Embedded Intelligent Empathy: A Systematic Review Towards a Conceptual Framework

This paper is part of a feasibility project aiming to expand computational design processes to include design empathy. The project is in response to recent valid criticism of computational design overlooking the empathy of the designer. Computational design has a heavier emphasis on the optimization process, inhibiting designers’ rational and empathic input. This preliminary phase of the study aims to provoke debates through a systematic literature review (SLR) and hypothesize that empathy could be systematically integrated into computational design rather than disjointed processes. The SLR identifies gaps in knowledge in this transdisciplinary domain. Found current research suggests that technology can abstract and quantify ephemeral design qualities such as soundscape design to generate rich, intelligent designs. To achieve this, we will establish a list of indices/indicators found in literature, as a data set embedded into an algorithm that derives a computational tool.