating that distinction plainly is part of how this brand intends to operate.
Between now and launch, two things will appear here. Progress on the build, at the level of what the engineering required rather than how it was done. And practical guidance on reducing disruptive light in the hours before sleep, which is useful whether or not a LONVIA Lamp ever stands in your room.
That second part matters to me. The science of light has moved decades ahead of the lighting industry. Closing that distance is the reason the company exists.
What can be claimed at this stage, and what cannot?
We are prototyping the first LONVIA Lamp now. That is a build update, not a result.
Everything above is drawn from published research using comparable light conditions, not from measurements on hardware. When the accredited spectral validation is complete, the measured figures will be published with their method, and not before. Stating that distinction plainly is part of how this brand intends to operate.
Between now and launch, two things will appear here. Progress on the build, at the level of what the engineering required rather than how it was done. And practical guidance on reducing disruptive light in the hours before sleep, which is useful whether or not a LONVIA Lamp ever stands in your room.
That second part matters to me. The science of light has moved decades ahead of the lighting industry. Closing that distance is the reason the company exists.
Frequently asked questions
What is mEDI?
Melanopic equivalent daylight illuminance. It measures how strongly light stimulates the retinal cells that set circadian timing, rather than how bright the light appears. Standard lux measures brightness for vision. mEDI measures biological effect, and the two can differ substantially for the same room.
How much light does the scientific consensus recommend?
Brown et al. 2022 recommends at least 250 mEDI lux at the eye during daytime hours, below 10 mEDI lux in the three hours before sleep, and 1 mEDI lux or less during sleep.
Are warm white bulbs enough for the evening?
Not on their own. A 2700K source at usable room brightness commonly sits between 45 and 90 mEDI lux, above the 10 mEDI evening threshold. Colour temperature describes appearance. It does not describe melanopic content.
Is the LONVIA Lamp available?
Not yet. The first lamp is in prototyping. Waitlist members receive build updates and evening light guidance before launch.
References
1. Brown TM, Brainard GJ, Cajochen C, et al. Recommendations for daytime, evening, and night-time indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults. PLOS Biology. 2022;20(3):e3001571.
2. Chang AM, Aeschbach D, Duffy JF, Czeisler CA. Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015;112(4):1232-1237.
3. Phillips AJK, Vidafar P, Burns AC, et al. High sensitivity and interindividual variability in the response of the human circadian system to evening light. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2019;116(24):12019-12024.
4. International Commission on Illumination (CIE). CIE S 026/E:2018. CIE System for Metrology of Optical Radiation for ipRGC-Influenced Responses to Light. Vienna: CIE; 2018.
5. Price LLA (Reporter). CIE TN 015:2023. Second International Workshop on Circadian and Neurophysiological Photoreception. Vienna: International Commission on Illumination (CIE); 2023.
References
1. Brown TM, Brainard GJ, Cajochen C, et al. Recommendations for daytime, evening, and night-time indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults. PLOS Biology. 2022;20(3):e3001571.
2. Chang AM, Aeschbach D, Duffy JF, Czeisler CA. Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015;112(4):1232-1237.
3. Phillips AJK, Vidafar P, Burns AC, et al. High sensitivity and interindividual variability in the response of the human circadian system to evening light. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2019;116(24):12019-12024.
4. International Commission on Illumination (CIE). CIE S 026/E:2018. CIE System for Metrology of Optical Radiation for ipRGC-Influenced Responses to Light. Vienna: CIE; 2018.
5. Price LLA (Reporter). CIE TN 015:2023. Second International Workshop on Circadian and Neurophysiological Photoreception. Vienna: International Commission on Illumination (CIE); 2023.
Roksana Fasovska
LONVIA Founder
With light,