In this chapter we read Ballard’s Vermillion Sands side by side with current developments in experience design and human-robot interaction. We describe several important factors that contribute to designing dynamic interiors with empathetic characteristics. These include anthropomorphism, affective qualities of material embodiment, and modes of interaction such as mirroring – a combination of which could transform the “smart” interior into an emotionally charged one, and eventually a psychotropic one. Inhabitants in Ballard’s “psychotropic houses” find themselves in peculiar events, some of which fall beyond moral or legal judgement. This highlights how the social implications of our relationships with technologies should be on the agenda of designers in creating an “emotionally intelligent” interior future. Replacing the vague and overused term “smart” with “psychotropic” shifts emphasis to how nonhuman entities can affect our moods and behaviors, whilst moving beyond the digital to encompass the biological and the unimaginable.