Methods and apparatus for illumination control

1. A system comprising, in combination:

(a) one or more I/O devices for accepting input from a human user, which input is indicative of a value for each control variable in a set of separate control variables;

(b) a computer for analyzing the input and outputting control signals to specify a set of separate setpoints; and

(c) a set of dimmers for adjusting the intensity or color of a set of luminaires according to the setpoints;

wherein

(i) the number of separate control variables is less than the number of separate setpoints,

(ii) axes of the control variables are a function of a data matrix, which matrix includes data indicative of human perceptions of lighting effects under different luminaire multi-settings, and

(iii) the number of control variables is less than the rank of the data matrix.

2. A system comprising, in combination:

(a) one or more I/O devices for accepting input from a human user, which input is indicative of a value for each of n separate control variables, n being greater than or equal to 1; and

(b) one or more computers for mapping an n-dimensional point, which n-dimensional point represents the values of the n control variables, to a m-dimensional point, m being greater than n, which m-dimensional point represents values for each of m separate illumination variables; and

(c) one or more dimmers for controlling luminaires in a room, to adjust setpoints for intensity or color of light emitted by the luminaires, such that the setpoints are a function of the values of the m illumination variables.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein at least two of the luminaires are lighting fixtures, each of which lighting fixtures comprises a lamp or is affixed to a wall or ceiling of a room.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein:

(a) the one or more I/O devices include a capacitive touch screen or an electronic display screen; and

(b) either

(i) the one or more I/O devices are configured to record the x,y position of a point on the screen selected by a human user, such that the x, y coordinates of the position represent values of a first control variable and a second control variable, respectively; or

(ii) the one or more I/O devices are configured to record the position of a first point and a second point on the screen, which two points on the screen are selected by a human user, such that a coordinate of the first point on the screen indicates a value of a first control variable and a coordinate of the second point on the screen indicates a value of a second control variable.

5. The system of claim 2 , wherein:

(a) the axes of the control variables are principal components of a rank p matrix;

(b) p is greater than n, and

(c) the rank p matrix includes data that is indicative of human perceptions of lighting effects under different multi-settings of the luminaires.

6. The system of claim 2 , wherein:

(a) the axes of the control variables are axes of a common space of a configuration; and

(b) the configuration is a dimension weighted multidimensional scaling (MDS) representation of a rank h matrix, h being greater than n, which rank h matrix includes data indicative of human perceptions of similarity of lighting effects under different multi-settings of the luminaires.

7. The system of claim 2 , wherein the system includes sensors for measuring lighting effects under different multi-settings of the luminaires.

8. The system of claim 2 , wherein:

(a) axes of the control variables are eigenvectors of a scatter matrix;

(b) the scatter matrix includes data that is indicative of human perceptions or sensor readings of lighting effects under different luminaire multi-settings; and

(c) the number of control variables is less than the rank of the scatter matrix.

9. The system of claim 2 , wherein:

(a) the axes of the control variables are principal components of a rank p matrix;

(b) p is greater than n, and

(c) the rank p matrix includes data that is indicative of sensor measurements of lighting effects under different multi-settings of the luminaires.

10. The system of claim 2 , wherein:

(a) the axes of the control variables are axes of a common space of a configuration; and

(b) the configuration is a dimension weighted multidimensional scaling (MDS) representation of a rank h matrix, h being greater than n, which rank h matrix includes data indicative of sensor measurements of similarity of lighting effects under different multi-settings of the luminaires.

11. A method comprising, in combination:

(a) one or more I/O devices accepting input from a human user, which input is indicative of a value for each of n separate control variables, n being greater than or equal to 1;

(b) one or more computers mapping an n-dimensional point, which n-dimensional point represents the values of the n control variables, to a m-dimensional point, m being greater than n, which m-dimensional point represents values for each of m separate illumination variables; and

(c) one or more dimmers controlling luminaires in a room, to adjust setpoints for intensity or color of light emitted by the luminaires, such that the setpoints are a function of the values of the m illumination variables.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

(a) axes of the control variables are eigenvectors of a scatter matrix;

(b) the scatter matrix includes data that is indicative of human perceptions or sensor readings of lighting effects under different luminaire multi-settings; and

(c) the number of control variables is less than the rank of the scatter matrix.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

(a) the method further comprises determining axes of the control variables by calculating eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a distance matrix and calculating a scatter matrix according to a cost function; and

(b) the number of control variables is less than the rank of the distance matrix.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

(a) the axes of the control variables are vectors of principal components scores derived by principal component analysis from a rank p matrix;

(b) p is greater than n, and

(c) the rank p matrix includes data that is indicative of human perceptions of lighting effects under different multi-settings of the luminaires.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

(a) the axes of the control variables are principal axes of a configuration; and

(b) the configuration comprises a lossy compression of a rank h matrix, h being greater than n, which rank h matrix includes data indicative of human perceptions of similarity of lighting effects under different multi-settings of the luminaires.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

(a) the axes of the control variables are axes of a common space of a configuration; and

(b) the configuration is a dimension weighted multidimensional scaling (MDS) representation of a rank h matrix, h being greater than n, which rank h matrix includes data indicative of human perceptions of similarity of lighting effects under different multi-settings of the luminaires.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the method also comprises an additional step, which additional step comprises an I/O device accepting one or more additional inputs, such that each of the additional inputs, respectively:

(a) occurs after the adjusting of the setpoints in accordance with the values of the m control dimensions;

(b) is from a human user; and

(c) is indicative of an instruction to adjust only one of the setpoints.