2026
Conference article
Open Access
Exploring the entertainment potential of personalised LLM-based serious games with humanoid robots
Canapa Giulio, Catricalà Benedetta, Manca Marco, Paternò Fabio, Santoro Carmelina, Zedda Eleonora
Serious games are increasingly being considered in several fields, offering opportunities that traditional methods cannot easily replicate. In this perspective, Large Language Models (LLMs) and social robots have begun to be considered as means to enhance engagement and user experience in serious games: the former by generating content tailored to users' specific needs, and the latter by exploiting their embodiment and reinforcing feedback through speech and animations. We investigated the entertainment potential of two personalised serious games that combine an LLM and a humanoid robot in a science outreach setting. The games, deployed through a Pepper robot, used GPT-4o support in order to personalise a collaboratively created story and a quiz game based on users’ information and choices. Analysis of user ratings and qualitative feedback from 33 users indicates that games combining LLM-based personalisation and interaction with a humanoid robot were well-received, offering an entertaining and enjoyable experience.DOI: 10.1145/3742414.3795099
Project(s): SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training
Metrics:
Canapa Giulio, Catricalà Benedetta, Manca Marco, Paternò Fabio, Santoro Carmelina, Zedda Eleonora
Serious games are increasingly being considered in several fields, offering opportunities that traditional methods cannot easily replicate. In this perspective, Large Language Models (LLMs) and social robots have begun to be considered as means to enhance engagement and user experience in serious games: the former by generating content tailored to users' specific needs, and the latter by exploiting their embodiment and reinforcing feedback through speech and animations. We investigated the entertainment potential of two personalised serious games that combine an LLM and a humanoid robot in a science outreach setting. The games, deployed through a Pepper robot, used GPT-4o support in order to personalise a collaboratively created story and a quiz game based on users’ information and choices. Analysis of user ratings and qualitative feedback from 33 users indicates that games combining LLM-based personalisation and interaction with a humanoid robot were well-received, offering an entertaining and enjoyable experience.DOI: 10.1145/3742414.3795099
Project(s): SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training
Metrics:
See at:
dl.acm.org 
| CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS 
| CNR IRIS
2025
Other
Open Access
Personalised serious games with humanoid robots for older adults cognitive training
Canapa G., Catricalà B., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C., Zedda E.
This paper outlines the experiences in the SERENI project concerning the development and evolution of a humanoid robot-based platform for personalized cognitive training aimed at supporting older adults with cognitive decline . Using a humanoid robot and the Remind web application [1], the platform developed tailor serious games to users' personal memories. Iterative improvements introduced adaptive difficulty, diverse robot personalities, and AI-driven personalization to enhance user engagement, inclusivity, and empowerment. Findings highlight the importance of personalization and adaptability in fostering emotional connection, active participation, and a sense of empowerment for users, demonstrating the potential of humanoid robots to support cognitive health in aging populations.Project(s): SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training
Canapa G., Catricalà B., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C., Zedda E.
This paper outlines the experiences in the SERENI project concerning the development and evolution of a humanoid robot-based platform for personalized cognitive training aimed at supporting older adults with cognitive decline . Using a humanoid robot and the Remind web application [1], the platform developed tailor serious games to users' personal memories. Iterative improvements introduced adaptive difficulty, diverse robot personalities, and AI-driven personalization to enhance user engagement, inclusivity, and empowerment. Findings highlight the importance of personalization and adaptability in fostering emotional connection, active participation, and a sense of empowerment for users, demonstrating the potential of humanoid robots to support cognitive health in aging populations.Project(s): SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training
See at:
CNR IRIS | r4h-workshop.github.io | CNR IRIS
2025
Conference article
Open Access
Pepper-based serious games for older adults: initial experiences in real-world settings (short paper)
Canapa G., Catricalà B., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C., Zedda E.
Social robotics for supporting cognitive stimulation of older adults has been investigated in recent years but it has not been adopted in the real world. To better understand how it can be deployed in such settings, we have carried out a trial in a healthcare residence. A set of games able to automatically personalise their interactions according to user memories has been designed and implemented in a Pepper robot. The games aim to stimulate cognitive resources such as memory and attention. In this paper, we introduce the approach proposed, how it has been proposed in a residential health care facility for older adults, and discuss the initial feedback received.Source: CEUR WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS, vol. 3957, pp. 465-473. Cagliari, Italy, 24/03/2025
Project(s): SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training
Canapa G., Catricalà B., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C., Zedda E.
Social robotics for supporting cognitive stimulation of older adults has been investigated in recent years but it has not been adopted in the real world. To better understand how it can be deployed in such settings, we have carried out a trial in a healthcare residence. A set of games able to automatically personalise their interactions according to user memories has been designed and implemented in a Pepper robot. The games aim to stimulate cognitive resources such as memory and attention. In this paper, we introduce the approach proposed, how it has been proposed in a residential health care facility for older adults, and discuss the initial feedback received.Source: CEUR WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS, vol. 3957, pp. 465-473. Cagliari, Italy, 24/03/2025
Project(s): SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training
See at:
ceur-ws.org | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS
2025
Journal article
Open Access
Combined accessibility validation and monitoring of web sites and PDF documents
Iannuzzi N., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C.
