Entro Technologies are Advancing Experiential Design

The way our brains process complexity, how our attention shifts in a crowd, or how we respond emotionally to space are the hidden layers that determine whether a place feels intuitive, stressful, or delightful.

As digital tools, data analytics, and AI become more widely adopted and necessary, designers now have the ability to see and measure these hidden patterns of human experience. Technology enables designers to better understand behaviour, emotion, and perception in real time. This shift is transforming the way experiential environments are researched, designed, and validated.

Entro has a rich history of advancing knowledge and technologies to improve experiential design processes and outcomes. Led by our Research Director Dr. Vedran Dzebic, Entro has developed and implemented novel technologies that enhance the work of our creative teams. The following are a selection of these technologies, coupled with their respective benefits.

Understanding Emotional Experiences

AI is increasingly being used to model human emotion and cognition in spatial design. Our team has developed EntroAQ, a proprietary suite of computer vision and machine learning models trained to quantify how an environment will make the user think and feel.

This technology helps bridge the gap between design intent and human response. It gives designers insight into emotional comfort, complexity, and legibility, allowing for environments that are both visually engaging and emotionally intuitive.

For clients, this means decisions can be validated early in the process, ensuring that spaces perform as intended and resonate with users on a deeper, human level.

Learning what People Actually See

Eye-tracking technology allows researchers to measure how people visually engage with their surroundings: what captures attention, what is overlooked, and where confusion arises.

In complex environments such as airports, sports facilities, or hospitals, these insights are invaluable. They inform how messages are prioritized, how signage is placed, and how people navigate under varying levels of pressure. The result is design that communicates clearly and naturally, improving how people experience and connect to built environments.

Findings from this can improve outcomes related to safety, navigation, and connection place, thereby contributing to optimizing how people experience and remember built environments. 

Measuring Feeling and Thought

Electroencephalography (EEG) reveals how users process space at the neurological level. By monitoring brain activity, researchers can detect moments of cognitive strain or ease as people move through environments. This technology reveals data that would otherwise be unknown as people likely would not be able to communicate how they are actually thinking or feeling about built environments at this level. 

This information helps designers create spaces that minimize confusion and stress, enhancing clarity and emotional comfort. When cognitive demands are reduced, environments become more intuitive, improving both performance and user satisfaction.

Mapping Users’ Movements

Agent-based modelling uses simulation software to predict how people will move through a space before it is built. By analyzing circulation, density, and decision points, designers can anticipate problem areas such as bottlenecks or unclear pathways.It allows design teams to optimize circulation patterns, supporting both usability and the overall rhythm of experience within a space.

This data-driven approach ensures that movement feels natural, efficient, and safe. These simulations can be applied to built or yet-to-be-built environments, helping designers unlock opportunities to test assumptions and identify opportunities to improve early on and without lengthy, costly research programs.

Influencing Mobility and Visibility

Space Syntax analysis quantifies how spatial geometry affects visibility, accessibility, and social interaction. By mapping how people are likely to move and see within an environment, designers can create layouts that align with natural human perception.

When spatial structure supports intuitive navigation, users move with ease. The result is an environment that feels functional, coherent, and welcoming. Space syntax helps designers avoid elements that cause frustration, confusion, or overwhelm. This combination of clarity and comfort defines some of the most successful examples of experiential design today.

Together, they give Entro a 360° view of human experience — from emotional resonance to spatial logic. For Entro’s clients, these technologies mean more than innovation; they mean confidence. By validating design with measurable evidence, we help clients see the why behind every recommendation.

This integration supports:

• Data-enhanced design precision.
• Faster, evidence-based decision-making.
• Visual insights that strengthen client communication.
• Designs that are tested, validated, and defendable.
• Empathetic environments that truly serve their users.

The benefits:

• Clearer understanding of how users will experience their space.
• Quantifiable data to demonstrate design value and ROI.
• A collaborative, transparent process that builds trust and alignment.

The integration of behavioral data, neuroscience, and simulation enable designers to work with greater empathy and precision.
Behind the scenes, this creativity is powered by collaboration between Entro’s Research & Development and Creative teams.

Entro’s scientists and designers work together to translate raw data into meaningful patterns that can be read and responded to in real time. These visualizations provide immediate insights — identifying behavioural trends, moments of collective focus, and the spatial cues that guide human movement.  They also offer an intuitive language for understanding how people feel a space. Together, this partnership allows Entro to design environments that listen, adapt, and evolve alongside the people who experience them.