JLL taps into the power of neuroscience to shape the future of work

SINGAPORE, August 10, 2022 – JLL Asia Pacific has announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with neuroscience firm EMOTIV to transform workspace design. The two companies are teaming up to investigate how data from neuroscience studies can contribute to office design, helping to improve people’s experience and productivity in the work environment.

Using EMOTIV-invented headsets that enable precise, real-time insights into cognitive and emotional states through electroencephalography (EEG), JLL and EMOTIV are collaborating on a series of studies – initially in Singapore – to measure where and how employees can enhance productivity and better manage their health and wellbeing in the workplace. The studies will gauge employee performance and wellness across various tasks and situations, with JLL and EMOTIV analysing how employees’ brains react to different working environments.

“At JLL, we see the workplaces of the future as an extension of the human mind. The pandemic has reinforced the notion that the office is no longer just a place to work. It needs to evolve into a space where employees can thrive, recharge, and reconnect. To design a workspace anchored to human experiences and needs, we need to understand what makes people tick. So we turned to neuroscience – and the partnership with EMOTIV was a natural fit,” said Ben Hamley, Future of Work Lead, Asia Pacific, JLL.

The studies by JLL and EMOTIV also aim to uncover factors that allow for optimal work experiences, such as ideal environments for creative tasks, how working alone or together can influence attention and stress; situational conditions that drive collaboration; and even the best times to take a break.

“Our technology can not only reveal what environmental factors people respond well to, it can also show when employees are losing attention or reaching counterproductive levels of cognitive stress. With the data we gather, we can determine the core imperatives for workspace design to support employee health, wellness, and effectiveness at work,” said Tan Le, CEO of EMOTIV.

By investigating the brain patterns of people at work, JLL aims to apply these insights to create optimised workspaces and curated experiences to break down barriers between humans and their surroundings, whether physical or virtual.

Anthony Couse, CEO, Asia Pacific, JLL, said: “The office is here to stay, but its role and function have fundamentally changed. With research showing that employees today prioritise quality of life and wellness, we have the opportunity to turn workplaces into uplifting spaces that enable companies to meet and stay ahead of their employees’ needs – leveraging unconventional technologies and human-focused strategies to get us there.”

Jordi Martin, CEO, Work Dynamics, Asia Pacific, JLL, said: “Many of our occupier clients are questioning the role of the office, specifically the why, how and when work is done in this new hybrid era. We see workplaces becoming more pivotal for collaboration, face-to-face meetings, social connections, creativity and innovation, but we also see a big demand for focused workspace. Balancing these two interests requires a scientific understanding of how people think at work.”

In the longer term, JLL aims to work with EMOTIV to create a consortium of companies that will come together to further understand how workspace design and technology can empower workers to feel better and be more productive.

For more information on workplace neuroscience and how JLL is bringing together human insights and technology to shape the real estate of tomorrow, visit www.jll.com.sg/en/campaign/shaping-the-future-series.

EMOTIV is the global leader in the field of scalable neuroinformatics. Its neurotechnology has been validated and included in over 4,000 publications and is currently being used by 80,000+ people in over 140 countries.  Emotiv’s trusted brainwear technology combines with the world’s largest and most diverse secure repository of human brain data for customized, science-based enterprise solutions that reduce job stress and improve workplace wellness, and worker well-being, safety and productivity.