Accessibility validation of online digital content through automatic tools has been addressed in limited terms. There is a need for a holistic approach to accessibility validation, able to align well with the goals of public organisations and accessibility authorities. In this perspective, one main issue is that usually such tools aim to assess either the web content, or the PDF documents, but not both. However, users need that all the content be accessible, regardless of the format used, thus it would be helpful to have tools able to perform a combined analysis of both web pages, and PDF files connected with such pages. This combined approach to accessibility validation, beyond providing a more complete and coherent view on the accessibility supported for everyone, would also be important for accessibility authorities (who must monitor the state of accessibility on a large scale, e.g., to comply with the EU WAD Directive), as well as for public organisations (since they could incur in legal risks and potential lawsuits, if only web pages are compliant). Indeed, a combined accessibility analysis would help them to identify the sites that need more interventions and would also be useful more generally to stimulate web developers and content providers to pay attention to both aspects. In this paper, we present how a tool that originally supported Web accessibility validation only, has been extended to include in the supported accessibility analysis also PDF files, to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the evaluated content. We describe the tasks it supports, the possible use cases, as well as some results obtained in a large-scale combined validation (Web and PDF content), carried out on Italian public service websites. The paper also reports the results of a user study carried out to understand the usability of the features that were added to the tool to support the validation of the accessibility of both web and PDF content.Source: UNIVERSAL ACCESS IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
DOI: 10.1007/s10209-025-01194-7
Project(s): Monitoraggio dell'accessibilità web della pubblica amministrazione italiana
Metrics:
Iannuzzi N., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C.
Accessibility validation of online digital content through automatic tools has been addressed in limited terms. There is a need for a holistic approach to accessibility validation, able to align well with the goals of public organisations and accessibility authorities. In this perspective, one main issue is that usually such tools aim to assess either the web content, or the PDF documents, but not both. However, users need that all the content be accessible, regardless of the format used, thus it would be helpful to have tools able to perform a combined analysis of both web pages, and PDF files connected with such pages. This combined approach to accessibility validation, beyond providing a more complete and coherent view on the accessibility supported for everyone, would also be important for accessibility authorities (who must monitor the state of accessibility on a large scale, e.g., to comply with the EU WAD Directive), as well as for public organisations (since they could incur in legal risks and potential lawsuits, if only web pages are compliant). Indeed, a combined accessibility analysis would help them to identify the sites that need more interventions and would also be useful more generally to stimulate web developers and content providers to pay attention to both aspects. In this paper, we present how a tool that originally supported Web accessibility validation only, has been extended to include in the supported accessibility analysis also PDF files, to provide a more comprehensive assessment of the evaluated content. We describe the tasks it supports, the possible use cases, as well as some results obtained in a large-scale combined validation (Web and PDF content), carried out on Italian public service websites. The paper also reports the results of a user study carried out to understand the usability of the features that were added to the tool to support the validation of the accessibility of both web and PDF content.Source: UNIVERSAL ACCESS IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
DOI: 10.1007/s10209-025-01194-7
Project(s): Monitoraggio dell'accessibilità web della pubblica amministrazione italiana
Metrics:
See at:
CNR IRIS | link.springer.com | CNR IRIS
2025
Contribution to book
Open Access
Empowering end-user in creating extended reality content with a conversational chatbot
Mereu J., Artizzu V., Carcangiu A., Spano L. D., Simeoli L., Mattioli A., Manca M., Santoro C., Paternò F.
Recent advancements in eXtended Reality (XR) technologies have found application across diverse domains. However, creating complex interactions within XR environments remains challenging for nontechnical users. In this work, we present EUD4XR, a project aiming to: i) empower end-user developers (EUDevs) to customize XR environments by supporting virtual objects and physical devices; ii) involve an intelligent conversational agent which assists the user in defining behaviours. The agent can handle multimodal input, to drive the EUDev during the rule authoring process, using contextual knowledge of the virtual environment and its elements. By integrating conversational assistance, EUD4XR seeks to lower further the usage barriers for end-users to personalize XR experiences according to their needs.Source: LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, vol. 15518, pp. 126-137
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-91760-8_9
Project(s): EUD4XR: End-User Development for eXtended Reality
Metrics:
Mereu J., Artizzu V., Carcangiu A., Spano L. D., Simeoli L., Mattioli A., Manca M., Santoro C., Paternò F.
