Immersive experiences give people a reason to reconnect and reengage. These audio-visual experiences — in person or virtually — envelope people in a sensory experience of sights and sounds. For brands, immersive experiences can provide a competitive edge. For example, sports teams can use digital displays, audio elements, and augmented reality to create a virtual experience that mimics the in-person experience. For physical environments, digital technologies can create experiences that support people’s desire to “stay and play” while still allowing them to feel safe and secure.

The shift to hybrid work has disrupted typical modes of office planning and operation and created new opportunities to redesign the workplace. The office will no longer be a single physical place, but a collection of connected physical and digital spaces that will serve as a trusted network for business continuity, social engagement, and continued professional growth. The hybrid workplace is urgent, necessary, and critical for providing safety, equity, and productivity.

While valuable for health and wellness, touchless environments ultimately create a more seamless, frictionless, and sophisticated user experience. To limit the use of shared interfaces that rely on touch, personal devices will become increasingly central to employee interactions. These devices and their operating systems already include much of what’s needed to support biometric screening, voice-activated applications, contactless transactions, and other touch alternatives. Combined with building sensors and location-based information, personal devices are a key component in the frictionless experience.

An explosion of sensor technologies, dashboards, and big-data analytics are flooding design and operations in the built environment. To drive wellness, resilience, and optimal operations requires a technology and data strategy to realize the intelligence you need for the performance you want. Advanced building technologies, spatial analytics, big data, and machine learning are making typical metrics like per-square-foot, occupancy, or utilization antiquated. Next-generation metrics reveal much more about user experience, behavior, and design to better optimize a building, campus, or portfolio and help drive business performance.

Digital master plans address the full range of technology needs across clients’ portfolios and projects in order to create a cohesive user-centric vision. By identifying and defining an ecosystem of digital touchpoints, these master plans help form a holistic view of how people experience a space while helping to identify future opportunities to improve that experience.