Review of Blue Light Research: It Potential to Increase Rail Safety in Indonesia

摘要

Exposure to blue light has been reduced drowsiness as well as improved one's alertness and performance on cognitive tasks. In the beginning, the use of blue light in non-tropical countries is to reduce the amount of winter depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder sufferers which could cause workers to be unproductive. Blue light research has also been carried out in tropical countries, where the high intensity of light occurred. This study aims to review research on blue light, and its potential to increase rail safety in one tropical country, Indonesia. The method that is used in this study is a review of article literature on 26 studies that discuss blue light on cognitive performance such as alertness, attention, and working memory. Results show that the blue light with a certain duration of exposure can increase reaction time in attention, subjective alertness, correct answer and reaction time in working memory. The blue light has been applied in different settings such as increasing driver' performance. Implications of the result are discussed, as well as the potential of blue light in increasing performance of rail safety, in particular in increasing performance of train driver, a job in which the cognitive requirement is quite high.