Professional Profile
He works in Interaction Design and Human-Machine Interaction, operating across both the industrial and academic worlds for over twenty years. His professional and research interests focus in particular on the design of adaptive interfaces for driving support, cognitive ergonomics, and user experience in advanced technological contexts.
His current research focuses on the integration of artificial intelligence, sensory systems, and user interfaces in complex sociotechnical systems.
Education, Academic Activities and Teaching
He graduated in Communication Sciences in 1997 from the University of Rome "La Sapienza" with full marks and honours (110/110 cum laude), with a thesis on the convergence of the media, telecommunications, and computer industries. He obtained his PhD in Telematics and Information Society in 2005 from the University of Florence, with a thesis entitled "Safety and Driver's Information: Designing Adaptive In-Vehicle User Interface".
Following an experience as a research fellow in 1998 at the FIAT Research Centre, funded by the Associazione Tecnica dell'Automobile (ATA), working on a project dedicated to the development of a Human-Machine Interface for next-generation on-board vehicle information systems, he continued as a researcher at the same organisation between 1999 and 2003, developing national and European projects on the forms of interaction between new safety systems for driving support, telematics, and the driver.
He subsequently became coordinator of the Human Machine Interaction Research Group at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, a role he held from 2004 to 2012. From 2015 to 2024, he served as Extraordinary Professor of Interaction Design and Human-Machine Interaction (ICAR 13) under Article 1, Paragraph 12 of Law 230/2005 at the Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa in Naples.
Throughout his teaching career, which is ongoing, he has taught and continues to teach: HMI for Digital Applications, Interaction Design, Cognitive Ergonomics, Human-Machine Interaction, Usability of Human-Machine Interfaces, Technologies for Cultural Heritage, Human-Machine Interaction with Multimedia Interaction Elements, Information and Communication Technology, and Digital Design and Graphics.
He was a Visiting Scholar at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge (Massachusetts) within the Smart Cities Group from June 2008 to June 2009, working on a project focused on the development of a vehicle interface based on advanced visual and gestural interaction. He has also served as Visiting Professor in Human Factors and Intelligent Transport System Design at the Loughborough University Design School (UK) in the periods 2013–2014 and 2023–2025.
Scientific Activities
He has participated in numerous national and international research programmes, including European projects funded under Framework Programmes 5, 6, and 7, Horizon 2020, and the current Horizon Europe, as well as joint programmes such as ARTEMIS and EXCEL. These include: COMUNICAR, AIDE, SAFERIDER, TELEFOT, SAFEWAY2SCHOOL, DESERVE, RESOLVE, AutoMate, SAFESTRIP, Prystine, and NextPerception.
In many of these, he has held roles of scientific and technical coordination within the international partnership.
He holds five international patents in the automotive and interface systems domain, registered between 2000 and 2008 on behalf of FIAT AUTO, CRF, and Ferrari S.p.A.
He is the author of over 142 scientific publications, of which 44 have been selected as the most significant from the last ten years, in international journals and conferences in the fields of interaction design, cognitive ergonomics, and intelligent transport systems.
Professional Activities and Roles
Co-founder of RE:LAB S.r.l. since 2004, a spin-off of the Human Machine Interaction Research Group at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, where he serves as Director of the Research and Development area. RE:LAB operates in the domain of Interaction Design, ergonomics, User Experience, and Interaction Engineering, designing, developing, and validating interaction systems in fields such as automotive, transportation, cultural heritage, and complex sociotechnical systems.
Since 2012, he has been Scientific and Technical Director of the interdepartmental research and design centre SCIENZA NUOVA at the Università Suor Orsola Benincasa, with responsibility for the technical and scientific coordination of research activities on the integration between new technologies and the humanities, with particular reference to design, cultural heritage, and complex sociotechnical systems.
Since 2016, he has been a member of the Doctoral Faculty Board in the areas of interaction and integration between the Humanities and Advanced Technologies at the Università Suor Orsola Benincasa.
He has served as a member of evaluation committees for international doctoral theses, including at the Universidad de Granada (2011 and 2015). From 2012 to 2013, he held the role of Coordinator of International Research Projects at ICOOR (Interuniversity Consortium for Optimization and Operation Research).
