Joseph Giacomin - Professor

Research interests include perception enhancement systems, multimodal perception and sensory evaluation techniques in human-product interactions. Particular emphasis is placed on the measurement of human subjective response to hearing and tactile sensory stimuli in automotive applications so as to understand the key stimulus parameters which are perceptually and emotionally meaningful to the driver. My research interests cover also the areas of signal data acquisition, signal processing analysis and psychophysical scaling methods of vibro-acoustic stimuli.

My research is focused on the human emotional response to hand-arm steering wheel vibration in automobiles. The main aim is to develop a methodology for evaluating the affective behaviour and driving feel of steering wheel rotational vibration for automobile drivers. Psychophysical tests protocol of human subjective responses to vibration are being performed in a laboratory setting by exposing test participants to representative steering wheel vibration stimuli recorded from field measurements in automobiles over several road surface types.

My project aims to apply the principles of energy sixth sense to the office environment. My research focused on energy behaviours in the commercial building environment and how personas could help the design of energy sixth sense products for that specific context. In addition, I developed an emotionally engaging animation connected to the energy monitoring system of the building and displayed in the information screen of the lobby's café. The purpose of this system is to increase office worker's awareness of the energy they consume at their workplace, with the longer term goal of energy saving and behavioural change. The animation was tested in Arup's headquarters for a couple weeks and can be viewed at http://www.antoine-auriol.com/energy-sixth-sense-for-commercial-buildings-demo/

My research focuses on the human perception of thermal images, considered as a possible "energy six sense" in our daily life. The main idea is to make energy easily perceivable and understandable by everyone. Psychology and Biomedical Engineering are involved in this project to develop a method of evaluating the human perceptual, cognitive and emotional responses to thermal images. The objective is to understand the potential for achieving understanding and behavioural change when thermal imaging is incorporated into things as diverse as the home thermostat or the car dashboard.