About
The right light for the visual environment
Applied Visibility helps clients understand, design and verify lighting so that people can see — and be seen — safely.
Our approach
Visibility is the outcome that matters
Light levels, uniformity and glare are the tools. What counts is whether a driver can detect a pedestrian in time, whether a crosswalk reveals the person in it, and whether a product delivers the performance it promises.
Applied Visibility was founded by Dr. Ronald Gibbons to bring the methods of applied lighting research to everyday design, evaluation and dispute questions. We combine field measurement, laboratory characterization and visual performance analysis to give clients clear, defensible answers.
We are independent. Our conclusions follow the data, and we explain them in plain language for engineers, managers, attorneys and juries alike.
30+
years of lighting and visibility research
Past President
Illuminating Engineering Society
IES Medal
awarded 2020 for visibility and road safety research
FHWA · NCHRP
among the national research sponsors behind our experience
What guides our work
Evidence first
Recommendations rest on measurement, published research and recognized practice — not opinion.
People at the center
We judge lighting by what people can see, accounting for age, adaptation, glare and the task at hand.
Practical results
Findings are delivered as clear, prioritized actions that fit real budgets and real roads.
Independence
We work for the answer, not an outcome. Our methods and data are documented and repeatable.
Background
Built on research
Our experience comes from decades of sponsored research for the Federal Highway Administration, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, state departments of transportation and industry — much of it conducted on full-scale test roadways where lighting, vehicles and pedestrians can be studied under controlled conditions.
That work has shaped national guidance on roadway lighting design, pedestrian lighting, headlamp performance and the use of LED and adaptive lighting. Applied Visibility makes the same expertise available to individual projects, products and cases.
A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it.
Albert Einstein
Have a lighting or visibility question?
Tell us about your project, product or case. We will tell you plainly whether and how we can help.