Ideation

Our ideation began with an open look at anxiety in everyday small spaces. As a team, we mapped scenarios like subways, waiting rooms, and elevators, where people often feel a loss of control. We also highlighted groups often overlooked in public design: the elderly, people with disabilities, and those with specific phobias.

Elevators quickly became our focus: essential yet emotionally neglected, and frequently cited in surveys and forums as anxiety triggers. By centering on claustrophobia, we tied the work to a real psychological condition with both physical and emotional dimensions, reframing the elevator as a place where design can restore a sense of safety.

Survey Results

We avoided overly negative or triggering questions and focused on what helps people stay calm in confined spaces. This yielded useful insight without added discomfort. Elevators were the most common trigger, followed by public transport and windowless rooms. Typical reactions included rapid heartbeat, dizziness, shortness of breath, and a strong urge to escape.

User survey insights:

For coping, most respondents cited visual distraction (natural scenery), soft sound, and breathing or mindfulness. These preferences directly shaped our design: calm nature imagery, warm color tones, and cues tied to breathing or optional scene selection, offering relief and a sense of control.

Storyboard

To show the passenger’s journey and the emotional shift, we built a step-by-step storyboard. A rider enters, presses the floor button, and anxiety rises as the doors close, breathing quickens, and the space feels tighter. At that point, the system activates: one wall opens into a calm scene, drawing attention away from the closed cabin.

The storyboard also explains the device: subtle single-wall visuals in Daily Mode, and a full, immersive setup in Emergency Mode. Forest, underwater, and starscape scenes are used to restore calm and sync with breathing. By mapping both emotions and system functions, the storyboard links research, design intent, and experience, keeping the concept grounded in empathy and feasibility.

Storyboard：

Moodboard

Building on the moodboards, we designed three immersive environments that respond directly to survey findings and psychological insight.

Nature, Color, and Spatial References:

Environment Design

Based on the moodboards and survey insights, we developed three immersive environments—Forest, Underwater, and Skyscape—each tailored to relieve claustrophobic triggers. These scenes balance visual spaciousness with therapeutic qualities, using composition, motion, and color psychology.

Forest: In the forest scene, trees sway gently in the wind while flocks of birds fly overhead. This composition simulates a sense of openness above the passenger, creating an atmosphere of safety and grounding. Subtle leaf movements provide an organic rhythm that helps divert attention away from the confined space.

Underwater: Coral reefs and fish schools drift slowly in synchronized patterns, echoing the tempo of deep breathing. Blue-green tones evoke calm and meditation, helping to regulate shortness of breath and tension. This environment emphasizes flow and continuity, counteracting the stillness that often heightens anxiety in elevators.

Skyscape: Guiding the passenger’s perspective from the enclosed cabin toward infinite space. The vastness of the cosmos offers contrast to confinement, while the stillness of stars promotes serenity and emotional balance.

As Environment Artist & Researcher, I handled foundational environment setup, including base scene construction, composition, and depth, so the team could expand, animate, and align content across modes. My focus was on building a robust framework that could scale to real installations.

Technical Implementation

To ensure feasibility and adaptability, Numa was designed as a low-intervention system that can be installed in both new and old elevators without architectural reconstruction. Using spatial scanning and projection mapping, the system automatically adapts to different cabin sizes and wall structures, ensuring precise alignment across various elevator types. Through projection mapping combined with soft-edge image blending, the visuals can achieve optimal presentation even in confined spaces, turning the elevator into a more supportive space.

Spatial scanning:

Two interaction modes were implemented:

• Daily Mode: Activated by a button, projecting subtle visuals onto one wall or the ceiling. Passengers can select between different calming scenes depending on preference.

• Emergency Mode: Triggered during elevator malfunction or moments of panic. A long press expands the visuals into a 360° immersive projection with synchronized sound, which automatically shuts down after 60 seconds if not in use.

This technical framework shows how emotional design can quietly integrate into urban micro-spaces, turning elevators into therapeutic environments that respond to human vulnerability.

Reflection

Starting from the study of claustrophobia, we gradually developed this project into an exploration of comfort, empathy, and space. Through psychological research, user interviews, and prototype testing, I realized that design is not always about changing the environment, but about softening the distance between people and the spaces they inhabit.

During this process, I became drawn to the idea of “immersion”, it is also a way of entering emotion. Immersive design made me think that space can listen, can breathe with us; it is not only something to be seen, but a medium through which we can meet ourselves.

I began to pay more attention to subtle experiences — the shift of light, the rhythm of sound, the quiet movement of emotion. Perhaps the meaning of design lies in these unnoticed moments, where we reconnect with ourselves and the world around us.