NEW Revelation SkyCeiling
Next Generation Virtual Skylight:

Just in time for summer, The Sky Factory launches the Revelation SkyCeiling™, a next generation virtual skylight designed for larger indoor spaces, featuring image panels with a 400% larger surface area than the award-winning Luminous SkyCeiling™, making the enhanced dimensions ideal for the high ceilings found in most commercial, corporate, and public spaces.

"Architects have been looking for a virtual skylight with a clean aesthetic perimeter that would complement the larger, higher ceilings common in the lobbies and entryways of contemporary commercial buildings," says Bill Witherspoon, founder of The Sky Factory. "The new Revelation SkyCeiling™ was designed to magnify the healing physiological experience of open skies that our flagship product, the Luminous SkyCeiling™, delivers."

The Revelation SkyCeiling™ provides the most engaging biophilic illusion-of-sky available featuring an independent, modular system that works with or without the ceiling grid. The large, self-supporting gridwork resembles the structure of a real skylight while its clean aesthetic design transforms deep plan enclosed interiors into beautiful, healthier and more restorative environments.

The enhanced dimensions and angled profile of the Revelation SkyCeiling™ create a coffered ceiling feature independent of ceiling grid systems. Capable of supporting larger image panels – up to 4'x4' (1.22 x 1.22 m.) – the biophilic impact of Sky Factory's unique Open Sky Compositions™ is greatly amplified.

"We can now exploit the full range of our Open Skies Image Technology™ and match the most sweeping interior architectural spaces with an equally powerful and engrossing illusion of overhead skies," remarks Witherspoon.

The new image panels used for the Revelation SkyCeiling™, called SkyTiles™ are 4 times larger than the current standard size of 2’ X 2’ (0.61 X 0.61 m.). The larger size allowed the design team to also deepen the profile of the reveal and underscore the visual displacement from the ceiling plane.

At the same time, the linear direction of the reveal was modified from a rectangular design (90 degrees) to a softer, wider angle (106 degrees) that is also much deeper (2.75" versus 1" or 6.99 cm. vs. 2.54 cm.), effectively forcing perspective and leading the mind to a more engrossing 'view' of virtual sky.

Sky Factory uses proprietary mega-format digital sky compositions in modular arrays to create biophilic illusions of nature™ that visually 'open up' enclosed environments. Employing standard 6500K high CRI (color rendering index) light, Sky Factory;s custom SkyTiles™ are designed to retain most of the emitted light, yielding a luminescence that faithfully reproducing the soft hues and rich saturation of real skies.

The launch of the Revelation SkyCeiling™ comes on the heels of a new study, Neural Correlates of Nature Stimuli: An fMRI Study, published in the winter 2014 issue of the peer reviewed Health Environments Research & Design Journal (HERD). The study explored the unique neural pathways involved in the perception of open sky photography, which is used to create virtual skylights that deepen biophilic engagement.

Virtual skylights designed as biophilic illusions of nature™ are used by leading healthcare and commercial environments worldwide to trigger an automated relaxation response in the physiology. This experience enhances human wellness and task performance by enlivening our innate connection to nature – biophilia.

Notable Installation – Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland

The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) is charged with promoting occupational health and safety as part of what the organization calls 'good living' - an objective that fits hand-in-hand with biophilia. The Institute's aim is to see workers flourish by evaluating research-based, as well as creative and holistic solutions, such as the use of biophilic illusions of nature.

It is no surprise then when the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health decided to offer the experience of 'good living', or what can also be called 'biophilic engagement', in their own offices. The office in Tampere, the second largest urban area in Finland, is one of six regional hubs, and the first to feature a beautiful and salutary Luminous SkyCeiling.

The beautifully decorated meeting room in FIOH's Tampere office combines contemporary white furniture with biophilic imagery on the wall and glass doors. A beautiful photographic mural of white birch trunks and a couple of bamboo plants also add to the biophilic impact of the space and complement the new 4' X 12' Luminous SkyCeiling.

The virtual skylight provides vertical depth to the meeting room and provides a visually refreshing Open Sky Composition to help staff relax and be more productive through the work day.

**Note: Photo/render of the Revelation SkyCeiling in hotelVetro in Iowa City, IA, for illustration purposes; not an installation (image used with permission).