Much like a plane.

I guessing the only thing is why don't the people who work there know the way out.

On the up side, they can be used as crowd control so everybody doesn't run to one door. Special color coding in different sections of the building can lead that particular section out the closest door by the safest route. The asumption being the they are "smart lights" and can determine when a exit route is non-accessible.
-- sin, Jul 06 2001

they could also be used to blind intruders...
-- RobertKidney, Jul 07 2001


Sin: Have you ever been in an office building where there are no windows, when the power goes out? I'm on the second floor of a building that has no windows that open into where I work. All the windows are covered by offices where the useless people 'work'.

This baked, although not for floor lights which would be difficult to see in an office environment, in that 'Exit' signs are independently powered, and there are battery floodlights that come on if the power goes off.
-- StarChaser, Jul 07 2001


They would be better down low on the walls, important if the place is on fire as the first thing that happens is the room fills with smoke from the top down and blocks out the lights up higher. They could suggest a calm walking speed in a safe direction by the 'wave' motion of the lights coming on and off.
-- ljanz, Jan 27 2005



random, halfbakery