Recent advancements in eXtended Reality (XR) technologies have found application across diverse domains. However, creating complex interactions within XR environments remains challenging for nontechnical users. In this work, we present EUD4XR, a project aiming to: i) empower end-user developers (EUDevs) to customize XR environments by supporting virtual objects and physical devices; ii) involve an intelligent conversational agent which assists the user in defining behaviours. The agent can handle multimodal input, to drive the EUDev during the rule authoring process, using contextual knowledge of the virtual environment and its elements. By integrating conversational assistance, EUD4XR seeks to lower further the usage barriers for end-users to personalize XR experiences according to their needs.Source: LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, vol. 15518, pp. 126-137
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-91760-8_9
Project(s): EUD4XR: End-User Development for eXtended Reality
Metrics:
See at:
CNR IRIS | link.springer.com | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS
2025
Other
Open Access
ISTI-day 2025 Proceedings
Del Corso G., Pedrotti A., Federico G., Gennaro C., Carrara F., Amato G., Di Benedetto M., Gabrielli E., Belli D., Matrullo Zoe, Miori V., Tolomei Gabriele, Waheed T., Marchetti E., Calabrò Antonello., Rossetti G., Stella Massimo, Cazabet Rémy, Abramski K., Cau E., Citraro S., Failla A., Mesina V., Morini V., Pansanella V., Colantonio S., Germanese D., Pascali M. A., Bianchi L., Messina N., Falchi F., Barsellotti L., Pacini G., Cassese M., Puccetti G., Esuli A., Volpi L., Moreo Alejandro, Sebastiani F., Sperduti G., Nguyen Dong, Broccia G., Ter Beek M. H., Ferrari A., Massink M., Belmonte Gina, Ciancia V., Papini O., Canapa G., Catricalà B., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C., Zedda E., Gallo S., Maenza S., Mattioli A., Simeoli L., Rucci D., Carlini E., Dazzi P., Kavalionak H., Mordacchini M., Rulli C., Muntean Cristina Ioana, Nardini F. M., Perego R., Rocchietti G., Lettich F., Renso C., Pugliese C., Casini G., Haldimann Jonas, Meyer Thomas, Assante M., Candela L., Dell'Amico A., Frosini L., Mangiacrapa F., Oliviero A., Pagano P., Panichi G., Peccerillo B., Procaccini M., Mannocci A., Manghi P., Lonetti F., Kang Dongjae, Di Giandomenico F., Jee Eunkyoung, Lazzini G., Conti F., Scopigno R., D'Acunto M., Moroni D., Cafiso M., Paradisi P., Callieri M., Pavoni G., Corsini M., De Falco A., Sala F., Saraceni Q., Gattiglia Gabriele
ISTI-Day is an annual information and networking event organized by the Institute of Information Science and Technologies "A. Faedo" (ISTI) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). This event features an opening talk of the Director of the Dept. DIITET (Emilio F. Campana) as well as an overview of the Institute's activities presented by the ISTI Director (Roberto Scopigno). Those institutional segments are complemented by dedicated presentations and round tables featuring former staff members, as well as internal and external collaborators. To foster a network of knowledge and collaboration among newcomers, the 2025 ISTI Day edition also includes a large poster session that provides a comprehensive overview of current research activities. Each of the 13 laboratories contributes 1–3 posters, highlighting the most innovative work and offering early-career researchers a platform for discussion. Thus these proceedings include the posters selected for ISTI-Day 2025, reflecting the diverse and innovative nature of the Institute's research.
Del Corso G., Pedrotti A., Federico G., Gennaro C., Carrara F., Amato G., Di Benedetto M., Gabrielli E., Belli D., Matrullo Zoe, Miori V., Tolomei Gabriele, Waheed T., Marchetti E., Calabrò Antonello., Rossetti G., Stella Massimo, Cazabet Rémy, Abramski K., Cau E., Citraro S., Failla A., Mesina V., Morini V., Pansanella V., Colantonio S., Germanese D., Pascali M. A., Bianchi L., Messina N., Falchi F., Barsellotti L., Pacini G., Cassese M., Puccetti G., Esuli A., Volpi L., Moreo Alejandro, Sebastiani F., Sperduti G., Nguyen Dong, Broccia G., Ter Beek M. H., Ferrari A., Massink M., Belmonte Gina, Ciancia V., Papini O., Canapa G., Catricalà B., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C., Zedda E., Gallo S., Maenza S., Mattioli A., Simeoli L., Rucci D., Carlini E., Dazzi P., Kavalionak H., Mordacchini M., Rulli C., Muntean Cristina Ioana, Nardini F. M., Perego R., Rocchietti G., Lettich F., Renso C., Pugliese C., Casini G., Haldimann Jonas, Meyer Thomas, Assante M., Candela L., Dell'Amico A., Frosini L., Mangiacrapa F., Oliviero A., Pagano P., Panichi G., Peccerillo B., Procaccini M., Mannocci A., Manghi P., Lonetti F., Kang Dongjae, Di Giandomenico F., Jee Eunkyoung, Lazzini G., Conti F., Scopigno R., D'Acunto M., Moroni D., Cafiso M., Paradisi P., Callieri M., Pavoni G., Corsini M., De Falco A., Sala F., Saraceni Q., Gattiglia Gabriele
ISTI-Day is an annual information and networking event organized by the Institute of Information Science and Technologies "A. Faedo" (ISTI) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). This event features an opening talk of the Director of the Dept. DIITET (Emilio F. Campana) as well as an overview of the Institute's activities presented by the ISTI Director (Roberto Scopigno). Those institutional segments are complemented by dedicated presentations and round tables featuring former staff members, as well as internal and external collaborators. To foster a network of knowledge and collaboration among newcomers, the 2025 ISTI Day edition also includes a large poster session that provides a comprehensive overview of current research activities. Each of the 13 laboratories contributes 1–3 posters, highlighting the most innovative work and offering early-career researchers a platform for discussion. Thus these proceedings include the posters selected for ISTI-Day 2025, reflecting the diverse and innovative nature of the Institute's research.
See at:
CNR IRIS | www.isti.cnr.it | CNR IRIS
2025
Journal article
Open Access
Adaptive humanoid robot behaviour in a serious game scenario through reinforcement learning
Zedda E., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C.
