Harnessing Technological Innovation for Truly Human Environments

Vedran Dzebic (Entro)

The honeymoon phase of our relationship with technology is quickly coming to an end – algorithms are stealing our minds while automation threatens to steal our livelihoods. Certainly, the world is changing at an unprecedented rate, and the field of environmental design is not immune to such changes. Rather than viewing the transformational power of emerging technologies with disdain, why not consider how technology can improve our relationship with the spaces we occupy, improving our day-to-day lives? As part of an extensive research program, we are exploring the ways in which emerging technologies can be woven into our design practice, allowing us to design environments which support human needs. Specifically, we consider human response as consisting of complex interactions between cognitive appraisals and emotional response. Cognitive appraisal is described by concepts such as visual complexity and order, while emotional response is captured by feelings of pleasure and arousal, the fundamental building blocks of more complex emotional reactions. This framing of human experience is explored through several technological perspectives; where computer vision allows us to quantify the content of the environment, machine learning allows us to model how this content shapes cognitive appraisals and emotional response. Additionally, in an effort to move away from subjective measures of experience, we will consider how electroencephalography (EEG; brainwave) measures may provide a direct window into user experience. These technological applications will be discussed in relation to our work in the fields of wayfinding design, environment branding and placemaking. This meeting of cognitive neuroscience, emerging technologies and environmental design is mirrored by the multidisciplinary nature of our studio, where designers rub shoulders with technologists and cognitive neuroscientists. As our world becomes more complex, and our place in it less clear, it is our responsibility to explore every possible tool in designing environments that form the cornerstone of a healthy and fulfilled existence – technological innovations just might get us there.