A fascinating question: Who will design the digital personality of a physical space?

Think about how powerful the “personality” of AI digital assistants are in their design and user acceptance/usability. Siri vs Alexa. Clippy vs Hal. The GPS navigation system in your car (is she British?). Think about how powerful UX/UI design is in our experience of the virtual world. Think about how powerful digital lighting, digital media and digital audio are in impacting our experience of built environments.

As our physical spaces become portals to the digital world, how that interface relates to us as humans becomes critically important for the experience of space.

Will a space take on a friendly, sunny, helpful vibe? A dark, edgy vibe? The trappings of a specific promotional theme or brand personality? We’re already seeing this in the design of physical spaces for Instagram moments.

The digital personality design becomes far more critical than even the physical walls and objects that surround us: Even a plain room with nothing but blank walls can become a joyous technicolor wonderland in an instant. Or it could become the backdrop to a B-style horror film.

And how will occupants of a space engage the digital “personality” of a space? Will an occupant’s physical presence be represented by some sort of digital avatar whose presence is reflected via various levels of abstraction back into that space?

How does a person’s physical body, gestures or gaze interact with the digital space? In reverse, how does a person’s digital life inform the physical space?

Who will “own” the digital personality of the built environment? Architects? Lighting designers? UX designers? Advertisers? Companies like TeamLab, Moment Factory, Hello I/O?