rtr-docs/health-and-safety/photosensitive_epilepsy.md

# Return to Ritherdon: Photosensitive Epilepsy

This document is part of the health and safety risk assessment for the
'unnamed' artwork in the Return to Ritherdon exhibition.

## Summary of Assessment 

The rate of flashes the lighting system produces is not of a higher
enough rate to cause a photosensitive epileptic seizure -- according
to the referenced sources below. Based on the **live test** data, the
system produce a flash rate of **1 Hertz** through out the course of
one day between **06:57 and 16:00** (9 hours), on the
**23/04/2021**. This falls outside the **3-30 Hertz** claimed by
Epilepsy Society (link below).

## Information About Photosensitive Epilepsy

According to [Epilepsy
Society](https://epilepsysociety.org.uk/photosensitive-epilepsy), a
flashing/flicker light between 3-30 hertz can trigger a seizure.

> Between 3-30 hertz (flashes per second) are the common rates to
trigger seizures but this varies from person to person. While some
people are sensitive at frequencies up to 60 hertz, sensitivity under
3 hertz is not common.

More information can be found at:

- [Epilepsy Society](https://epilepsysociety.org.uk/) (home page)
- [Epilepsy
  Action](https://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/photosensitive-epilepsy)
- [National Health Service](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/epilepsy/)
  (NHS)

## How This Relates to the Return to Ritherdon Project

The project (unnamed at time of writing) this document refers to is
one artwork in a much bigger project (called Return to
Ritherdon). Within **'unnamed project'**, is flashing lights. Because
of that, the rate of flashing/flickering the artwork produces needs
reviewing as part of the health and safety risk assessment.

## Overview of How the System Works

This is not a complete overview of how the system works. That is
outside the scope of this document. Instead, this is a simplified
version for the sake of brevity. For a more thorough overview, please
use the following (documentaton) links:

- [Light Meter](https://git.abbether.net/return-to-ritherdon/rtr-docs/src/branch/master/light-meter)
- [Relay](https://git.abbether.net/return-to-ritherdon/rtr-docs/src/branch/master/light-meter)
- [Midpoint](https://git.abbether.net/return-to-ritherdon/rtr-docs/src/branch/master/midpoint)
  
The system consists of five devices but only the server (Midpoint)
interacts with all its counterparts. There are two 'Light Meters'
which reside in Ritherdon (factory) and two 'Gallery Lights' which
communicate with each others opposite via the server. 'Each others
opposite' refers to the two pairings between the light meters and
gallery lights. Below is a diagram to help explain.

![System Overview](media/system-overview.png)

The diagram shows the two pairings which consists of one 'Light Meter'
and one 'Gallery Light'. The 'Gallery Light' is usually referred to as
'Relay' but I've changed it here to highlight the *factory-gallery*
relationship.

**The important thing to note here is the lights in the gallery only
turn on when welding is occuring in any of the welding booths in the
factory.** If no one is welding, the lights remain off.

### Why the Readings-per-Second Rate is Fluxtuates

As you work your way through this assessment, you will notice the
system produces inconsistent amounts of light readings per second. The
reason it fluxtuates throughout the day is because of how the system
measures the light. The quick version is the light meter is timing how
long the light sensor (within the light meter) takes to charge, based
on the amount of light hitting it. The more light hitting the sensor,
the quicker it charges and reaches its limit. If there is no or little
light hitting the sensor, it will take longer to charge which means it
can determine what the current light level is. The amount of light in
Ritherdon (factory) changes throughout the course of the day hence the
inconsistent readings-per-second rates. For more information on how
the light meters measure the light levels, head to:

- [Light
  Meter](https://git.abbether.net/return-to-ritherdon/rtr-docs/src/branch/master/light-meter)

## Accessing the Data

This document will only provide a summarised view of the data because
of the size of the raw files and databases are rather large and
cumbersome. If you would like to review the data used in this
assessment please head to:

- [data](data)

Otherwise, the more complete set of test data is available at:

-  the
   [Flicker](https://git.abbether.net/return-to-ritherdon/flicker/src/branch/stable/src/data)
   project (takes you to the 'data' part of the repository)

How I've broken down the data files/directory is as follows:

```console
data
├── results
│   ├── filtered_flicker_entries.csv
│   ├── flicker_list.csv
│   ├── readings_above_threshold.csv
│   └── readings-per-sec.csv
├── test-data.csv
└── test-data-lite.csv

1 directory, 6 files
```

As you can see, the `test-data.csv` and `test-data-lite.csv` reside in
the top most directory. And, these are the files which I passed
through
[Flicker](https://git.abbether.net/return-to-ritherdon/flicker) in
order to get the files in `results`. Technically, I used only
`test-data.csv` but `test-data-lite.csv` is a subsection of its larger
counter part. If your computer is stuggling to open the full-sized
`test-data.csv` file, I recommend falling back onto
`test-data-lite.csv` -- where you can see what the data at least looks
like.

