Welcome Horia

We are delighted to welcome Horia to Horizon.

Horia is a multidisciplinary trained researcher who started with integrating physiological sensors and non-invasive brain monitoring devices, such as functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Human Factors (HF). More specifically he looked at how such techniques can be used to learn more about the users during interaction and establish a link between users’ mental workload levels, wellbeing, and their brain and physiological responses (see more about this work on Computerphile https://youtu.be/TQ0sL1ZGnQ4).   Horia has specialised in applying this expertise in a wide range of contexts, from the design and evaluation of everyday systems, personal informatics (mental fitbit), digital artefacts (brain activity during film watching), to evaluating operators’ mental workload, wellbeing and trust in Human Robot Interaction (HRI).

Horia’s primary focus is to further advance the understanding of brain and physiological data in naturalistic study settings by developing new ways of processing and analysing this data, to produce new scientific knowledge and establish guidelines of applying brain and physiological data in the field of HRI evaluation. In addition Horia will explore use of brain and physiological data together with other research methodologies (e.g. performance,  subjective techniques, interviews) to understand the relationship between system performance, user experience, workload and trust when it comes to the design of, and interaction with Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS).