Experimental Evaluation of Flicker Effects on Human Subjects

Flicker annoyance measurement, no matter if it is performed by processing the supplying voltage or by evaluating the light emitted by the lamp, relies on the assumption of a proper model of the behavior of the complex eye-brain system in presence of fluctuating light. The only experimental data available are the ones obtained, for a certain incandescent lamp, by asking several people to report their perception about flicker they were subjected to. In this paper, the possibility of achieving an "objective" evaluation of the flicker effects on human subject is investigated. In particular, the increment of the blood flow in a vessel at the optic nerve papilla is considered and taken as possible index of the annoyance due to flicker.