Evaluating WELL-Informed Biophilic Façades in Automated Retail Environments: A Multimodal Eye-Tracking and Facial Expression Analysis

Global urbanization redirects attention toward the sensory quality of the built environment as a decisive factor in public health and psychological resilience. In automated retail, façades function as sensory interfaces to mitigate the psychological alienation and sensory deprivation inherent in automated nodes. This preliminary study proposes and empirically validates a multimodal evaluation framework for assessing WELL-informed, AI-generated biophilic façade designs in automated retail contexts. Grounded in Environment-Based Design (EBD) theory, the framework systematically integrates health-oriented design logic with generative AI–based façade synthesis and multimodal human-response evaluation. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, this study pursued three specific objectives: (1) to utilize a curated series of architectural façade variations with calibrated biophilic complexity derived from an environment-based AI generative framework, as experimental stimuli, (2) to quantify subconscious responses represented by gaze patterns and behavioral indicators elicited by these configurations, and (3) to analyze the correlation and potential divergence between implicit physiological responses and explicit conscious aesthetic appraisals. The multimodal experiment involving 30 participants integrated eye-tracking, facial expression analysis, and Semantic Differential (SD) scales. Area of Interest (AOI)-based visual attention analysis indicated that biophilic complexity, particularly the integration of organic patterns and natural materials, significantly enhanced subconscious visual interest and sustained engagement within specific design zones. The findings unveiled a complexity–aesthetic paradox where subconscious physiological and behavioral indicators exhibited peak engagement with high-complexity patterns while conscious aesthetic preference favored material-driven structural clarity. Statistical verification via repeated measures correlation analysis revealed a lack of significant linear association between instinctive physiological engagement and explicit aesthetic appraisal, highlighting a notable divergence between implicit and explicit responses. In conclusion, grounded in an EBD–driven evaluation framework, this research establishes a systematic evaluation methodology for health-conscious design, recommending a material-first strategy with pattern as an enhancement to align subconscious fascination with psychological comfort.