Patrizia Paci
| research | projects | cv | publications | links |
Who I Am
- I am an Associate Lecturer in the STEM Faculty for the modules S295: The Biology of Survival (evolutionary biology) and S111: Questions in Science (fundamentals of biology, physics, chemistry, Earth science and astronomy), The Open University, UK.
- I have been a researcher at the Animal-Computer Interaction Lab, The Open University, UK; a visiting researcher at the Computer Vision Lab, TU Delft, The Netherlands; and a visiting researcher at the Social AI group, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
My research assignments included:
- Applying dog training techniques to the design of human-robot interactions in social AI.
- Annotating videos and developing machine learning algorithms for recognising animal activities on videos.
- Designing smart environments for the cognitive enrichment and welfare monitoring of captive animals.
- Ethical aspects of animal-centred interactive system design.
- Developing animal-centred interactive technology to improve the working experience of service dogs.
- Designing animal biotelemetry systems to improve their wearability.
- Developing design frameworks to enable systematic elicitations of animal-centred systems’ requirements.
I also have an interest in the fields of bioacoustics and valence in animal emotions. I have partipated to:
- Animal Bioacoustics and Human Speech Symposium, Nijmegen, NL (June 2022)
- 3rd International Workshop on Vocal Interactivity in-and-between Humans, Animals and Robots (VIHAR-2021), virtual meeting (October 2021)
- ASAB Workshop - Allying Welfare Research on the Impacts of Human-Generated Sounds on Animals (April 2021)
Projects
Integrated smart systems for endangered species conservation
Developing interactive and monitoring technology to support wildlife welfare in captivity and conservation in the wild.
HAPPIE: Haptic Authoring Pipeline for the Production of Immersive Experiences
Developing security and safety systems for people with visual impairment partnered with guide dogs.
Privacy-aware multispecies interaction design and applications
Designing privacy-aware systems informed by animals’ boundaries requirements to enable friendly human-animal co-habitation in urban and rural environments.
DOG-SMART HOMES: improving accessibility for Mobility Assitance Dogs
2020-2021
Developing canine-centred light switches and door controls to improve training and performance of Mobility Assistance Dogs. Find out more
Canine signalling interfaces for Bio Detection Dogs
2019-2020
Investigating bio-detection dogs’ spontaneous interactions with pressure sensors to provide reliable communication devices for handler-dog signalling protocols. Find out more
Improving wearability in animal biotelemetry
2014-2019
My doctoral project on evaluating the wearability of GPS collars for cats, designing a wearer-centred prototype that improved wearability, and developing a design framework for establishing wearer-centred requirements for animal wearables. Find out more.
EVENT project
2010-2011
Visiting researcher at Bayreuth University, working on the EVENT project to study the effects of extreme climatic events on vegetation. Find out more.
Curriculum Vitae
Research Experience
- Researcher in AI and ML, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (2022-2023), TU Delft, NL (2021-2022)
- Research Associate (Post-doc) in ACI, The Open University, UK (2019-2022)
- Research Assistant and PhD researcher in ACI, The Open University, UK (2014-2019)
- Research Assistant in Ecology, Climate Change, and public Health, University of Camerino, Italy & University of Bayreuth, Germany (2009-2012)
- Laboratory Intern in Animal Physiology, University of Camerino, Italy (2006)
From November 2022 to the present, I have been a visiting researcher at the Social AI group at VU Amsterdam, where I have been working on applying dog training technique to develop protocols, guidelines and frameworks to the design of interaction between human teachers and robot learners.
From November 2021 to March 2022, I was a visiting researcher at the Machine Vision Group of Prof. Jan Van Gemert at TU Delft, where I worked on a ‘real world’ video dataset to annotate and recognise animal activities.
Since April 2019, I have been a Research Associate in Animal-Computer Interaction, working on designing interactive systems for non-human animals with Prof. Clara Mancini at The Open University.
From October 2014 to March 2019, I researched how to design for wearability in animal biotelemetry.
From 2009 to 2012, I worked as a Research Assistant in projects on maritime telemedicine, wildlife monitoring, and climate change research.
Teaching Experience
- Associate Lecturer, S295: The Biology of Survival & S111: Questions in Science, The Open University, UK
- PhD Third-Party Monitor, Research School, The Open University, UK
- Library Supporter for visually impaired researchers, The Open University, UK
Education
- PhD in Animal-Computer Interaction, The Open University, UK
- MSc in Management of the Natural Environment, University of Camerino, Italy (1st class honour)
- BSc in Natural Sciences, University of Camerino, Italy (1st class honour)
Between October 2015 and March 2019, I was a doctoral candidate in Computing at The Open University, where I conducted interdisciplinary research in Interaction Design, Animal Biotelemetry, and Animal Behaviour.
During my Master’s degree in Management of the Natural Environment at the University of Camerino, I specialised in monitoring methods of animal biodiversity.
I specialised in animal physiology during my Bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Camerino. This included six months of Erasmus studies at the University of Seville (Spain), where I studied neurophysiology.
