What colour is the sky in your office? It’s most probably a white tiled false ceiling stuffed with cables. Perhaps a constantly shifting cloudscape might make your working day more productive.

That’s the hope of an Iowa-based company that makes simulated skylights called SkyCeilings. The artificially lit skylights imitate the full spectrum of natural light in enclosed spaces, creating an illusion of blue skies and scudding white clouds overhead, even in basements.

It’s the latest advance in a field called biophilics – a wave of initiatives that aim to boost people’s health by kidding their brains into believing that they are surrounded by nature. Bill Witherspoon, the founder of Sky Factory, says, “Our approach involves extreme accuracy that tricks the mind. It triggers a relaxation response, which leads to inner stability and reduced anxiety.”

Kent Spreckelmeyer, an architecture professor at the University of Kansas who has studied office environments for 30 years, says studies show that exposure to natural light, pleasant views, indoor plants, open spaces and less noise can all have strong effects on worker’s health and morale.

Hospital researchers have noted that patients seem to recover faster if they can see trees through their windows. But not everyone can have a bucolic view from their bed, so another US company, Healing Environments International, has patented a system where savannah-type landscapes are projected on to the curtains around their beds in an attempt to lower their levels of stress.

Similarly, the Californian prison system is testing the use of large photo-murals of grassland scenes on the walls of jails to calm guards and inmates. Will it catch on? Well, Sky Factory reports that it has just had a new order from the Vatican. Selling heaven to God? It’s one step farther than coals to Newcastle.

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