The study presents an adaptive technique that enables a humanoid robot to select appropriate actions to maintain the engagement level of users while they play a serious game for cognitive training. The goal is to design and develop an adaptation strategy for changing the robot's behaviour based on Reinforcement Learning (RL) to encourage the user to remain engaged. Initially, we trained the algorithm in a simulated environment before moving on to a real user experiment. Thus, we first design, develop, and validate the RL strategy in a simulated environment. Subsequently, we integrate the trained policy into the robotic system, allowing it to select the best actions based on the detected user state during real user test. The RL algorithm was designed and implemented to determine an effective adaptation strategy for the robot's actions, encompassing verbal and non-verbal interactions. The proposed solution was first trained in a simulated environment and then tested with 28 users in a mixed-method design study.Source: BEHAVIOUR & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, pp. 1-26
DOI: 10.1080/0144929x.2025.2456068
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929x.2025.2456068
Project(s): SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training
Metrics:
Zedda E., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C.
The study presents an adaptive technique that enables a humanoid robot to select appropriate actions to maintain the engagement level of users while they play a serious game for cognitive training. The goal is to design and develop an adaptation strategy for changing the robot's behaviour based on Reinforcement Learning (RL) to encourage the user to remain engaged. Initially, we trained the algorithm in a simulated environment before moving on to a real user experiment. Thus, we first design, develop, and validate the RL strategy in a simulated environment. Subsequently, we integrate the trained policy into the robotic system, allowing it to select the best actions based on the detected user state during real user test. The RL algorithm was designed and implemented to determine an effective adaptation strategy for the robot's actions, encompassing verbal and non-verbal interactions. The proposed solution was first trained in a simulated environment and then tested with 28 users in a mixed-method design study.Source: BEHAVIOUR & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, pp. 1-26
DOI: 10.1080/0144929x.2025.2456068
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929x.2025.2456068
Project(s): SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training
Metrics:
2025
Conference article
Open Access
Conversational rule creation in XR: user’s strategies in VR and AR automation
Carcangiu A., Manca M., Mereu J., Santoro C., Simeoli L., Spano L. D.
Rule-based approaches allow users to customize XR environments. However, the current menu-based interfaces still create barriers for end-user developers. Chatbots based on Large Language Models (LLMs) have the potential to reduce the threshold needed for rule creation, but how users articulate their intentions through conversation remains under-explored. This work investigates how users express event-condition-action automation rules in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) environments. Through two user studies, we show that the dialogues share consistent strategies across the interaction setting (keywords, difficulties in expressing conditions, task success), even if we registered different adaptations for each setting (verbal structure, event vs action first rules). Our findings are relevant for the design and implementation of chatbot-based support for expressing automations in an XR setting.Source: LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, vol. 15713, pp. 59-79. Munich, Germany, 16-18 June 2025
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-95452-8_4
Project(s): EUD4XR: End-User Development for eXtended Reality
Metrics:
Carcangiu A., Manca M., Mereu J., Santoro C., Simeoli L., Spano L. D.
Rule-based approaches allow users to customize XR environments. However, the current menu-based interfaces still create barriers for end-user developers. Chatbots based on Large Language Models (LLMs) have the potential to reduce the threshold needed for rule creation, but how users articulate their intentions through conversation remains under-explored. This work investigates how users express event-condition-action automation rules in Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) environments. Through two user studies, we show that the dialogues share consistent strategies across the interaction setting (keywords, difficulties in expressing conditions, task success), even if we registered different adaptations for each setting (verbal structure, event vs action first rules). Our findings are relevant for the design and implementation of chatbot-based support for expressing automations in an XR setting.Source: LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, vol. 15713, pp. 59-79. Munich, Germany, 16-18 June 2025
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-95452-8_4
Project(s): EUD4XR: End-User Development for eXtended Reality
Metrics:
See at:
CNR IRIS | link.springer.com | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS
2025
Journal article
Open Access
Interactive serious games for cognitive training of older adults: a systematic review
Canapa G., Paternò F., Santoro C.
Current projections indicate that many countries worldwide are experiencing an increase in the older adult population. Thus, it is important to develop methodologies and tools to improve the quality of life of aging people in terms of their cognitive, social, and physical well-being. An area that is currently showing considerable potential in coping with cognitive decline associated with the aging process is digital serious games. Recent years have witnessed a significant attention increase toward this topic with contributions from several research communities. Although some previous work aimed to synthesize the main findings in related areas, a focused and systematic review categorizing and discussing the literature on cognitive training for older adults is still lacking. To this aim, we selected 113 relevant articles from four international databases. We analyzed them on different relevant dimensions, such as the interactive technologies employed in the games, the activities supported, the user profiles participating in the studies, the factors influencing user engagement and motivation, and the effects of training on the addressed cognitive functions. The analysis of the above dimensions is useful to uncover the factors that distinguish successful cognitive interventions from less effective ones and to facilitate the creation of engaging training programs tailored to the needs of older adults. At the same time, by highlighting promising avenues for further research, the review provides useful indications to researchers and practitioners interested in this field.Source: IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTATIONAL SOCIAL SYSTEMS, pp. 1-24
DOI: 10.1109/tcss.2025.3532307
Project(s): SERENI (SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training)
Metrics:
Canapa G., Paternò F., Santoro C.
