Phenotropic Interaction: Improving Interfaces With Computing With Words and Perceptions

Successful interaction between humans and artificial systems allows for combining the advantages of all actors in solving problems. However, interaction is often demanding for people, as it builds on artificial concepts, such as strict protocols.

This book presents the new paradigm of 'phenotropic' interaction, which aims to improve the naturalness of the interaction thanks to bio-inspired approaches. These include methods for understanding and reasoning with human perceptions expressed as natural language, fundamental to support the artificial system to better understand people's real desires and needs. Methods for improving the theories of computing with words and perceptions are developed in this book and applied to concrete use cases in prototypes enhancing the exchange of information with virtual assistants and smart city ecosystems. The presented use cases serve not only as examples of the application of the phenotropic interaction principles but also to verify their effective impact on communication.

Moreno Colombo is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Human-IST Institute of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), where he aims with his research to improve people's everyday life, by increasing inclusion, sustainability, well-being, and comfort. During his Ph.D. in computer science, he focused on fuzzy systems and their application to the construction of bio-inspired and human-centric interaction methods between people and artificial systems, such as computers, buildings, and smart cities. His current research focuses on the interaction between people and buildings in order to investigate the possibility of promoting sustainability at the occupant, building, and neighborhood levels through societal and behavioral change, and is being carried out mainly in the context of the Smart Living Lab in Fribourg.