A Novel AI-Based Visual Stimuli Generation Approach for Environment Concept Design

The nature of environment concept design is a visual-based issue, where designers need to find loads of visual stimuli to create the high-quality concept. This paper aims to introduce a novel AI-based method to automatically generate images as design inspiration for environment concept design. Through interviewing eight professionals, we discovered that acquiring the design stimulus with inspired “composition” in a short time is the prioritized need of designers. This paper takes spectacular ambience for example. Through testing six classic GAN model variants trained by a self-made data set, we selected qualified four models to generate black and white thumbnails as stimuli with spectacular ambience. Moreover, we conducted a qualitative study of the outputs of the four models in a manner that invite eight designers to discuss. Finally, we summarized five key factors that influence designers' satisfaction with generated visual stimuli and discuss future directions that are worth studying.