Current projections indicate that many countries worldwide are experiencing an increase in the older adult population. Thus, it is important to develop methodologies and tools to improve the quality of life of aging people in terms of their cognitive, social, and physical well-being. An area that is currently showing considerable potential in coping with cognitive decline associated with the aging process is digital serious games. Recent years have witnessed a significant attention increase toward this topic with contributions from several research communities. Although some previous work aimed to synthesize the main findings in related areas, a focused and systematic review categorizing and discussing the literature on cognitive training for older adults is still lacking. To this aim, we selected 113 relevant articles from four international databases. We analyzed them on different relevant dimensions, such as the interactive technologies employed in the games, the activities supported, the user profiles participating in the studies, the factors influencing user engagement and motivation, and the effects of training on the addressed cognitive functions. The analysis of the above dimensions is useful to uncover the factors that distinguish successful cognitive interventions from less effective ones and to facilitate the creation of engaging training programs tailored to the needs of older adults. At the same time, by highlighting promising avenues for further research, the review provides useful indications to researchers and practitioners interested in this field.Source: IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTATIONAL SOCIAL SYSTEMS, pp. 1-24
DOI: 10.1109/tcss.2025.3532307
Project(s): SERENI (SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training)
Metrics:
See at:
CNR IRIS | ieeexplore.ieee.org | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS
2025
Journal article
Open Access
Exploiting personal memories in humanoid robot serious games for mild cognitive impaired older adults
Catricalà B., Manca M., Paternò F., Sale A., Santoro C., Zedda E.
The use of humanoid robots in older adult training has recently started to be considered. We investigated a solution that offers serious games personalised to each individual, to stimulate more interest and participation in cognitive training. In particular, we have studied how to consider personal memories in customising humanoid robot games for Mild Cognitive Impaired (MCI) older adults. For this goal, a prototype platform for collecting and exploiting personal memories in associated games is presented. The memories are exploited by six games designed and implemented in a Pepper robot considering current practices. We report on a mixed-method study consisting of a two-phase trial that involved 15 MCI older adults. The participants first furnished some memories from their past, and then used two game versions regularly for twelve weeks, one personalised and one with general content. We collected both quantitative (through questionnaires and interaction log analysis) and qualitative feedback. The results provide useful information about the robot games’ impact on users and, more generally, for understanding how to introduce robot games based on personal memories in cognitive training programmes.Source: BEHAVIOUR & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, pp. 1-26
DOI: 10.1080/0144929x.2025.2484647
Project(s): Ageing Well in an Ageing Society, SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training, Tuscany Health Ecosystem
Metrics:
Catricalà B., Manca M., Paternò F., Sale A., Santoro C., Zedda E.
The use of humanoid robots in older adult training has recently started to be considered. We investigated a solution that offers serious games personalised to each individual, to stimulate more interest and participation in cognitive training. In particular, we have studied how to consider personal memories in customising humanoid robot games for Mild Cognitive Impaired (MCI) older adults. For this goal, a prototype platform for collecting and exploiting personal memories in associated games is presented. The memories are exploited by six games designed and implemented in a Pepper robot considering current practices. We report on a mixed-method study consisting of a two-phase trial that involved 15 MCI older adults. The participants first furnished some memories from their past, and then used two game versions regularly for twelve weeks, one personalised and one with general content. We collected both quantitative (through questionnaires and interaction log analysis) and qualitative feedback. The results provide useful information about the robot games’ impact on users and, more generally, for understanding how to introduce robot games based on personal memories in cognitive training programmes.Source: BEHAVIOUR & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, pp. 1-26
DOI: 10.1080/0144929x.2025.2484647
Project(s): Ageing Well in an Ageing Society, SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training, Tuscany Health Ecosystem
Metrics:
See at:
CNR IRIS | www.tandfonline.com | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS
2025
Contribution to book
Open Access
Preface IS-EUD 2025
Santoro C., Schmidt A., Bellucci A., Matera M.
Preface of the Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on End-User Development (IS-EUD 2025)Source: LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, vol. 15713
Santoro C., Schmidt A., Bellucci A., Matera M.
Preface of the Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on End-User Development (IS-EUD 2025)Source: LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, vol. 15713
See at:
CNR IRIS | link.springer.com | CNR IRIS
2025
Journal article
Open Access
Improving accessibility of public administrations web sites through large-scale automatic validations
Iannuzzi N., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C.
Digital accessibility is considered an important aspect to allow all people, including those with permanent or temporary disabilities, to access the continuously increasing number of digital services. This raises the need for tools able to provide support for monitoring the accessibility of many websites, to understand their level of accessibility, and identify the areas that need more interventions for their improvement. The primary objectives of this work are to describe the challenges that have been faced in extending the MAUVE++ tool to carry out web accessibility validation in the context of large-scale assessments and provide an upto-date view of the accessibility landscape of public administration websites. We discuss how the tool was adapted to analyse more than four million web pages and associated PDF documents from Italian public administration websites, assessing their compliance with WCAG guidelines. The results of this large-scale analysis have been utilised to provide insights on the state of accessibility at the national level, through a dedicated public dashboard updated quarterly, and stimulate its improvement. This research identifies the most violated success criteria, thus highlighting areas that should require attention from web developers and designers. Finally, we highlight some broader as well as practical implications of this research, and to what extent it can stimulate a more responsible approach and attention to accessibility aspects.Source: ACM Journal on Responsible Computing, vol. 2 (issue 3)
DOI: 10.1145/3762815
Metrics:
Iannuzzi N., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C.
