An interactive environment using sensors and design to simulate and support neurodiverse spatial experience, promoting empathy and autonomy.
Severino Alfonso and Loukia Tsafoulia are trained architects, educators, and researchers whose practice intersects art, design, technology, and digital culture. Co-founders of PLB studio and co-directors of the Synesthetic Research and Design Lab at Thomas Jefferson University, their work centers on the human body’s interaction—both individual and social—with the environments it negotiates.
The Echoes installation, developed in collaboration with up2metric, combines art, technology, and human perception to create an interactive environment that fosters understanding and acceptance of neurodiverse spatial experiences.
Autistic individuals are significantly affected by sensory input, making the physical environment crucial to their ability to interact with the world. Echoes addresses this by inviting us to use our bodies and experiences to empathize with the emotional experiences of others.
The installation is a modular physical space, made of wood and cork, with embedded experimental sensor technologies. The project is organized into two interconnected environments:
→ “Outside: a collective experience”: Participants interact with the installation from an external, exposed environment, triggering dynamic light events that change in intensity and coloration.
→ “Inside: multiples of one”: An intimate, interior space that functions as an individual “retreat,” dynamically adjusting the light and its sonic properties based on the participant’s breathing rhythms and movement, thereby supporting self-regulation.
In addition to the interactive environment, the project is accompanied by the documentary VOICES: Experiences and Expressions, which addresses autism as an agent of urban sound experience from an intersectional and experimental standpoint. Echoes reinforces that spatial access is crucial for autonomy and empowerment, paving the way for more empathetic built design.
BIO
Severino Alfonso and Loukia Tsafoulia are prominent faculty members at Thomas Jefferson University. Their scholarly research combines responsive environments, cognitive sciences, and computational design theory. Their artwork has been exhibited in international art and design venues, including the MAXXI in Rome and the Venice Architecture Biennale.
This project is part of ReSilence: Future Soundscapes & Affect Mining in Urban Ecosystems, the exhibition showcasing the outcomes of fifteen international art residencies supported by S+T+ARTS (the European Commission’s initiative for science, technology, and the arts). Through the artistic exploration of sound, RESILENCE redefines urban spaces, using the acoustic dimension to analyze the complex affective and ecological relations of future cities and promote collective awareness of what lies beyond mere noise. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with BASE, as part of the FAROUT Festival 2025 edition.