Neurofeedback-driven human-in-the-loop framework for emotional product co-design with generative AI

The rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the landscape of product design, enabling dynamic and large-scale exploration of design alternatives. However, current emotional design practices still rely heavily on explicit user feedback, such as questionnaires and self-reported ratings, which often fail to capture users’ implicit, real-time affective responses. The proposed research topic, “Neurofeedback-Driven Human-in-the-Loop Framework for Emotional Product Co-Design with Generative AI,” aims to address this limitation by integrating neuroscience, human-in-the-loop (HITL) control, and emotional design into a unified adaptive framework.In this approach, users’ neurophysiological signals—such as EEG, heart rate variability, or electrodermal activity—are continuously monitored and translated into affective indicators that reflect emotional valence, arousal, or cognitive engagement. These neural signals function as implicit feedback and are embedded into the optimization process of generative AI models, forming a closed-loop system in which design outputs are iteratively refined based on users’ real-time emotional states. In contrast to traditional co-design paradigms, users are no longer passive evaluators but active neuro-adaptive agents within the design loop.The framework is theoretically grounded in emotional design theory, as articulated by Donald Norman, and neuroscientific perspectives on emotion and decision-making, notably those proposed by Antonio Damasio. By introducing neural affective signals as an implicit reward mechanism, this research advances a shift from explicit preference-driven design to neuro-affective co-creation. The proposed framework has significant implications for personalized product aesthetics, intelligent interface design, and the development of emotionally adaptive AI systems. Topic editors: Qing-Xing Qu, Jiang Shao, Vincent G Duffy, Siu Shing Man Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79247/neurofeedback-driven-human-in-the-loop-framework-for-emotional-product-co-design-with-generative-ai