Digital accessibility is considered an important aspect to allow all people, including those with permanent or temporary disabilities, to access the continuously increasing number of digital services. This raises the need for tools able to provide support for monitoring the accessibility of many websites, to understand their level of accessibility, and identify the areas that need more interventions for their improvement. The primary objectives of this work are to describe the challenges that have been faced in extending the MAUVE++ tool to carry out web accessibility validation in the context of large-scale assessments and provide an upto-date view of the accessibility landscape of public administration websites. We discuss how the tool was adapted to analyse more than four million web pages and associated PDF documents from Italian public administration websites, assessing their compliance with WCAG guidelines. The results of this large-scale analysis have been utilised to provide insights on the state of accessibility at the national level, through a dedicated public dashboard updated quarterly, and stimulate its improvement. This research identifies the most violated success criteria, thus highlighting areas that should require attention from web developers and designers. Finally, we highlight some broader as well as practical implications of this research, and to what extent it can stimulate a more responsible approach and attention to accessibility aspects.Source: ACM Journal on Responsible Computing, vol. 2 (issue 3)
DOI: 10.1145/3762815
Metrics:
See at:
dl.acm.org | CNR IRIS | ACM Journal on Responsible Computing | CNR IRIS
2025
Other
Open Access
EUD4XR: D2.1 - Authoring and run-time support (initial version)
Spano D., Carcangiu A., Mereu J., Manca M., Santoro C., Simeoli L.
EUD4XR aims to empower end-user developers, EUDs, with an intuitive and practical tool for customizing XR experiences by setting the behavior of the involved virtual and real objects. Our proposed system supports the customization of the interactions through a rule-based language based on an event-condition-action (ECA) scheme. It is integrated with an intelligent conversational agent (ICA) tasked with supporting and guiding the user when help is needed. In this document, we describe a proof-of-concept implementation of our approach that includes the following components: Rule Engine: this module monitors the extended environment, detects events occurring in the system, accesses the APIs of virtual and physical objects that make up the scene, and commands the execution of the actions at runtime. Intelligent Conversational Agent or ICA: is a chatbot implemented through a large language model, LLM, and refined using prompt engineering. The ICA must support the user on: o Providing information about the environment and its objects. o Customizing the environment by adding a virtual object. o Creating or editing a rule. Rule Authoring UI: to support users in configuring the environment, EUD4XR provides an immersive interface that allows both direct editing of ECA rules in situ without requiring coding skills, and interaction with an intelligent chatbot. Through this interface, the user can create, edit and manage ECA rules, but also request and receive assistance from the chatbot to define or correct rules according to their needs. Section 2 provides an overview of the framework supporting the components that are the subject of the deliverable D2.1. Section 3 lists and explains the rule engine's requirements, while Section 4 describes its implementation. Sections 5 and 6 define the requirements and the implementation of rule authoring UI. Next, Section 7 illustrates the intelligent conversational agent: it first reviews the current state of the art, then reports on the result of a pilot test, and finally details its requirements and design.Project(s): EUD4XR: End-User Development for eXtended Reality
Spano D., Carcangiu A., Mereu J., Manca M., Santoro C., Simeoli L.
EUD4XR aims to empower end-user developers, EUDs, with an intuitive and practical tool for customizing XR experiences by setting the behavior of the involved virtual and real objects. Our proposed system supports the customization of the interactions through a rule-based language based on an event-condition-action (ECA) scheme. It is integrated with an intelligent conversational agent (ICA) tasked with supporting and guiding the user when help is needed. In this document, we describe a proof-of-concept implementation of our approach that includes the following components: Rule Engine: this module monitors the extended environment, detects events occurring in the system, accesses the APIs of virtual and physical objects that make up the scene, and commands the execution of the actions at runtime. Intelligent Conversational Agent or ICA: is a chatbot implemented through a large language model, LLM, and refined using prompt engineering. The ICA must support the user on: o Providing information about the environment and its objects. o Customizing the environment by adding a virtual object. o Creating or editing a rule. Rule Authoring UI: to support users in configuring the environment, EUD4XR provides an immersive interface that allows both direct editing of ECA rules in situ without requiring coding skills, and interaction with an intelligent chatbot. Through this interface, the user can create, edit and manage ECA rules, but also request and receive assistance from the chatbot to define or correct rules according to their needs. Section 2 provides an overview of the framework supporting the components that are the subject of the deliverable D2.1. Section 3 lists and explains the rule engine's requirements, while Section 4 describes its implementation. Sections 5 and 6 define the requirements and the implementation of rule authoring UI. Next, Section 7 illustrates the intelligent conversational agent: it first reviews the current state of the art, then reports on the result of a pilot test, and finally details its requirements and design.Project(s): EUD4XR: End-User Development for eXtended Reality
See at:
CNR IRIS | prin.unica.it | CNR IRIS
2025
Book
Open Access
End-user development
Santoro C., Schmidt A., Matera M., Bellucci A.
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on End-User Development, IS-EUD 2025, held in Munich, Germany, during June 16–18, 2025. The 13 full papers and 8 short papers included in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 25 submissions. These papers have been organized under the following topical sections: Automation, Sustainability, and Smart Environments; Democratizing AI and Programming; AI for End-User Empowerment: Personalization andWellbeing; and EUD Principles, Methodologies, and Participatory Cultures.Source: LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, vol. 15713
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-95452-8
Metrics:
Santoro C., Schmidt A., Matera M., Bellucci A.
