Speakers: Prof. Rosella Gennari, Dott. Simone Ciciliano
Free University of Bozen–Bolzano
November 28, 2025 | 12:00 pm
DEIB, "A. Alario" Seminar Room (Bld. 21)
Contact: Prof. Maristella Matera
Abstract
On November 28, 2025, at 12:00 pm in "Alessandra Alario" Seminar Room at DEIB (Building 21) the seminar on "Leveraging Diversity through Inclusive Design and Communication with Computing Technologies" will take place.Rosella Gennari’s research journey, conducted with colleagues at the Physical Computing Lab of the Free University of Bozen–Bolzano, charts a continuous trajectory towards leveraging diversity in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research. Beginning with automated reasoning for generating smart games—playful materials derived from story texts to support reading comprehension—her work has progressively evolved toward the inclusive design of playful and tangible experiences through making and physical computing. This evolution reflects a long-standing commitment to exploring how design with computing technologies can empower diverse people.
For instance, Gennari’s team has created physical-computing and card-based systems, SNaP and IoTgo, that enable children, teachers, artists, and people with intellectual disabilities to co-design smart prototypes tailored to their own needs and aspirations, thereby welcoming diverse perspectives in design with computing technologies.
Gennari’s talk will trace this trajectory—from early intelligent systems that automatically generated playful materials for learning to the design of tangible interfaces and smart things—highlighting how interdisciplinary collaborations underpins this work.
Following her presentation, Simone Ciciliano, PhD candidate at the Free University of Bozen–Bolzano, will build on these reflections. Drawing on his background in applied linguistics, he will explore how focusing on linguistic and disciplinary diversity can enhance mutual understanding in collaborative communication, as well as how emerging language technologies, such as large language models, might support this process.
Short Bio
Rosella Gennari. At the Faculty of Engineering of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Gennari is an Associate Professor in Computer Science for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). She obtained her Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2002 on Automated Reasoning, Amsterdam University. Gennari was post-doc, with the ERCIM “Alain Bensoussan” fellowship for talented young researchers, CWI, Amsterdam, in 2002, then at FBK-irst, Trento, in 2003. She has co-authored more than 100 international peer-reviewed papers. Gennari is Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Child Computer Interaction, Elsevier (Q1), committee member of conferences in HCI. Gennari has authored and managed several projects, e.g., the FP7-EU TERENCE (2010-2013) research project, for which she was Scientific & Technological Coordinator of the entire Consortium, WP Leader, and Principal Investigator. She has institutional responsibilities at the Faculty of Engineering, e.g., currently, she serves in its Third-Mission Board for schools and public engagement, and she is Head of the Research Unit "Human-Centred Intelligent Systems", and Head of the Physical Computing Lab (pc.projects.unibz.it).Simone Ciciliano. Simone Ciciliano is PhD candidate at the Faculties of Design and Arts and of Engineering of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. His planned PhD project focuses on enabling design students to program interactive tangible prototypes through Conversational Interfaces. He obtained his MA Degree in Applied Linguistics (cum laude) at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. He published in reputable conferences like ACL 2023, ACL 2024 (Outstanding Paper Award) and CHItaly ‘25. He won scholarships from multiple institutions (La Sapienza University of Rome, University of Turin, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano) to take part in research conferences and contribute to research publications. He previously completed two internships as an NLP Engineer and worked as a Research Assistant at the Physical Computing Lab, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano.