The
progress of Information and Communication Technology is radically
changing the way people live, think, communicate, interact,
adding new dimensions and possibilities to human experience.
Success
in this change depends on the ability to design applications
centred on people needs and expectancies.
Within
this perspective, we face two important challenges: on the
one hand, identifying innovative and high-potential technologies;
on the other hand, applying them to improve individuals’
physical and mental quality, their productivity, their ability
to communicate, learn and share experiences.
The
Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab meets these objectives
by exploring opportunities offered by information and telecommunication
technologies to develop innovative tools, applications and
services for Psychology and Neuroscience.
The
basic assumption that drives our research is that individual,
society and technology are interacting dimensions in constant
evolution. Thus, projects developed by ATN-P Lab focus on
human factors involved in the use of technology and resulting
applications are centred on users’ needs.
Scientific
activities of ATN-P Lab range from basic to applied research
and are carried out by a multidisciplinary team that includes
experts of communication, psychology, ergonomics and computer
science.
Basic
research
Basic research focuses on the investigation of human factors
in virtual technologies, with particular reference to the
study of “presence”, the “sense of immersion”
elicited by mediated environments.
This topic is investigated from different perspectives, which
include the analysis of perceptual and cognitive processes
in virtual reality, the quality of experience associated to
the use of this medium as well as psycho-social and communication
aspects.
Applied
research
Thanks to the collaboration with primary universities and
companies, the ATN-P lab has consolidated strong competences
in the fields of virtual reality, human-computer interaction
and mediated communication.
The Lab applies these competences to develop innovative projects
in the following areas:
- Virtual Reality in Psychotherapy and Neuroscience
- Telemedicine
- Virtual Reality and emotional experience
- E-learning
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