Welcome to the personal web site of Enrico Costanza.

Since February 2010 I am a lecturer in the Agents, Interaction and Complexity (AIC) Group of the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. My research is in Human-Computer Interaction, especially with mobile devices and for creative expression. My work lies at the intersection of Design, Technology and Behavioural science. This website is in need of an update, sorry for the mess.

This website contains information about my research work and my interest in visual media, including the list of my publications and my CV. I have recently launched www.d-touch.org: a separate website for my research on visual markers, including an exciting large scale experiment on low-cost tangible user interfaces for music composition and performance. Please have a look also there!

I am interested in the use of technology for artistic expression and interpersonal communication. My aim is to design technology that is natural for people to use. Technology loses the form of a box and merges with everyday objects: the digital world gets closer to the physical one, though without invading it. The computer interface becomes printed visual symbols on urban walls, a set of foldable paper blocks on a table (which you can download and produce at home!), a pair of eyeglasses, an armband, a mirror... I like complex people and simple technology.

My PhD focused on the design and recognition of visual markers, and their application to mobile HCI. I am currently developing a system that allows considerable freedom in the visual design of the markers, and a framework to study how they can be used to attach digital information to places, buildings and physical objects through mobile phones.

In parallel to the work on visual markers, I also continue to explore some other research topics, including tangible interfaces for music composition and performance and interfaces for wireless sensor networks based on sonification. More information can be found on the research section of this website.

Before joining the IAM group, I was a PhD student and research assistant in the Media and Design Lab at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), directed by Prof Jeffrey Huang. Earlier, I received an MS in Media Arts and Sciences at MIT Media Lab, with a thesis on "Subtle, Intimate Interfaces for Mobile Human Computer Interaction" (more information is available here). At MIT I used to work as a research assistant in Prof. Pattie Maes' Ambient Intelligence group, and I also used to collaborate also with the MIT SenseABLE City Lab. Earlier, I was part of the Liminal Devices Group at Media Lab Europe, and of the Media Engineering Group at the University of York, where I received an MEng in Electronic and Communication Engineering.

To contact me, please refer to my contact page at the University of Southampton.