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TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT Magazine Ads Final.pdf 1 02/06/2025 16:19

Designing the Future

of Experiential Retail

In this month’s Technology Insight, Helena González Ung,
Director of Special Projects & Digital Art at Trison Necsum
discusses how emotion, creativity and technology are
redefining the future of retail and leisure. Yas Mall, Abu Dhabi, UAE
In a world where shopping and leisure have merged into a single design. And emotion, unlike technology, does not become obsolete.
language of experience, technology is no longer a tool: it is emotion Every project begins with a question: What do we want people to
made visible. The future of retail is not about screens or devices; it is feel? Only then do we choose the right technologies, not the other
about how these elements become invisible yet powerful enablers of way around. This reversal of priorities is what separates memorable
human connection. We are entering a new era, one in which emotion experiences from mechanical ones. Light, sound, movement and con-
becomes architecture, technology and when used with sensitivity, tent are not ends in themselves; they are instruments in an emotional
becomes poetry in motion. symphony that must be carefully composed.
At Trison Necsum, we believe that technology should never shout, Technology today allows spaces to evolve in real time, to adapt,
it should whisper. Its presence must be so naturally integrated within respond and even anticipate. Through generative content, data-driven
the architecture that what truly stands out is the emotion it awak - storytelling and intelligent lighting, environments can now breathe,
ens. When innovation serves creativity rather than competing with change mood and speak directly to each visitor. The future of experi-
it, spaces transcend their function and become something more pro- ential retail will be defined by this responsiveness: spaces that are alive,
found: emotional destinations. sensitive and in constant dialogue with their audiences.
Retail and leisure spaces are no longer transactional. They are becoming
cultural, artistic and social ecosystems where people go not only to buy, but A call for sensibility
to belong. This is the shift we are witnessing across the globe - from Madrid As we move deeper into the digital age, the challenge will not be to add
to Riyadh, from Istanbul to Santiago - a transformation where technology more technology; it will be to bring back sensibility.
merges with storytelling to evoke wonder, nostalgia and curiosity. Technology evolves. Emotions endure. What we remember from a C
The store of the future is no longer defined by its size or its catalogue, place is not the resolution of its screens, but the resonance of its stories. M
but by the story it tells. At the newly renovated Santiago Bernabéu The soft light that wrapped us, the rhythm that made us pause, the Y
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Stadium in Madrid, Trison Necsum redefined this paradigm by trans moment we felt something unexpected in a world that moves too fast. CM
forming the Real Madrid flagship store into a digital stage, a place This is the responsibility of those of us who design experiences: to
where visitors don’t just see the brand, they feel it. A 3D dragon soaring protect the human essence within the digital. To make technology MY
through the space, holographic vitrines revealing the club’s new jersey, disappear, so that emotion can appear. The future of retail and leisure CY
dynamic lighting and immersive soundscapes - all orchestrated to pro- will not be more digital, it will be more human. And the most advanced CMY
voke emotion, not just admiration. Millions of visitors have captured technology will be the one capable of touching the heart. K
this experience, sharing it across the world, turning architecture into As digital designers, we no longer build static spaces, we build emo
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a living canvas of emotion. tions that move. We stand at the intersection of art, architecture and
This is the essence of “invisible technology”: the art of making innova- technology, shaping experiences that are both human and transcend-
tion disappear so that emotion can appear. True technological excellence ent. The future of retail and leisure belongs to those who understand
lies in its subtlety - in how it enhances without overwhelming, in how it that the ultimate luxury is not what we own, but what we feel.
connects people to something greater than the digital itself. When we Emotion is the new architecture. And invisible technology is how
speak about experiential retail, we are in fact speaking about emotional we build it.

Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain

36 Retail & Leisure International November 2025