We’re excited to welcome Aria Xiying Bao as Jury Captain for the Emerging Technologies category in the 2026 Core77 Design Awards.https://designawards.core77.com/Emerging-Technologies

As Co-founder and Head of Creative Tech at iNNXX, a creative technology studio that connects the physical and virtual worlds, Aria has built a practice around this philosophy. The studio’s physical product line—XTENDED iDENTiTY—has attracted collaborations with artists including Grimes, Bad Bunny, and IVE, earning coverage in Forbes, Vogue Business, and ELLE. Simultaneously, Aria advances Spatial Computing and AI-Enhanced Human-Computer Interaction in industry R&D at Samsung Research America, building adaptive, multimodal interfaces that bridge digital and physical experiences.

We asked Aria what is most exciting in her practice these days, and for her the most powerful technology is the kind you don’t notice—the kind that quietly redirects your attention back to what’s right in front of you. "I’m most excited about technology-driven design that manufactures presence," she says. "Systems and services where AI, XR, sensing, and responsive materials recede into an ambient layer so attention returns to the world, to others, and to self."

Her work explores what she calls "soma-centric, multimodal interfaces that practice the art of noticing"—design that re-engages people with everyday experiences and helps them rediscover joy in their immediate surroundings. "The aim isn’t immersion in digital space, but attunement to physical reality," Aria explains. "Products and platforms that bring our attention back to bodies, relationships, and surroundings. When tech is quiet, people notice each other."

This approach has earned international recognition including Red Dot and A’ Design Awards, with features in Creative Applications Network, Design Milk, and Yanko Design. Her work has been exhibited at MAXXI Museum, PST ART, and Shanghai Biennale. Aria holds a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Preserving What Makes Us Human

Yet even as Aria builds at the cutting edge of emerging technology, she worries about what the design profession might lose in the rush to adopt new tools. "That we’ll outsource design judgment to AI and forget why human designers exist," she says. "Generative tools can accelerate production workflows, but they can’t replace the embodied, somatic knowledge that comes from touching materials, observing physical movement, and sensing presence."

Her concern centers on maintaining the sensory intelligence that makes technology feel human. "When we design from the body—through sight, sound, haptics, breath—we create systems that genuinely connect people to the world and to themselves. My concern is that emerging technologies become substitutes for craft rather than amplifiers of it."

The Technology Should Disappear

As a jury captain for the 2026 Core77 Design Awards, Aria will be looking for work that understands a fundamental principle: "Don’t let the technology overshadow the experience you’re designing for."

She elaborates: "When creating technology-driven work, there’s a temptation to lead with the innovation itself—to showcase the AI model, the sensor array, the novel algorithm. But the most compelling emerging tech projects understand that technology should recede into a black box. What matters isn’t the sophistication of your technical implementation, but whether the experience feels accessible, warm, and delightfully human."

Her advice to entrants comes down to a single diagnostic question: "If I stripped away all mention of the technology, would the human value still be immediately clear? Can someone understand what they’ll feel, discover, or be able to do—without needing to understand how it works?"

"Great technology-driven design doesn’t announce itself," Aria concludes. "It creates conditions for people to feel more present, more capable, more connected—and only later do they wonder, ‘how did that work?’ Lead with the transformation you’re enabling, not the tools you used to get there."

The Professional Winner in the Emerging Technologies category from 2025 was the Avidbots Kas** **a next-generation cleaning robot, from PA Consulting Design & Innovation.

If you have a forward-thinking idea that could spark a fire with our jurors, share it with us through the 2026 Core77 Design Awards.

Enter the C77DA before February 27 to lock in regular pricing.

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