Over the past two decades, the perception of digital technology has shifted dramatically. What once seemed like a powerful tool for emancipation and democratisation, enabling global knowledge sharing and amplifying marginalised voices, has increasingly come to feel like a brain-draining sidekick. Today, screens dominate our attention from toddlerhood to old age.

We’re witnessing AI agents not only competing with humans in the labour market but also beginning to encroach on emotional relationships and intimacy. Increasingly, we seem to be giving intimate agency to non-human elements in our life.

A fascinating artistic exploration of this is Host, an AI-driven performance where participants are guided through an experience via an earpiece, receiving real-time instructions on how to act, respond, and speak. The immersive setup explores how AI can interact with, influence, and even manipulate human behaviour and emotions. Thematically, it raises questions about the extent to which AI can take on roles traditionally reserved for humans – and what that means for agency, control, and connection.

Understanding the effect of generative AI on us as humans is key. A beautiful work reflecting on what it is to be a human in the age of AI by Swedish artist Jonas Lund (which is loosely based on the short film The Perfect Human by Jurgen Leth), clinically examines human behaviour through an artificial lens, highlighting the tension between algorithmic precision and human imperfection.

Digital technology, in its current dominant form, can no longer be seen as a neutral tool for optimisation or seamless interaction. The frictionless-ness once praised in design has become part of the problem. Luna Maurer and I wrote a short manifesto on the role of friction in current digital design practices, arguing that friction is resistance, derived from physical interaction between humans. It’s an essential ingredient which makes up our humanness and sparks human connection.

But I don’t believe this disconnect is inherent to digital technology itself, rather a consequence of how it is currently deployed – driven by data harvesting of individuals rather than stimulating real social connections. In response to this, at Random Studio we created a space where we can propose alternative approaches, a living lab exploring ways for technology to support human well-being instead of extracting from it.

Only through real-world experimentation can we understand how people truly engage with hybrid environments. Prototyping allows us to iterate on more humane, connective designs

Central to this is rethinking how technology operates within physical space (since this is where we meet each other). This requires engaging deeply with the lived experience of those who move through these environments. In a commercial landscape where clients often seek to control every facet of the customer journey, this is a challenging exercise. We like to explore the potential of these spaces together, taking small steps.

What helps with this process is prototyping ‘living spaces’, rather than merely conceptualising them. Only through real-world experimentation can we understand how people truly engage with hybrid environments. Prototyping allows us to challenge assumptions, observe unexpected behaviours, and iterate on more humane, connective designs. If we want technology to serve life, not distract from it, we must start by making space for people – and I mean this both literally and figuratively – in the design process.

The resulting formats are used as conversation pieces for our clients. They allow them to see qualities which they were unaware of before. Together, we repurpose those formats for their needs and wishes. Until now this has happened in a modest way, but we are confident that this will gain traction in the future.

The Entrance, a prototype which is part of our research track titled Sentient Spaces is an example of this, leading to a pop-up for the beauty brand Glossier. Another for Nike illustrates how sentient space design can create emotionally resonant, human-centred brand experiences.

Key to the success of this approach is asking clients to embrace uncertainty. Rather than following a fixed brief, we invite collaborators to leave space for the unexpected

In Glossier’s Paris pop-up, the environment was soft, nature-infused, and dreamy – an oasis separated from the busy city street outside. Hidden within this garden-like pavilion was an AI-driven surprise. When a visitor lifted the perfume bottle from its pedestal at the centre, the space essentially ‘formed an impression’ of that person. Concealed cameras and sensors observed the guest’s posture, style, and presence, and within seconds an AI generated a personalised poem just for them.

The poem was then projected onto a fabric wall with text that flowed and was read aloud by an AI voice. This was matched with subtly choreographing the light and sound of the space. The entire interaction felt organic and magical, as if the room itself were speaking to you.

This poetic experience transformed a simple product try-out into an intimate moment of surprise and connection. It embodied Glossier’s ethos of intimacy and self-expression in spatial terms. By introducing a touch of friction – here, a pause in the shopping flow where the environment engages the visitor with personalised words – people left with a memory far more meaningful than an efficient transaction.

The Nike House of Innovation in Paris was reimagined as a living, breathing organism – a BreathLab – where visitors’ own inhalations and exhalations caused gentle shifts in the lights and visuals around them. Instead of the high-energy, movement-centric experience one might expect from a sportswear store, we focused on invoking calm and introspection. The entire multi-level store was envisioned as a living organism shaped by the power of breath.

As visitors moved inward, they were guided to the centrepiece experience: a soft, spherical room where the environment would literally synchronise with their breathing. Inside this BreathLab space, up to two visitors at a time could participate in a guided breathwork exercise. Invisible technology quietly went to work: a thermal camera tracked the rise and fall of each person’s breath, and an AI algorithm translated that into a visual ‘aura’ projection in real time.

After finishing the cycle, participants would see their unique aura portrait briefly linger on the walls before blending into a cumulative display – over the course of the day, dozens of people’s breath-portraits layered into an abstract ‘collective gradient’ colouring the room.

It illustrates our core principle that the idea (in this case, encouraging calm and connection) comes before the technology. And while visitors might have left with Nike gear, they also left with a memorable sensation of having been part of a living, breathing community space.

Key to the success of this approach is asking clients to embrace uncertainty. Rather than following a fixed brief toward a predefined outcome, we invite collaborators to leave space for the unexpected. It’s through that openness that more meaningful, future-facing ideas can emerge.

I believe that to create something meaningful, spatial designers can benefit from a sandbox to experiment freely, challenge assumptions, and prototype formats that lead to a new experiential design paradigm. The future of creative spatial work isn’t about directing experience from the top down, but about co-creating experience together.

Roel Wouters leads Living Lab, the creative research lab at Random Studio; random.studio