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on End-User Development, IS-EUD 2025, held in Munich, Germany, during June 16–18, 2025. The 13 full papers and 8 short papers included in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 25 submissions. These papers have been organized under the following topical sections: Automation, Sustainability, and Smart Environments; Democratizing AI and Programming; AI for End-User Empowerment: Personalization andWellbeing; and EUD Principles, Methodologies, and Participatory Cultures.Source: LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, vol. 15713
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-95452-8
Metrics:
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CNR IRIS | link.springer.com | doi.org | CNR IRIS
2025
Conference article
Open Access
Tell-XR: conversational end-user development of XR automations
Carcangiu A., Manca M., Mereu J., Santoro C., Simeoli L., Spano L. D.
The availability of extended reality (XR) devices has widened their adoption, yet authoring interactive experiences remains complex for non-programmers. We introduce Tell-XR, an intelligent agent leveraging large language models (LLMs) to guide end-users in defining the interaction in XR settings using automations described as Event-Condition-Action (ECA) rules. Through a formative study, we identified the key conversation stages to define and refine automations, which informed the design of the system architecture. The evaluation study in two scenarios (a VR museum and an AR smart home) demonstrates the effectiveness of Tell-XR across different XR interaction settings.Source: LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, vol. 16108, pp. 617-641. Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 08-12/09/2025
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-04999-5_35
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-04999-5_35
Project(s): EUD4XR: End-User Development for eXtended Reality”
Metrics:
Carcangiu A., Manca M., Mereu J., Santoro C., Simeoli L., Spano L. D.
The availability of extended reality (XR) devices has widened their adoption, yet authoring interactive experiences remains complex for non-programmers. We introduce Tell-XR, an intelligent agent leveraging large language models (LLMs) to guide end-users in defining the interaction in XR settings using automations described as Event-Condition-Action (ECA) rules. Through a formative study, we identified the key conversation stages to define and refine automations, which informed the design of the system architecture. The evaluation study in two scenarios (a VR museum and an AR smart home) demonstrates the effectiveness of Tell-XR across different XR interaction settings.Source: LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, vol. 16108, pp. 617-641. Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 08-12/09/2025
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-04999-5_35
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-04999-5_35
Project(s): EUD4XR: End-User Development for eXtended Reality”
Metrics:
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CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS
2025
Conference article
Open Access
Humanoid robot personalised serious games in an older adults’ care center
Canapa G., Catricalà B., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C., Zedda E.
Most countries are ageing rapidly, creating significant challenges in providing adequate care to elderly population. Older adults’ care centers face several difficulties in ensuring support able to address their diverse needs, due to several factors including increasing caregiver shortages, high variability in cognitive and health conditions of elderly, and challenges in delivering personalized interventions to them. Additionally, maintaining elderly engagement during cognitive training is often problematic due to the repetitive and impersonal nature of involved tasks. To address these limitations, we carried out a study investigating the use of a humanoid robot to deliver interactive, personalised serious games based on older adults' personal memories, to enhance relevance and engagement for them. The approach has been evaluated in a trial conducted in a center for older adults, involving users with varying cognitive abilities. Results indicated that such personalised games were well received by them, with a positive impact on their experience.DOI: 10.1109/ro-man63969.2025.11217838
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ro-man63969.2025.11217838
Project(s): SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training
Metrics:
Canapa G., Catricalà B., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C., Zedda E.
Most countries are ageing rapidly, creating significant challenges in providing adequate care to elderly population. Older adults’ care centers face several difficulties in ensuring support able to address their diverse needs, due to several factors including increasing caregiver shortages, high variability in cognitive and health conditions of elderly, and challenges in delivering personalized interventions to them. Additionally, maintaining elderly engagement during cognitive training is often problematic due to the repetitive and impersonal nature of involved tasks. To address these limitations, we carried out a study investigating the use of a humanoid robot to deliver interactive, personalised serious games based on older adults' personal memories, to enhance relevance and engagement for them. The approach has been evaluated in a trial conducted in a center for older adults, involving users with varying cognitive abilities. Results indicated that such personalised games were well received by them, with a positive impact on their experience.DOI: 10.1109/ro-man63969.2025.11217838
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ro-man63969.2025.11217838
Project(s): SERious gamEs with humanoi robots in cogNItive training
Metrics:
2024
Conference article
Open Access
Train the Brain with SERENI
Catricalà B., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C., Zedda E.
One way to address cognitive decline in ageing is the use of serious games delivered through humanoid robots, to provide engaging ways to perform exercises to train memory, attention, processing, and planning activities. We present an approach in which a humanoid robot, by using various modalities, proposes the games in a way personalised to specific individuals’ experiences using their personal memories associated with facts and events that occurred in older adults’ lives. We discuss how such an approach has been deployed in a trial and how we plan to extend it in a new trial.Source: CEUR WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS, vol. 3794. Arenzano, Italy, 4/06/2024
Project(s): Sereni
Catricalà B., Manca M., Paternò F., Santoro C., Zedda E.
One way to address cognitive decline in ageing is the use of serious games delivered through humanoid robots, to provide engaging ways to perform exercises to train memory, attention, processing, and planning activities. We present an approach in which a humanoid robot, by using various modalities, proposes the games in a way personalised to specific individuals’ experiences using their personal memories associated with facts and events that occurred in older adults’ lives. We discuss how such an approach has been deployed in a trial and how we plan to extend it in a new trial.Source: CEUR WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS, vol. 3794. Arenzano, Italy, 4/06/2024
Project(s): Sereni
See at:
ceur-ws.org | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS
2024
Journal article
Restricted
PACMHCI - Engineering Interactive Computing Systems, June 2024: Editorial Introduction
Santoro C., Anke D.
