Lessons from Biophilic Design: Rethinking Affective Interaction Design in Built Environments

TL;DR

This paper explores how biophilic design can enhance affective interaction in smart buildings by emphasizing natural, diverse, and sensory-rich environments that foster emotional well-being beyond traditional affective computing methods.

Contribution

It introduces three novel design principles based on architects' insights, emphasizing natural diversity, embodied friction, and sensory permeability for affective interactions.

Findings

Natural environments promote self-directed emotional experiences.

Design principles include spatial diversity, sensory exchange, and complexity.

Challenges exist in integrating biophilic principles into built environments.

Abstract

The perspectives of affective interaction in built environments are largely overlooked and instead dominated by affective computing approaches that view emotions as "static", computable states to be detected and regulated. To address this limitation, we interviewed architects to explore how biophilic design -- our deep-rooted emotional connection with nature -- could shape affective interaction design in smart buildings. Our findings reveal that natural environments facilitate self-directed emotional experiences through spatial diversity, embodied friction, and porous sensory exchanges. Based on this, we introduce three design principles for discussion at the Affective Interaction workshop: (1) Diversity of Spatial Experiences, (2) Self-Reflection Through Complexity & Friction, and (3) Permeability & Sensory Exchange with the Outside World, while also examining the challenges of integrating these perspectives into built environments.

Figures

Full text

smart buildings, embodied affect, affective interaction, affective computing, intuitive design, biophilia, nature-inspired design

††copyright: acmlicensed††journalyear: 2018††doi: XXXXXXX.XXXXXXX††conference: Make sure to enter the correct conference title from your rights confirmation email; June 03–05, 2018; Woodstock, NY††isbn: 978-1-4503-XXXX-X/2018/06††ccs: Human-centered computing††ccs: Human-centered computing Human computer interaction (HCI)

1. Introduction

Built environments are increasingly designed to support a range of human experiences such as comfort (Alavi et al., 2017) and socialisation (Nguyen and Vande Moere, 2024), yet their approach to emotions remains largely reductive (Ghandi et al., 2021; Yadav et al., 2018). These environments often rely on affective computing approaches, which frame emotions as computable states to be detected (e.g. through valence-arousal models (Gao et al., 2020, 2022) or machine-readable cues (Caon et al., 2014)) and subsequently regulated. For instance, smart lighting systems may adjust colour temperature to induce relaxation upon detecting stress in occupants (Laushkina et al., 2020; Cupkova et al., 2019).

In contrast, affective interaction (Hook, 2008) emphasises emotions as emergent from ongoing, situated interactions with technology. While this research has explored how technology supports meaning-making through emotion, it has primarily focused on digital and tangible interfaces (e.g. (Breazeal, 2001; Zhou et al., 2024)), leaving built environments largely overlooked despite their fundamental role in emotional experiences.

To address this gap, this paper explores how insights from biophilic design—an architectural approach rooted in our innate emotional connection with nature—can inform affective interaction in built environments. This paper builds on our primary research, in which we interviewed 13 architects to investigate how biophilic design can shape human interactions in future smart buildings (Wilson, 1986; Kellert and Wilson, 1995; Kellert, 2018). While we did not originally frame this work through the lens of affective interaction, re-analysing our data revealed that biophilic design offers valuable insights for affective interaction in built environments.

Our findings suggest that natural environments provide sensory and spatial experiences that guide us in attuning to, discovering, and making sense of our emotions (Kellert, 2018; Joye and Dewitte, 2018). This leads us to our position:* smart buildings should not be designed to elicit specific emotional outcomes or regulate emotional states. Instead, they should provide conditions that empower individuals to sense, reflect on, and navigate their own emotions in ways that feel natural—through ongoing, moment-to-moment interactions with the built environment.* One architect captured this perspective: “‘(in nature) the body intuitively finds balance in experiences—for instance, openness after enclosure, groundedness after exposure—-doesn’t matter what that is, as long as we (in buildings) can provide support for the body to get that balance…”.

2. Designing for Situated and Emergent Emotional Experiences in Built Environments

Based on the interview data ($N=13$), we identified three design messages—conditions (that we mentioned in our position)—that can enable affective interaction in built environments, drawing inspiration from how emotions emerge in biophilic settings. Unlike smart spaces that optimise for predefined emotional states (e.g. promoting focus through automated lighting), natural environments allow emotions to unfold through situated interactions. Translating this into built environments requires shifting from controlling emotional states to enabling users to intuitively engage with their surroundings based on evolving needs. This shift positions the body as a sensor, an active interface that continuously interprets and responds to environmental cues.

