Designing the Empathic Web: Building Emotionally Intelligent Digital Worlds

Prof. Dr. Sebastian Löwe, Virtual Identity

Master Class (EN) – please register for participation at mail@formfuture.berlin

What if our digital environments could truly recognize, adapt to, and support the full range of human emotions? The Empathic Web is the next evolution in digital design—a future where interfaces are not just functional or beautiful, but meaningfully responsive to our emotional states and needs. This shift moves design beyond user-centered conventions to systems that sense, interpret, and act on human feeling, fundamentally changing our relationship with technology. Instead of requiring users to adapt to indifferent tools, the Empathic Web envisions digital spaces that adapt to us—making every interaction more humane, supportive, and resonant.

This Masterclass invites you to critically examine what it means to design for emotional intelligence at scale. Through a series of plausible, research-driven speculative scenarios and use cases, we will interrogate the foundational principles and evolving rules of engagement that define the Empathic Web. Expect to engage with cutting-edge methods and frameworks poised to challenge conventional UX, and to reflect on the emergent competencies designers will need to remain relevant in an increasingly affective digital landscape.

We’ll also chart actionable pathways for translating today’s expertise into future-ready skills—opening space for new forms of agency, ethics, and creativity. Join us to debate, envision, and shape the empathic turn in digital design.