Intelligent Interfaces and Interaction
Vision
The i3 is a research group in human-computer interaction. It focus is on using a highly interdisciplinary approach borrowed from cognitive and social sciences for the design of interaction modalities for digital technologies.
The research objectives are at the same time technological—that is, developing innovative technologies—and social—that is, investigating how people use and benefit from these technologies.The emphasis is to investigate interactive experiences aimed at improving the quality of human interactions mediated by computers.
Contributions to Smart Cities and Communities
The unit provides competences in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, specifically for what concerns the involvement of users and other stakeholders in the processes of User-Centred and Participatory Design as well as in formative evaluations of digital technologies. The i3 unit has a particular expertise in conducting cross-disciplinary research and in investigating the use of digital technologies by communities of users.
Contributions to Artificial Intelligence
The unit contributes to the research in AI by investigating the design of intelligent interfaces, from ambient intelligence to tangible computing by exploiting personalized and adaptive systems. In particular, the unit conducts research on user interaction with AI-enhanced systems, including technology capable of understanding human behavior and of collaborating with humans in complex tasks, both in local settings and in remote activities. The unit has also experience in multimodal and ubiquitous interaction and in the design of tools for adaptive navigation in information rich spaces.
Other research directions
Other research and applicative fields include the design and evaluation of technology to support the quality of life in communities of citizens. Specifically, at present, we are involved in projects and activities to study interaction modalities explicitly designed for elderly users, the investigation of haptic output modalities for immediate communication in sport contexts and a tangible approach for digitally augmented experiences in cultural heritage settings and tourism.
Key projects and results
- Migrantech (Ministero degli Affari Esteri/Israeli Minister of Science and Technology) – The goal of the project is to investigate a new way of computer-mediated contact between immigrants/migrants and host population able to foster a shift toward less stereotypical attitudes. The approach has already been investigated in the context of a peace education program involving Israeli and Palestinian teenagers.
Families_Share (H2020 CAPS) – The objective of the project is to support families with childcare, parenting advice and after-school activities by implementing a bottom-up solutions to work/life balance, and to foster self-organizing neighborhoods and increase the effectiveness of participatory innovation by co-designing useful digital services. - ECOMODE (H2020) – The project aims at designing and implementing touch-less mobile devices for older adults and visually impaired people. The role of the i3 team is to design mid-air gestures and vision-assisted speech interaction for these users.
- Joint lab with Cognitive Science Department of Unitn – The lab has the goal of setting up an interdisciplinary context where to apply cognitive psychology in studying the impact of digital technologies on people’s life, as well as to apply computer science novel approaches to innovate psychology theory and practices. The lab will coordinate several research and educational initiatives already taking place among FBK researchers and faculties at the University of Trento.