Editorial introduction to the Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction dedicated to Engineering Interactive Computing Systems (EICS issue)Source: PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACM ON HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION, vol. 8 (issue EICS), p. 1
DOI: 10.1145/3664470
Metrics:
Santoro C., Anke D.
Editorial introduction to the Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction dedicated to Engineering Interactive Computing Systems (EICS issue)Source: PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACM ON HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION, vol. 8 (issue EICS), p. 1
DOI: 10.1145/3664470
Metrics:
See at:
dl.acm.org | Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS
2024
Other
Open Access
EUD4XR: WP 1 - End-user development methodology
Spano D., Carcangiu A., Mereu J., Manca M., Santoro C., Simeoli L.
Recent advancements in technology, particularly in miniaturization, have contributed to the increasing prevalence of connected smart devices performing various functions across different domains, like home automation, healthcare, wellness, transportation and public safety. These devices are not only able to interact with each other by exchanging information but also to react autonomously to events in the physical world and influence it by performing processes or actions. In parallel, this surge in technology, in conjunction with investments by large companies, has renewed interest in XR applications and devices, e.g. Microsoft HoloLens, Oculus Rift or Meta Quest, from both consumers and researchers. Initially seen as tools for entertainment, these devices have matured, finding applications in various sectors, such as healthcare, aerospace, automotive, retail, and manufacturing. While these technologies have opened up new perspectives, such applications need to effectively address the needs of each potential end-user, or class of end-users, in order to be further confirmed and developed. Depending on the context, managing the needs of users at the design level could be inefficient, and lead to overtime and cost. One possible solution, as happened for example in the publication of web content, is to actively involve end users, intended as domain experts without a programming background, in the development and editing process. By providing easy-to-use and usable tools, we can empower them to customize mixed-reality environments creating interactions that involve real and virtual objects.Project(s): EUD4XR: End-User Development for eXtended Reality
Spano D., Carcangiu A., Mereu J., Manca M., Santoro C., Simeoli L.
Recent advancements in technology, particularly in miniaturization, have contributed to the increasing prevalence of connected smart devices performing various functions across different domains, like home automation, healthcare, wellness, transportation and public safety. These devices are not only able to interact with each other by exchanging information but also to react autonomously to events in the physical world and influence it by performing processes or actions. In parallel, this surge in technology, in conjunction with investments by large companies, has renewed interest in XR applications and devices, e.g. Microsoft HoloLens, Oculus Rift or Meta Quest, from both consumers and researchers. Initially seen as tools for entertainment, these devices have matured, finding applications in various sectors, such as healthcare, aerospace, automotive, retail, and manufacturing. While these technologies have opened up new perspectives, such applications need to effectively address the needs of each potential end-user, or class of end-users, in order to be further confirmed and developed. Depending on the context, managing the needs of users at the design level could be inefficient, and lead to overtime and cost. One possible solution, as happened for example in the publication of web content, is to actively involve end users, intended as domain experts without a programming background, in the development and editing process. By providing easy-to-use and usable tools, we can empower them to customize mixed-reality environments creating interactions that involve real and virtual objects.Project(s): EUD4XR: End-User Development for eXtended Reality
See at:
CNR IRIS | prin.unica.it | CNR IRIS
2024
Conference article
Open Access
End-user development for eXtended reality using a multimodal intelligent conversational agent
Artizzu V., Carcangiu A., Manca M., Mattioli A., Mereu J., Paternò F., Santoro C., Simeoli L., Spano L. D.
In the past years, both the research community and commercial products have proposed various solutions aiming to support end-user developers (EUDevs), namely users without extensive programming skills, to build and customize XR experiences. However, current tools may not fully eliminate the potential for user errors or misunderstandings. In this paper, we present EUD4XR, a methodology consisting of an intelligent conversational agent to provide contextual help, to EUDevs, during the authoring process. The key characteristics of this agent are its multimodality, comprehending the user’s voice, gaze, and pointing, combined with the environment status. Moreover, the agent could also demonstrate concepts, suggest components, and help explain errors further to reduce misunderstandings for end-user developers of VR/XR.Source: CEUR WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS, vol. 3704. Arenzano, Italy, 4/06/2024
Project(s): EUD4XR: End-User Development for eXtended Reality
Artizzu V., Carcangiu A., Manca M., Mattioli A., Mereu J., Paternò F., Santoro C., Simeoli L., Spano L. D.
In the past years, both the research community and commercial products have proposed various solutions aiming to support end-user developers (EUDevs), namely users without extensive programming skills, to build and customize XR experiences. However, current tools may not fully eliminate the potential for user errors or misunderstandings. In this paper, we present EUD4XR, a methodology consisting of an intelligent conversational agent to provide contextual help, to EUDevs, during the authoring process. The key characteristics of this agent are its multimodality, comprehending the user’s voice, gaze, and pointing, combined with the environment status. Moreover, the agent could also demonstrate concepts, suggest components, and help explain errors further to reduce misunderstandings for end-user developers of VR/XR.Source: CEUR WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS, vol. 3704. Arenzano, Italy, 4/06/2024
Project(s): EUD4XR: End-User Development for eXtended Reality
See at:
ceur-ws.org | CNR IRIS | CNR IRIS