Toward an Integrated Design Model for Sleep: Linking Neurobiology, Behavioral Science, AI Embodiment, and Built Environments

This work proposes an integrated design framework that connects sleep neurobiology, behavioral science, AI embodiment, and architectural environments. While sleep research has traditionally been grounded in medicine and neuroscience, contemporary living spaces increasingly involve interactions with embodied AI systems and dynamic environmental controls. This paper reframes sleep as a design target rather than a purely medical or behavioral outcome. Drawing on established findings in sleep physiology (arousal systems, sleep pressure, sleep stages, chronotype, age-related needs), the paper synthesizes these insights with principles from behavioral sleep science, human–AI interaction, and environmental design. It formalizes the concept of AI presence—the combined perceptual footprint of appearance, motion, light, sound, and interaction timing—and examines how these channels can unintentionally activate arousal systems or, conversely, support stable pre‑sleep conditions. Architectural constraints and AI‑mediated environmental adjustments are clearly distinguished to clarify the boundaries of influence. The result is a conceptual model that maps sleep stages, environmental factors, and AI behaviors into a coherent design space. Rather than prescribing clinical interventions, the framework identifies variables that can be experimentally manipulated in future empirical studies. This work serves as a foundation for interdisciplinary research and provides a structured starting point for experimentalists, designers, and architects seeking to evaluate how AI‑supported environments can promote healthy sleep.