I've omitted all databases used throughtout the project in the `data`
directory because of their unweildy size and niche use (outside
specialised environments/industries). Access to the SQLite databases
are available if needed.

## Reading the Data

If you would like to see the data in situ, click on the following:

- [test-data-lite.csv](https://git.abbether.net/return-to-ritherdon/rtr-docs/src/branch/unstable/health-and-safety/data/test-data-lite.csv)

The data consists of three columns:

1. `Id`
2. `Time Stamp`
3. `Reading`

*Sampe of readings taken from `test-data.csv`*

| Id      | Time-Stamp                 | Reading |
|---------|----------------------------|--------:|
| 7780379 | 2021-04-23 07:00:20.000000 |       5 |
| 7780380 | 2021-04-23 07:00:21.000000 |      11 |
| 7780381 | 2021-04-23 07:00:22.000000 |      11 |
| 7780382 | 2021-04-23 07:00:24.000000 |      11 |
| 7780383 | 2021-04-23 07:00:25.000000 |      11 |
| 7780384 | 2021-04-23 07:00:26.000000 |      11 |
| 7780385 | 2021-04-23 07:00:27.000000 |      11 |
| 7780386 | 2021-04-23 07:00:29.000000 |      11 |
| 7780387 | 2021-04-23 07:00:30.000000 |      12 |
| 7780388 | 2021-04-23 07:00:31.000000 |      12 |
| 7780389 | 2021-04-23 07:00:32.000000 |      12 |

For this assessment, you can ignore the `Id` column. I've kept it to
help preserve the nature of the data in its raw form -- after
converting it to a comma-seperated-value (CSV or .csv) file. I
converted the data because of the specialised nature of databases (in
this case a SQLite database). Essentially, the `Id` column refers to
the 'row Id' for a particular reading. It makes it easier to refer to
a reading via its `Id` that its `Reading` value and/or `Time-Stamp`.

The `Time-Stamp` and `Reading` columns refer to the level of light
recorded at that speficied time. For example, at `2021-04-23
07:00:26.000000` (row `7780384`), the amount of light recorded was
`11`. I should point out here, the time-stamp format is as follows:

- `YYYY-MM-DD Hr:Min:Sec:MicroSec` (`Hr` is 24-hour)

On top of that, every time-stamp has their `MicroSec` values set to
`.000000`. The code used to generate this data is responsible for
this. It just doesn't record it and is not a data conversion
issue. I've kept the data as close to its raw form as I can and the
`.000000` is a consequence of that. The [Light
Meter](https://git.abbether.net/return-to-ritherdon/rtr-docs/src/branch/master/light-meter/rtr-light-meter.md)
project is responsible for generating the data.

How the values stored in `Reading` are out of scope for this
assessment (see [Light
Meter](https://git.abbether.net/return-to-ritherdon/rtr-docs/src/branch/master/light-meter/rtr-light-meter.md)
for more information) but the main take-away is the more light in the
welding booth, the higher the number. There are two welding booths in
the factory which this system monitors ('Light Meter 1' and 'Light
Meter 2' in the diagram above) and each one has their own threshold to
indicate when welding is occuring. For example, when the light level
for 'Light Meter 1' goes above `39` (at time of writing), this
indicates a staff member in the 'first' welding booth is welding which
triggers the light to turn on in the gallery ('Gallery Light
1'). Throughout the course of the day (factory operating hours are
07:00-16:00), the system repeats this process and documents every
reading and the time it recorded it.

## How the Data was Processed/Reviewed

The data was analysed using the code in the
[Flicker](https://git.abbether.net/return-to-ritherdon/flicker)
repository. Please review the code/repository there for more
information on how the code works -- it is outside the scope of this
document.

## Breakdown of Data Analysis

The sample of data reviewed for this assessment was taken from the
Light Meter readings produced by `factory1` running the software
provided by
[Light-Meter](https://git.abbether.net/return-to-ritherdon/light-meter),
on the **23/04/2021**. Overall, there was **84,294** light readings
taken over the course of **between 8 to 9 hours**. Also, this was a
**live test** with readings taken from the **intended environment**,
under **real-world conditions**. Of those readings, the number of
readings taken is as follows,

*Note: Minutes and Hours are approximate values.*

| Readings-per-Second | Seconds | Minutes | Hours |
|---------------------|---------|---------|-------|
| 1                   | 5,344   | 89      | 1.5   |
| 2                   | 2,955   | 49      | 0.8   |
| 3                   | 13,284  | 221     | 3.5   |
| 4                   | 8,297   | 138.28  | 2     |
|---------------------|---------|---------|-------|
| Total               | 29,880  | 498     | 8.3   |