Training and Development
- OU series – Developing skills in the workplace: BG007-N project Management; BG003-N New Managers’ Toolkit
- Animal Shelter DOA Amsterdam training: Communication and training of sheltered dogs
- Animal Cultures: Core Discoveries and New Horizons, The Cultural Evolution Society’s Online Learning Series
- Coursera Animal Behaviour and Welfare by the University of Edinburgh
- Coursera Python for Everybody Specialization by the University of Michigan
- Coursera Machine Learning course by Stanford University
- AWRN workshop - Novel Minimally Invasive Tools to Investigate Animal Behaviour and Welfare
- AWRN workshop - Current Development in Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) Technologies
- AWRN workshop - Grant Writing and Reviewing
- OU Academic Professional Development - NVIVO training
- IDEO online courses - Human-Centered Design 201: Prototyping
- OU Academic Professional Development - Stats: quantitative research design and data analysis
- The Physiological Society - Introduction to molecular biology techniques, transfections and functional studies
Publications
2023
Aristeidou M, Cross S, Rossade K-D, Wood C, Rees T, Paci P. (2023) Online exams in higher education: exploring distance learning students’ acceptance and satisfaction. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 2023;1-18 JCAL Open Access
Paci P, Tiddi I, Preciado Vanegas D, Baraka K. (2023). ``Who’s a good robot?!’’ Designing Human-Robot Teaching Interactions inspired by Dog Training. In Proc. of the 2nd Int. Conf. in Hybrid Human-Artificial Intelligence (HHAI 2023), Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications, 368. IOS Press, pp. 310-319.
Aristeidou M, Cross S, Rossade K-D, Wood C, Paci P. (2023) Examining university student satisfaction and barriers to taking online remote exams. In Proc. of the 9th Int Conf on Higher Education Advances (HEAd’23), UPV Press, Valencia, Spain, pp. 1-8.
2022
Paci P, Mancini C, Nuseibeh B. (2022) The case for animal privacy in the design of technologically supported environments. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8: 784794. Front. Vet. Sci. Open Access
2021
French F, Hirsky-Douglas I, Väätäjä H, Chisik Y, Karl S, Kasuga H, Mangat M, Nannoni E, Paci P, Pons Tomas P, Vilker D, Zamansky A. (2021) Ethics and power dynamics in playful technology for animals: using speculative design to provoke reflection. In Academic Mindtrek 2021, 1-3 June 2021, Tampere, Finland, pp. 91-101 (ACM). ACM Library
2020
Paci P, Mancini C, Price BA. (2020) Understanding the interaction between animals and wearables: the wearer experience of cats. In Proc. of the 2020 Int. Conf. on Designing Interactive Systems: more than human-centred design (DIS2020), Eindhoven, Netherlands, pp. 1701-1712 (ACM). Honourable mention award ACM Library Open Access
2019
Paci P, Mancini C, Price BA. (2019) Designing for wearability: an animal-centred framework. In Proc. of the 6th Int. Conf. on Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI2019), art.8, pp. 1-12 (ACM). ACM Library or OU Repository
Paci P, Mancini C, Price BA. (2019) Wearer-centered design for animal biotelemetry: implementation and wearability test of a prototype. In Proc. of the 23rd Intern. Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC’19), London, UK, pp. 177-185 (ACM). ACM Library Open Access
2017
Paci P, Mancini C, Price BA. (2017) The role of ethological observation for measuring animal reactions to biotelemetry devices. In Proc. of the 4th Intern. Conf. on Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI2017), Milton Keynes, UK, pp. 5:1–5:12 (ACM). ACM Library or OU Repository
2016
Paci P, Mancini C, Price BA. (2016) Designing for wearability in animal biotelemetry. In Proc. of the 3rd Int. Conf. on Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI2016), Milton Keynes, art.13 (ACM). ACM Library or OU Repository
Paci P, Mancini C, Price BA. (2016) Towards a wearer-centred framework for animal biotelemetry. In Spink AJ (ed.) Measuring Behaviour 2016, Dublin, Ireland, pp. 465–469. OU Repository
2012
Grappasonni I, Paci P, Mazzucchi F, De Longis S, Amenta F. (2012) Awareness of health risks at the workplace and of risks of contracting communicable diseases including those related to food hygiene, among seafarers. International Maritime Health 63, 1: 24-31. IMH
2011
Grappasonni I, Paci P, Mazzucchi F, Amenta F. (2011) Survey on HIV risk perception and sexual behaviours among seafarers. International Maritime Health 62, 2: 131-137. IMH
Posters
- Wellstein C, Paci P, Thiel D. et al. (2010) Variability of clonal growth of European grass species in climate change experiments. Ecological Society of Germany, Switzerland and Austria 40th Anniversary Meeting, Gissen, Germany.
- Paci P, Brusaferro A, Insom E. (2009) Study of the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio) on the plateau of Colfiorito (Italy). XV Italian Congress of Ornithology, Sabaudia, Italy.
Thesis
Paci P. A wearer-centred framework to design for wearability in animal biotelemetry. PhD Thesis, The Open University. OU repository
Links
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Institutional e-mail: patrizia.paci@open.ac.uk
Personal e-mail: patrizia.paci1@gmail.com