( joseph.giacomin@brunel.ac.uk )

Joseph Giacomin is Director of the Human Centred Design Institute (HCDI) which performs research leading to products, systems and services which are physically, perceptually, cognitively and emotionally intuitive to their users. He teaches modules in Human Factors and in Perception Enhancement.

Joseph Giacomin performs research in the area of perception enhancement. The goal is to identify the key ambient stimuli which stimulate the detection and classification of real world events. The knowledge is built into the interfaces of products, systems and services, increasing interaction and emotional response. Perception enhancement is a multi-disciplinary activity involving elements of artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, digital signal processing, interaction design, philosophy, psychophysics, receptor physiology and social science. A particular emphasis of the research has been the information carrying potential and the sensory branding of automotive stimuli, such as those of the steering system. Mostly recently the emphasis has been on energy sixth sense, a new design approach for achieving energy and carbon emissions reduction though perceptual characteristics which stimulate emotion and emotional intelligence.

Joseph Giacomin has a Ph.D. from Sheffield University in the United Kingdom and has both Master's and Bachelor's degrees from the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. U.S.A.. He has worked for both the American military and the European automobile industry, where, as the head of the Human Factors Group of the Centro Ricerche Fiat in Turin he studied problems of vehicle ergonomics. Over the years he has participated in numerous EU and UK research projects and has produced more than 60 publications. Most recently he has published his book Thermal - seeing the world through 21st century eyes.

Joseph Giacomin is a member of the editorial boards of Ergonomics in Design, Ergonomics, and the International Journal of Vehicle Noise and Vibration (IJVNV). He is a Fellow of the UK Ergonomics Society (FErgS), a member of the Societá Italiana di Ergonomia (SIE), of the Associazione Per Il Disegno Industriale (ADI) and of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS). He is both a member of the management committee of the Doctorate Research Programme in Human Sciences of Universitá di Torino and a grant reviewer for the Italian Ministry for University Research (MUIR).