Diversity of Spatial Experiences:

Natural environments provide diverse spatial conditions that individuals navigate based on their evolving needs. In built environments, this means allowing users to self-select and transition between different spatial experiences that align with their momentary states. As one architect reflected: “‘You need a certain connection (in reference to emotion)—not everybody, and not always, and not in the same amount. On the other hand, you need a certain groundedness—like you can step out of the connection and be by yourself in a different state of mind.” As an example, building technologies can support spatial interactions that allow users to modulate their sense of connection and solitude. Somatic thresholds—interactive transitions with soft, responsive barriers—could enable users to physically shift between openness and enclosure based on how they engage with their surroundings. If a person pauses near the threshold, the opening could subtly contract, creating a more enclosed, introspective space. If they step forward, the partition could expand, inviting more openness and connection. Engaging with these spatial shifts creates gentle environmental feedback loops that prompt users to notice and reflect on their behaviour—whether they are seeking solitude, openness, or an in-between state. By engaging with these transitions, individuals can explore how their presence, movement, and spatial positioning influence their emotions.

Self-Reflection Through Complexity & Friction:

Natural environments can be challenging, often presenting moments of friction that require individuals to accept and adapt (e.g. a sudden storm can transform an initially pleasant hiking experience). Dealing with such frictions can compel people to attune to their bodies and emotions, catalysing personal reflection and emotional awareness. As one expert noted, “‘Friction fosters reflection. When we’re uncomfortable, we’re more likely to pay attention to our surroundings, and find meaning in our experience…(to accept) our circumstances.” In contrast, many smart buildings prioritise supporting uniform emotions such as calm or productivity by smoothing out variations in climate, sound, and spatial experience. While this optimises comfort, it can also diminish opportunities for self-learning and self-regulation. For example, technology in workspaces can explore the use of lighting glares in social spaces that momentarily interrupt occupants from being too involved with their screens and instead engage with people or the environment around them. Rather than prescribing emotional responses, these designed frictions create “‘affective touchpoints”, prompting users to sense, interpret, and navigate their own evolving states within the environment.

Permeability & Sensory Exchange with the Outside World:

Biophilic experiences are inherently porous, allowing for continuous exchange between interior and exterior conditions—light, air, sound, and movement. Many buildings, however, are designed as sealed environments, limiting exposure to natural variation and seasonal rhythms that provide implicit temporal cues for emotional regulation. As one expert noted, “‘When we open windows, we don’t just let in air—we let in time, season, meaning, and place.” As an example, smart offices could incorporate a sliding panel that users can physically adjust to modulate their exposure to outdoor sounds throughout the day. Variations in ambient sounds such as distant evening traffic can create an intuitive sense of time, helping users remain anchored in the present moment. By adjusting their connection to these external cues, users can develop a felt awareness of temporal shifts, realising when it’s time to pause, refocus, or transition between tasks. Rather than passively experiencing a predefined atmosphere, this interactive interface encourages an active, embodied negotiation of emotional states, allowing individuals to shape their emotional experience through their relationship with sensory conditions.

3. Challenges and Conclusion

Altogether, the discussed design principles shape an approach to “‘affective built environments” (Rao et al., 2023) that is grounded in bodily interaction, supports self-directed emotional navigation, and emerges through spatial and sensory engagement with the environment. Integrating affective interactions into built environments presents several challenges—both in applying the discussed design principles and in addressing broader questions about affective interaction. These are key challenges we aim to explore at the Affective Interaction workshop: (1) Designing for Open-Ended Affective Experiences — How can we design environments that offer users the freedom to navigate their emotional experiences intuitively while capturing subtle, embodied responses and decisions made? (2) Embedding Embodied Intelligence in Technology — How can technology surface, support, and amplify bodily intuition without abstracting it into reductive emotional models? (3) Balancing Adaptation and Non-Intrusiveness — How can environments interact with individual (and collective) emotional states in non-intrusive ways, preserving user agency and emergent emotional meaning-making?

Nature supports an intuitive process of emotional exploration, yet built environments fail to provide the same affordances. By applying biophilic principles, we emphasise the need for affective interaction in built environments and explore how affective meaning-making can be embedded in the spaces we inhabit. Additionally, we put forth considerations on how technology can support this process without overriding the fluid, emergent nature of emotional experiences.