Presence simulation system and method

A computer-implemented method for creating an impression of an environment, comprising at least one luminaire, being occupied when unoccupied, the method comprising implementing by a computer system the following steps:

• generating in electronic storage a plurality of virtual occupant profiles, each defining a virtual persona living in the environment, according to profile creation inputs received from a user via a user interface, each virtual occupant profile comprising user-defined virtual occupant identity data and an associated virtual occupant identifier which distinguishes each of the plurality of virtual occupant profiles from each other, wherein the user-defined virtual occupant identity data in each virtual occupant profile comprises age data, employment status data, gender data, or family member data;
• generating a sequence of simulated control actions, by applying a behaviour simulation algorithm to the virtual occupant identity data of the electronically-stored virtual occupant profiles;
• and
• causing at least one characteristic of light emitted by the at least one luminaire to be varied according to the sequence of simulated control actions.

A computer system for creating an impression of an environment, comprising at least one luminaire, being occupied when unoccupied, the computer system comprising:

• a profile generator configured to generate in electronic storage a plurality of virtual occupant profiles, each defining a virtual persona living in the environments, according to profile creation inputs received via a user interface, the profile comprising user-defined virtual occupant identity data, wherein the user-defined virtual occupant identity data comprises age data, employment status data, gender data, or family member data;
• and
• a presence simulator configured to generate a sequence of simulated control actions luminaire, by applying a behaviour simulation algorithm to the user-defined virtual occupant identity data of the electronically-stored virtual occupant profiles;
• wherein the computer system is configured to cause at least one characteristic of light emitted by the at least one luminaire to be varied according to the sequence of simulated control actions.