Let's say you have the following readings (sample taken from
`test-data.csv` stored in [raw-data](raw-data),

**Note: The '.000000' is a artefact from the code's formatting of the
data.** You can ignore it. I've only kept it in to keep the data here
aligned as close as possible with the raw and computed data
[data](data).

| Time-Stamp (YYYY-MM-DD Hr:Min:Sec:MicroSec) | Reading | Readings/sec |
|---------------------------------------------|---------|--------------|
| 2021-04-23 07:02:50.000000                  | 17      | 1            |
| 2021-04-23 07:02:51.000000                  | 17      | -----------  |
| 2021-04-23 07:02:51.000000                  | 17      | 2            |
| 2021-04-23 07:02:52.000000                  | 17      | 1            |
| 2021-04-23 07:02:53.000000                  | 17      | 1            |
| 2021-04-23 07:02:54.000000                  | 17      | 1            |
| 2021-04-23 07:02:55.000000                  | 17      | 1            |
| 2021-04-23 07:02:55.000000                  | 17      | 1            |


**Note: I've omitted the `Id` column from the example above because is
not relevant for this assessment.** If you review the raw data, you
will come across that column. More often than not, you can ignore it
if you're not looking to review/work with the code written for main
the system.

If you look at the time-stamp `2021-04-23 07:02:51.000000`, you will
see there are two readings recorded. This sample is very small but you
can see the remaining time-stamps have only one reading per each
second intervals. With this in mind, please note there are eight
reading spread across a five-second time-span. That is why the /first/
table above is broken down into time and not just hard frequency
totals. For 5,344 seconds on 23/04/2021, the system took a light meter
reading at one reading-per-second.

According to the sources listed above, 'between 3-30 hertz (flashes
per second) are the common rates to trigger seizures'. This means the
number of readings to review can be reduced to those operating at four
readings-per-second. This is because the lights in this system need to
go from an off-state (1) to an on-state (2) and back to an off-state
(3). The extra (fourth reading) is needed because there needs to be a
starting state (a zero if you will). Below is a sample of a moment
when four readings were taken in a one second period,

| Time-Stamp (YYYY-MM-DD Hr:Min:Sec:MicroSec) | Reading | State |
|---------------------------------------------|---------|-------|
| 2021-04-23 09:04:07.000000                  | 41      | On    |
| 2021-04-23 09:04:07.000000                  | 37      | Off   |
| 2021-04-23 09:04:07.000000                  | 36      | Off   |
| 2021-04-23 09:04:07.000000                  | 36      | Off   |

**Note: The light paired with `factory1` is set to turn on (in the
gallery `gallery1`) when the reading is above 39.**

In the table above, you will see the light changes state (on to off)
once. For it to reach the noted rate of 'between 3-30 hertz', the
third reading in the table will need to have been above `39` to
trigger the light back on. This would have made the light change from
on to off three times, taking into account the need for a 'starting'
state.

Referring back to the table listing the various rates of
readings-per-second (the first table), there are only **8,297**
readings (technically it's seconds but 'readings' is easier to
process) instead of **84,294**. This can be filtered down even more,
though. This is because not all four readings-per-second occurrences
cause the light to change its current state (I.E. it doesn't go from
off to on). With this in mind, the number of entries to review drops
to **8** when you list just the times when the light changes its
state. They are,

| Time-Stamp                 | Readings       | States           | Hertz |
|----------------------------|----------------|------------------|-------|
| 2021-04-23 09:04:07.000000 | 41, 37, 36, 36 | on, on, off, off | 1     |
| 2021-04-23 09:04:11.000000 | 36, 38, 40, 37 | off, on, on, off | 1     |
| 2021-04-23 10:54:05.000000 | 39, 39, 40, 40 | on, on, on, on   | 0     |
| 2021-04-23 10:54:07.000000 | 39, 39, 39, 40 | on, on, on, on   | 0     |
| 2021-04-23 10:56:46.000000 | 40, 40, 39, 39 | on, on, on, on   | 0     |
| 2021-04-23 10:57:13.000000 | 40, 41, 40, 39 | on, on, on, off  | 1     |
| 2021-04-23 10:58:13.000000 | 39, 46, 44, 39 | off, on, on, off | 1     |
| 2021-04-23 11:00:11.000000 | 39, 42, 46, 39 | off, on, on, off | 1     |

This tables shows the limitations of the system to trigger a
photosensitive epileptic seizure. The system produced **at most** a
flash rate of **1 Hertz** over the course of **approximately 8 to 9
hours** of activity.This is below the '3 to 60 Hertz' claimed by
[Epilepsy
Society](https://epilepsysociety.org.uk/photosensitive-epilepsy) (more
references/links at the top of this file).