Papers by Assunta Matassa
In the last years the interest for designing and implementing smart spaces grew signicantly. Many... more In the last years the interest for designing and implementing smart spaces grew signicantly. Many researches adopted a top-down approach, focusing on embedding smartness in buildings, objects and everyday artefacts. In my research work I propose a shift in the point of view and suggest the adoption of a user-centred design approach. This will lead to a new denition of smart spaces based on people needs and requirements and in which smartness is related to the capability of creating a personalised space that enables a deeper and emotional bond between an individual and the space itself. The main goal of my work is to propose a new interaction paradigm supporting natural and spontaneous ways of exchanging information between people and their surroundings. A further aim is the denition of a framework to support the construction of a personalised smart space.
With the help of the numerical renormalization group method, we theoretically investigate the Jos... more With the help of the numerical renormalization group method, we theoretically investigate the Josephson phase transition in a parallel junction with one quantum dot embedded in each arm. It is found that in the cases of uniform dot levels and dot-superconductor couplings, the Josephson phase transition will be suppressed. This is manifested as the fact that with the enhancement of the electron correlation, the supercurrent only arrives at its π phase but cannot enter its π phase. Moreover, when the dot levels are detuned, one π -phase island appears in the phase diagram. Such a result is attributed to the nonlocal motion of the Cooper pair in this structure. We believe that this work can be helpful in understanding the Josephson phase transition modified by the electron correlation and quantum interference.
IEEE Access, 2017
Recommenders have proven to be useful means to support people in their activities and in making d... more Recommenders have proven to be useful means to support people in their activities and in making decisions. They evolved from online recommenders to context-aware and ubiquitous recommenders. Moving forward along this line, this paper introduces the new emerging class of smart physical recommenders: context-aware recommender systems that are embedded into physical everyday objects. This paper describes the features of these systems and presents a conceptual model to design them, by analyzing a number of issues that have to be addressed by a designer and discussing the consequences of different design choices with their impact on the smartness of the designed object. The model is structured in a number of layers corresponding to different conceptual design phases in which different requirements are analyzed. The contribution of this paper is to discuss and provide design guidelines for a new rising class of recommenders that combine the features of intelligent agents, cyber-physical objects, and recommender-support systems. The description of the model is complemented by an exemplary analysis of its application.
Information Systems Frontiers, 2017
This paper is about characterizing intelligence in Smart Physical Objects, i.e., objects based on... more This paper is about characterizing intelligence in Smart Physical Objects, i.e., objects based on the tight and seamless integration of a physical and a digital counterpart. The design of these objects gives rise to new opportunities but requires taking into account a number of dimensions that contribute to smartness. In our view, supported by considerable literature on this subject, smart behavior is the result of proper combinations of several dimensions of intelligence. In the paper we analyze these dimensions, singling out different alternatives leading to different capabilities of smart objects. The contribution of the paper is to provide a framework to guide a designer in making decisions about smartness in the physical object being designed, starting from its requisites. At the same time the framework provides an effective guide to classify and compare smart physical objects according to the type and level of smartness they exhibit. We apply the approach to a set of smart physical objects showing its suitability and usefulness.
Proceedings of the 2016 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing: Adjunct, 2016
The workshop on "Full-Body and Multisensory Experience" aims at discussing the rich possibilities... more The workshop on "Full-Body and Multisensory Experience" aims at discussing the rich possibilities that the body offers to experience the external world and the prospects that arise for interaction designers when these often-neglected abilities are taken into account. In particular, the workshop will focus on the rediscovery of the human senses, either alone or in a multimodal combination, and of the perceptual-motor abilities of our body. The one-day workshop is divided in three steps: first phase is for the generation of ideas on multisensory interfaces, in the second phase, participants will have the possibilities to explore and rediscover their sensorimotor abilities through several exercises and games; in the third and last phase, there will be a further creative session in order to evaluate how the full body and multisensory activities have fostered people's creative processes. The aim of the whole experience is twofold: first, inspiring participants in designing novel concepts for multisensory interfaces; second, providing a preliminary study on the effect of these exercises in fostering creativity and supporting the design process of multisensory interfaces.
Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, 2015
In this paper we suggest a design research method for eliciting affordances and new meanings for ... more In this paper we suggest a design research method for eliciting affordances and new meanings for Smart Objects in the Internet of Things Era. After an introduction to the topic and the description of some open issues, we propose to adopt a Critical Design approach, where the role of Ambiguity is twofold: on the one hand, it is the objective of the observation for defining a set of ambiguous objects or affordances; on the other hand, it is the result of a design conceptualization of smart objects aiming at provoking cognitive dissonance and finalized to understand people adaptation processes and behaviors.
Proceedings of the The First International Conference on IoT in Urban Space, 2014
This paper focuses on the use of the critical design approach to analyze and understand the conne... more This paper focuses on the use of the critical design approach to analyze and understand the connection between human beings and urban spaces. Taking inspiration from the value that place and space have for people (e.g. for the construction of their individual identities) and from previous works concerning memories in the urban space experienced while cycling, we propose to undertake a design research where ambiguous and cognitively dissonant messages are delivered through a wearable device to encourage individuals to rethink and revalue their relations with space, consequently reshaping their personal identity.
In the last years the interest for designing and implementing smart spaces grew significantly. Ma... more In the last years the interest for designing and implementing smart spaces grew significantly. Many researchers adopted a top-down approach, focusing on embedding smartness in buildings, objects and everyday artefacts. In my research work I propose the adoption of a usercentred design approach to reach a new definition of smart spaces based on people's needs and requirements. The main goal will be the definition of a new interaction paradigm supporting natural and spontaneous ways of exchanging information between people and their surroundings.
