Special Issue Information

Embodied intelligence, which integrates perception, cognition, and action, is increasingly transforming how intelligent systems interact with complex environments. In the architectural field, machine vision serves as a crucial driver of embodied intelligence, enabling buildings and robots to sense, understand, and adapt to human needs and environmental dynamics. This Special Issue highlights the latest advances in embodied intelligent machine vision applied to the built environment, aiming to foster more sustainable, adaptive, and human-centered architectural practices.

Contributions explore a wide range of applications. Vision-based robotic systems are used for construction monitoring, façade inspection, and structural assessment, while embodied navigation technologies enhance spatial interaction within complex indoor environments. Thermal imaging technologies are increasingly applied to monitor skin surface temperatures across different body regions, providing fine-grained insights into occupants’ thermal comfort. At the same time, surveillance cameras coupled with intelligent recognition algorithms are being used to detect discomfort-related postures and behaviors, offering new opportunities for adaptive indoor climate regulation and human–machine collaboration. Methodological advances in this Issue include computer vision, multimodal sensing, deep learning, and reinforcement learning, all of which address the challenges of real-time processing and environmental uncertainty. By integrating these approaches, embodied intelligent systems can provide continuous feedback to optimize energy efficiency, support safety management, and enhance occupant well-being.

This Special Issue brings together interdisciplinary perspectives from architecture, robotics, and artificial intelligence to showcase how embodied vision can reshape design, construction, and operation of the built environment. We hope it will serve as a platform for inspiring innovative research and practical applications at the intersection of machine vision and architectural intelligence.

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