Method for operating an interior lighting device for a motor vehicle, interior lighting device for a motor vehicle and motor vehicle

An interior lighting device for a motor vehicle comprising:

• a lighting device having a plurality of actuatable lighting units,
• a sensor device having multiple sensor units with overlapping sensing regions configured for sensing a position of an operator control object, wherein the sensor device has a sensing area comprising a plurality of non-overlapping local sections, and
• a control device configured for controlling the lighting device based on sensor data obtained from the sensor device,
• wherein each actuatable lighting unit is associated with one or more of the plurality of non-overlapping local sections, wherein the control device is configured to receive the sensor data, determine the operator control object is within a first local section of the non-overlapping local sections, and, as a result, activate the lighting unit associated with the first local section and deactivate the lighting units not associated with the first local section.