Proceedings of the 2013 ACM conference on Pervasive and ubiquitous computing adjunct publication - UbiComp '13 Adjunct, 2013
In this paper we present a wearable interactive system that has the aim to strengthen the bond be... more In this paper we present a wearable interactive system that has the aim to strengthen the bond between individuals and urban spaces, leveraging the personal memories of the citizens.
Proceedings of the 2013 ACM conference on Pervasive and ubiquitous computing adjunct publication - UbiComp '13 Adjunct, 2013
In this paper we present a wearable interactive system that has the aim to strengthen the bond be... more In this paper we present a wearable interactive system that has the aim to strengthen the bond between individuals and urban spaces, leveraging the personal memories of the citizens.
In this paper we aim to explore how memories can be tied to the context in which they take form a... more In this paper we aim to explore how memories can be tied to the context in which they take form and how the process of remembering can be triggered by spatial cues. Through two usage scenarios, we propose the concept of a mobile application that is able to enhance the reminiscence of past episodes, by mapping them on the places in which they happened. The final aim is to provide a " qualitative " representation of the user's spaces, where their physical properties, such as sizes and distances, are merged with user's personal experiences, emotions, values and priorities.
Our research question is the role of body in a Ubiquitous era. To answer this question, we propos... more Our research question is the role of body in a Ubiquitous era. To answer this question, we propose a study for the design of an innovative gestural corpus to allow a natural, simple interaction and communication in social smart space through the body. The goals of this work are 1) to examine the relation between body and space in Ubiquitous era; 2) to investigate the potential of body and senses to improve one's ability to interact with surroundings; 3) to present a study for a new gestural corpus for smart spaces, adopting a bodystorming approach. This paper introduces the general approach, describes our current statement of research and outlines the planned study design.
The ubiquitous computing era is bringing to the human the possibility to interact always and ever... more The ubiquitous computing era is bringing to the human the possibility to interact always and everywhere with digital information. However, the interaction means used to access this information exploit only few of the human sensorimotor abilities. Most of these interactions happen through traditional desktop or mobile interfaces, which often involve just vision and hearing senses and require the movement of only one finger. The aim of this workshop is rediscovering the role of human body and senses, focusing on abilities that are often forgotten by the HCI designers, in order to provide new body experiences through the design of novel interactions in smart environments. The focus of this workshop will go beyond the mere design of multimodal interfaces and will exploit theories of embodied cognition to design new full-body experiences to explore ambient space and, more in general, the environment.
This position paper proposes a study for designing a smart plantar supporting correct body behavi... more This position paper proposes a study for designing a smart plantar supporting correct body behaviour during sport activities. The plantar allows people to monitor their movements during sport activities in order to reveal and predict any eventual incorrect behaviour. The combination with a mobile application for storing and retrieving collected data allows the users to visualise and analyse these data. This paper introduces the approach we are adopting, describes the current status of research and outlines the future steps.
Quantified Self movement allows to collect a lot of personal data which can be used to nurture th... more Quantified Self movement allows to collect a lot of personal data which can be used to nurture the model of the users. Evenly, when aggregated, these personal data become a picture of the people of a space in a City Model. This model can be fed also by data coming from crowdsensing. The resulting City Model can be used to provide personalized services to citizen, and to increase people awareness about their behaviour that can help in promoting collective behavioural change. The paper describes a preliminary step in the latter direction.
In this paper we suggest a design research method for eliciting affordances and new meanings in S... more In this paper we suggest a design research method for eliciting affordances and new meanings in Smart Objects in the Internet of Things Era. After an introduction to the topic and the description of some open issue, we propose to adopt a Critical Design approach, where the role of Ambiguity is twofold: on one hand it is the objective of the observation to define a set of ambiguous objects or affordance; on the other hand it is the results of a design conceptualization of smart objects aiming at provoking cognitive dissonance and finalized to understand adaptation processes and behaviors.
The paper presents a wearable system, distributed in the garments and on the bicycle, that enable... more The paper presents a wearable system, distributed in the garments and on the bicycle, that enables the user to manage "memories" in order to change the humanenvironment affective interaction. The goal is to exploit wearable technologies in order to create a new form of interaction with urban spaces.
In this paper we present a wearable interactive system that has the aim to strengthen the bond be... more In this paper we present a wearable interactive system that has the aim to strengthen the bond between individuals and urban spaces, leveraging the personal memories of the citizens.
Starting from the difference between "place" and "space", we propose to define the concept of hyb... more Starting from the difference between "place" and "space", we propose to define the concept of hybrid space for characterizing a place in which people and technologies cohabit in a synergic way. Having this goal in mind and aiming at sustainable mobility, we focused on biking as a way of living urban spaces and we interviewed a group of people with the aim of discovering the relations between these notions. After analyzing the results of the interviews, we propose to adopt a critical design approach to encourage the reflection about the perceptions of place and space from users to define the concept of hybrid space as a pleasure place in which people live and with they build an affective relation.
Taking inspiration from the value that place and space have for people (e.g. for the construction... more Taking inspiration from the value that place and space have for people (e.g. for the construction of their individual identities) and from previous works concerning memories in the urban space experienced while cycling, we propose how to design an experiment where ambiguous and cognitively dissonant messages are delivered through a wearable device to encourage individuals to rethink their relations with space.
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Papers by Assunta Matassa