Analysis, modeling and control of human-machine interaction and the emergence of coordination and synchronization in human ensembles

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The study of the interactions among a large number of dynamical systems, represented through the formalismof complex networks, is at the forefront of current research in Dynamical Systems and Control Theory. Inparticular, much research effort is being spent in understanding how collective behavior emerge in a group ofdynamical agents interconnected over a network. Examples of real-world applications of complex networkanalysis span from Life and Social Science to Physics and Engineering. The goal of this PhD project will be tostudy, model and analyse the emergence of coordinated behaviour in groups of human players performing ajoint task in order to develop feedback control strategies able to drive robots or virtual players to engage with agroup of individuals and form a team.More specifically, during my PhD I aim at going beyond the limit of dyadic interaction, extending the study ofsynchronization in human ensembles from dyadic to group interaction and exploring the dynamics and thephenomena (synchronization, leadership etc.) that emerge and characterize the complex network of interactionsbetween individuals. This will be done through an innovative computer-based set-up that allows studyinghuman coordination over different interaction patterns and introducing virtual agents in large groups;furthermore the proposed software will allow experiments to be carried out anonymously over the Internet, sothat each participant is not aware of the others' identity. Summarizing, the aim of my project will be that ofdeveloping a software platform to investigate the mechanisms underlying the onset of coordination in networksof human and/or virtual players, and exploring new possible implementation for the latter in strategies for therehabilitation of patients affected by social disorders.To summarize, the objectives of my PhD will be to: - Create novel software platform to allow individuals to perform joint tasks over the internet and coordinate each other in order to monitor their behaviour and the emergence of collective phenonema - Derive data-driven models of group synchronization; Build a novel cognitive architecture based on nonlinear control strategies for virtual agents to interact in a group; - Validate numerically and then experimentally the effectiveness of the proposed cognitive architecture forvirtual agents - Explore the application of the model and strategies developed during the project to telerehabilitation ofpatients suffering from social disorders