Link Campus University: Completed Research Grants

Design of interactive products for entertainment and education for children.

Start date: 08/09/2014
Game-based learning has considerable advantages that can be further enhanced by the introduction of new technologies. The integration of ICT technologies with children's products paves the way for the development of devices capable of having a positive influence on the developmental age: developing the child's creativity, imagination, manual skills, logic, association and coordination skills through shapes, sounds and colours. The scientific community is already particularly active on the topic, but the continuous evolution of digital and multimedia technologies requires greater attention on the part of product design, which must be able to achieve a deeper level of integration with the technological aspect. Therefore, new tools must be designed, taking into account the parameters belonging to the world of industrial design, the target audience and the constraints dictated by the integration of technologies.

Listening Smartcities. New narratives for new urbanities

Start date: 27/01/2014
The research project investigates the ways in which we can collect, interpret and visually represent the informationpotential that resides in everyday gestures and continuous interactions that take place within the new urban spaces. During the research, the topic of new hybrid urbanities is initially approached from a socio-anthropological perspective. Furthermore, the project aims to study the ways in which state-of-the-art technologies can be used to approach the theme of urban ethnography in an innovative manner, designing new narrative modes capable of witnessing faithfully the changes affecting the urban fabric. Therefore, the project will favour the development of new application scenarios aimed at the elaboration of new interactive topographies animated by aggregated flows of information that will keep track on what is happening within the city in real time.

Multi-scale approach to Smart Materials

Start Date: 01/06/2014
The smart materials are materials that possess the ability to adapt to external stimuli: they react to changes in their environment by modifying one or more of their properties (mechanical, optical, electrical, magnetic, chemical or thermal). Self-healing materials, composite materials, nanotechnologies and intelligent polymers represent product innovation that will have a major impact on issues such as greater energy efficiency, fashion and made in Italy, sustainability and safety, driving fundamental research in the direction of intelligent materials.
The research project investigates the latest technologies and methodologies that are emerging in the study and design of intelligent materials applied to engineering design.
The project will favour the development of a multiscale analysis that provides basic information useful for the application of intelligent materials in everyday use. Starting with a chemical-physical study at the nanoscopic level to improve the physical understanding of smart material systems, it will then proceed to a macroscopic analysis to design new functionalities and 'smart structures'. The aim is to formulate feasible design solutions that increase the deployment of such materials.

Interaction Design and digital communication for the Cultural Heritage Sector

Start date: 01/11/2013
The research project carries out a crucial analysis of the relationship between new technologies, new paradigms of interactive routes to cultural heritage, in order to build a methodology dedicated to the design of knowledge routes and exhibition spaces able to increase the communicative reach of cultural industry products and the involvement of visitors. For this purpose, we study the behaviour and expectations of the museum public and visitors in general using methods and techniques of social investigation, in order to develop new communicative metaphors and interactive solutions to make the enjoyment of cultural heritage more rewarding, educational and involving.

Accessible city: Communicating, moving and living in smart cities with assistive technologies

Start date: 01/11/2013
The research project starts from a scenario analysis on the user needs of social inclusion at a urban level, and investigates the use of new digital technologies to be applied as ad hoc solutions in urban spaces and furnishings to allow everyone to experience the city. First of all, the programme addresses the problems of accessibility related to communication and mobility processes in the urban fabric, reviewing the main solutions adopted in the context of smart cities both nationally and internationally. In this regard, the project will analyze the needs of citizens (in particular the needs of disadvantaged people) using the tools of social research. The project will then address the issue of the so-called assistive technologies, using the Deign for All rule with the aim of studying design solutions to favour the development of an inclusive city.

Collaborative creativity in the smart school: new paradigms of interaction in creative processes at school and at the university.

Start date: 27/01/2014
This research project aims to stimulate and develop the creative process, from the first years of school to the university age, through the design of software interfaces and intelligent objects capable of encouraging creative - collaborative activities related to music and drawing classes in the early school years and university courses such as DAMS and Design. The first research phase is devoted to the study of the school system, analysing teaching methodologies and collaborative learning processes in the field of art. Then interaction paradigms for software interfaces and intelligent objects used in the field of traditional and digital art production are analysed. The research project ends with the conception of new interaction systems capable of creating creative collaboration ecosystems for the identification and enhancement of artistic aptitudes in schools and universities.

Analysis and instructional design of massive online courses open to all (MOOC)

Start date: 05/03/2015
Study and realisation of the didactic model on the basis of which the modules of the e-learning course are realised and organised (macro-design): modularisation of the contents into Learning Objects (LO), differentiation of the LO, realisation of the learning paths. The research activity identifies the characteristics of the educational model for measuring, evaluating and ensuring educational effectiveness. Particular attention is paid to the motivational and attentional aspects of MOOCs. The research project investigates the use of simulation/interactivity methodologies, serious games and gamification. Evaluation methods should make it possible to measure the level of learning achieved and compare it with the objectives of the planned training intervention.

The New Sports Justice. Adaptation of Federal Legislation. Problems and critical issues

Start date: 20/05/2015
Sports Justice Reform of the Year 2014. The research effort is focused on the analysis of the structure of the New C.O.N.I. Sports Justice Code, which, for the first time, provides for an organic regulation of the sports process and federal proceedings, which have always been governed by internally effective Federal Justice Regulations. The study covers the characteristics of the Sports Justice Code: its structure, the justice bodies, the functions it regulates, as well as the issues related to the adaptation of federal regulations for each Olympic, non-Olympic and Paralympic sporting activity.