Massimiliano Zecca, Ph.D.

All is packed up now, as you can see in the picture. Just a bit over 3 years since I joined Loughborough University in 2014, it's time to leave my old W2.61 office and move to a new, exciting location! 😀 Starting from tomorrow (well, technically today, as it's just past 2AM now) these are my new contact info: Michael Pearson East, LP1.1.05 Sports Technology Institute Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering Loughborough University Loughborough, Leics LE11 3TU, UK Tel: +44 (0)1509 227122 Sports tech, here I come! 😀

Designing Workplaces That Think About Everyone: Our New Research on Cognitive Load and Inclusion

I'm excited to share some recent research I've been involved in, just published in Sensors : 👉 Fuzzy-Based Sensor Fusion for Cognitive Load Assessment in Inclusive Manufacturing Strategies At its core, this study looks at how we can make manufacturing environments more inclusive—starting from people with neurodiverse profiles like dyslexia (the easiest to simulate with healthy participants), and laying down the framework to help all types of neuroatypical operators. We designed a system that uses wearable sensors to track things like heart rate, electrodermal activity, and eye movement while participants completed assembly tasks. Then we fed that data into a fuzzy logic model to estimate their cognitive load —basically, how mentally demanding each task was. Oh, and yes—we used Duplo bricks for the assembly tasks. A great excuse to bring colourful plastic blocks into the lab and call it serious science. No regrets. ;-) Some of what we found: 🧠 Cognitive load shoots up ...

📝 Towards semiotically driven empirical studies of ballet as a communicative form 📝

This paper explores the use of dance as a way to communicate through movement, using classical ballet as an example. It examines how different approaches, such as linguistics, communication studies, and social semiotics, can be used to understand dance as a form of communication. The paper also discusses the use of technology, specifically motion capture technology, to track and study the physical movements of dance. It suggests that this approach can be used to better understand the relationship between movement and the meaning of dance, and can inform future research on the subject. The paper presents a specific method for studying ballet in this way and suggests how it can be applied to other forms of dance as well. You can read the paper on nature.com , and watch a couple of related videos on vimeo. Real-time FGD Concept video

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