Information updated until 30/06/2026 CODE 90703 ACADEMIC YEAR 2026/2027 CREDITS 6 cfu anno 2 DIGITAL HUMANITIES - INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS AND DIGITAL MEDIA 11945 (LM-92 R) - GENOVA SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINARY SECTOR ING-INF/05 LANGUAGE English TEACHING LOCATION GENOVA SEMESTER 1° Semester MODULES Questo insegnamento è un modulo di: CULTURAL WELFARE TECHNOLOGIES AIMS AND CONTENT LEARNING OUTCOMES The objective of this module is to provide students with the following skills: 1) How technology can support the development of rehabilitation models, paradigms and protocols in which playful and active interaction between different sensory channels (visual, gestural, sound) can offer vicarious experiences in cases of perceptual deprivation (low vision, reduced mobility) or unconventional (physical or cognitive enhancement tools); 2) How to design new interactive tools for fitness/wellness/healthy living. AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges the positive effects of the arts on health, considering a variety of factors including physical well-being, quality of life, and social and community impact. The model that underlies cultural welfare puts the performing arts, visual arts, and cultural heritage at the service of people personal and societal well-being. The objective of this module is to provide students with the theoretical, methodological, and practical knowledge aiming at exploiting art and culture as healing for people, a source of wellness for communities and territories. To this aim, the course will provide the following skills: 1) How art and technology can support the development of rehabilitation models, paradigms and protocols in which active interaction between different sensory channels (visual, gestural, sound, haptic) can offer vicarious experiences in cases of perceptual deprivation (e.g., low vision, reduced mobility) or unconventional (physical or cognitive enhancement tools); 2) How to design new interactive tools for fitness/wellness/healthy living at both individual and societal levels. The course provides the basic multi- and trans-disciplinary theoretical foundations, techniques, and knowledge on the use of interactive multimodal technologies necessary to the mastery of advanced interaction design techniques for the develoopment of embodied interactive systems for health and wellbeing characterized by the intersection of science, technology and art. TEACHING METHODS Lectures and lab experimental activities, using the premise and the technological infrastructure at the InfoMus-Casa Paganini Research Centre (www.casapaganini.org), including a 30-camera Qualisys motion capture system, various sensing technologies and multichannel audio technologies. In person participation to the course lessons is therefore strongly engouraged. SYLLABUS/CONTENT Introduction to the multidisciplinary sector of cultural welfare Foundations of human movement science and cognitive neuroscience research and biomechanics; Hogan&Sternad discrete Vs periodic movement; characteristics of human movement: 2/3 power law, minimum jerk law, smoothness, anthropometric tables. Artistic theories on expressive gesture: Rudolf Laban’s Effort Theory; gesture theories in music performance research. The Layered Model on expressive gesture; multimodal features; mid-level expressive features; individual and group multi-layer features. Cross-sensory correspondences; amodal features. Interactive sonification of expressive human movement. Recent approach to Interaction Design techniques: digital nudging and persuasive technologies; emotional and social interfaces; embodied and soma interaction design; integration of artistic theories and culture in ID. Analysis and practical laboratory experiences derived from previous and ongoing successful projects and interactive systems, showing how the fundamental theoretical frameworks and embodied interaction design techniques apply to multimodal cultural welfare applications. The following successful multimodal applications and projects will be analysed: Multimodal applications for museums and science centers (Museum Enrico Caruso, Firenze; Virtual Binocular, Palazzo Ducale, Genova; hands-on exhibits for the Città della Scienza, Napoli; Music Atelier at Città dei Bambini Genova); Multimodal applications and protocols for therapy and rehabilitation: the interactive systems for the ARIEL Joint Lab at Gaslini Children Hospital; the interactive system for Parkinson, Ospedale La Colletta, Arenzano; The DanzArTe-Emotional Wellbeing Project and the RespirArTe Project for the treatment of older people in the in-hospital apartment at Galliera Hospital, and for multimodal active experience of visual art grounded on expressive gesture analysis and interactive sonification. Interactive application prototypes will be developed by the students, in small groups, simulating the incupadion process of startups, in collaboration with the other modules of this course. Collaborations with other institutions, European projects, industry partners and artists collaborating with the InfoMus-Casa Paganini Research Centre will be part of the lab activities during the semester, concluding with a public final event. RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY Scientific papers and other materials are available in the Shared Resources in the Teams class of the course. Students not attending the course are invited to contact the teacher in advance to define the modalities for the study and the exam. Given the paramount importance of the lab activities, in person physical participation to the lessons is strongly encouraged. Sharp, H., Rogers, Y., & Preece, J. (2023). Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction, 6th Ed., Wiley. TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD ANTONIO CAMURRI Ricevimento: In-person or online meetings on request by email to antonio.camurri@unige.it. Online meetings will be on the Teams class of the course, meetings in presence will be at InfoMus-Casa Paganini, Piazza S.Maria in Passione 34, www.casapaganini.org LESSONS LESSONS START https://easyacademy.unige.it/portalestudenti/ Class schedule The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy EXAMS EXAM DESCRIPTION The exam is based on a continuous evaluation of a course projects developed during the semester, and concluding with a public event/showcase of the interactive installations developed by students during the course. ASSESSMENT METHODS Continuous evaluation during the semester and final oral exam. FURTHER INFORMATION Students with disabilities or learning disorders are allowed to use specific modalities and supports that will be determined on a case-by-case basis in agreement with the Delegate of the Engineering courses in the Committee for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities. Students are invited to contact the teacher of this course and copy the Delegate (https://unige.it/commissioni/comitatoperlinclusionedeglistudenticondisabilita.html).
