Encoding Experience: Conversations on Design, Emotion, and AI

Over two evenings in late April, Autodesk Research hosted our latest experiment: the Encoding Experience dinners. In this two-part blog post (or “research report” 😉) we outline the hypothesis behind these dinners, introduce our research group, and dive into an analysis of findings.

Introduction 

The challenge

For over a decade, the conversation around the built environment has largely centered on environmental sustainability, specifically the carbon footprint of buildings and cities. We’ve developed metrics and protocols to measure and reduce carbon impact. But what about the “emotional sustainability” (Del Signore, 2025) of the places we inhabit? How do we measure the impact of design on how we live, on our well-being, and perhaps even – our joy?

Measuring subjective experiences like joy is challenging not least because it is deeply rooted in cultural and contextual conditions. What is joyful for one person may not be for another, and spaces can empower some groups while potentially excluding others (Del Signore, 2025). Experience is also multifaceted, encompassing needs, perceptions, behaviors, emotions and sensory encounters.

However, advancements in neuroscience, environmental psychology, and AI, coupled with the growing availability of human digital traces and physiological data, present an opportunity. Experts are exploring ways to quantify human experience and apply these insights to architectural and urban planning workflows. This involves drawing on theoretical models from neurophysiology and environmental psychology, conducting experimental studies with diverse populations in different environments, and interpreting the findings.

The potential lies in developing computational programs and tools that can integrate various data sets – from physiological indicators of stress to behavioral data, qualitative feedback, and even stories about how people feel in a space. These tools could help designers evaluate and crucially – communicate – the potential impact of their decisions on different users, acting as conversation starters or indicators for deeper engagement with experts or communities. Ultimately, taking us from a focus on carbon footprints in the 2020s to an experiential equivalent, similarly universal and impactful.

Or so, we at the Enlivened Design group in Autodesk Research. hypothesize.

Our research group

Enlivened Design is a term conceptualized from a mix of ideas:

• “bringing to life” 3D models and creations using digital representations of humans and their experiences
• incorporating simulations of “living” into the design process
• promoting design that feels “alive”, engaging, emotional
• a focus on biophilic design
• concepts of buildings/spaces/products imbued with intelligence (e.g. interrogatable digital twins)

In essence, our group’s goal is to create seamless ‘drop-in’ solutions that augment 3D models with AI-enhanced human simulation, capturing design intent, user feedback, and the nuances of physical and social interactions.​ We wish to transcend focus on utility, integrating ‘soft’ simulations that embody human thoughts, emotions, and perceptions, thus enriching the design evaluation process.​ We want to champion designers in their quest to truly comprehend and represent the needs of diverse users and stakeholders and amplify the positive social impact of their creations.​

We see Enlivened Design as the bridge between innovative technology and empathic design, ensuring every space and object is crafted for experience, not just function.​ Through a data-driven approach we aim to enhance Autodesk software with deep, human-centric insights, amplifying our Company’s mission of designing a better world.​

As a team, we originate from and build on our roughly decade of cutting– edge explorations in human-centric factors for generative design, particularly in AEC. Projects like the Toronto MARS office, AU2017 expo, Dasher, SOIA and related research, multi-agent simulation for COVID19 mitigation, our Smithsonian exhibit all laid the foundations for our current thinking. However, this latest trajectory of Enlivened Design evolved more specifically through the collision of our engagement with Toronto’s The Bentway plus work we called “Experiential Views” with the unprecedented pace of advancements in the field of AI. We now find ourselves hoping and wondering, if, much like it has done in biology (famously, protein folding), AI could power breakthroughs in the understanding of complex human behavior and experience, ushering a new, data-driven, science-based future for the discipline of design.

Encoding Experience was our attempt to test the resonance and limits of our ideas in the context of built environments, as well as – crucially – to support and inspire development of related academic research.

Stay tuned for part two, in which we will discuss and analyze the events themselves – lab report style!

References:
Del Signore, 2025 – Marcella del Signore, Boston dinner transcript, 2025