The world is changing incrementally, exacerbating planetary boundaries (Rockström et al., 2009) and, as such, current lifestyles. Environmental pollution is gaining problematic levels, and the textile industry is considered one of the main culprits. The textile supply chain creates different types of waste and scrap that belong not only to the semi-finished product but also to the goods needed in the production stages (Nayak, R. 2019).The textile production process is known to consume resources, once considered unlimited, such as 'water, which now needs to be totally recovered and treated, fuel from fossil resources and a variety of chemicals on a large scale. Industry estimates show that more than 35 percent of chemicals released into the environment are the result of various textile treatment and dyeing processes (Thiry 2011). In the Italian landscape there are many examples of companies operating in the textile sector, where we find the closed cycle of production wastewater.The urgency of transitioning to circular and sustainable models has led governments to dwell on the role of textile companies with regard to sustainability, noting that they do not seem to be reforming at a pace and scale that would considerably combat environmental and climate change. The question that arises concerns the emergence of a number of new regulatory proposals and how they will impact within textile companies. Although most of the newer proposals are still a long way from becoming law, some regulations require textile companies to review the way they produce and communicate the nature of their products, involving EU manufacturers, importers, and retailers in the round.As part of the Circular Economy Action Plan, in March 2022, the EU published the "Sustainable Textiles Strategy 2030," which focuses on circularity of textiles and making brands responsible for waste sent to landfills (Digital Agenda Eu. 2022) and aims to make textiles more durable, repairable, reusable and recyclable. It also pledges to combat fast fashion and unsold textiles and ensure that they are produced with respect for social rights.The European Commission has made its regulatory proposals official, including the proposed Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, or Espr, which establishes a framework for improving product circularity.Thus, the role of design becomes critical for a more rational use of resources in the development of new products (Thorpe, 2007; Fletcher & Grose, 2012; Fletcher, 2014), which should be designed in a way that reduces waste, scrap, pollutants, and pollution, reaching the zero-waste goal. The treatment of this issue poses two different studies from the outset because the complexities between waste and waste generation in pre-consumption and post-consumption are different.If it is true that rules and standards are the lever of transformation the designer will have to come up with a new design process in compliance with the standard but producing innovation and making sustainability a tangible value in the value chain of the semi-finished or finished product.
Human-machine Interface (HMI) is critical for safety during automated driving, as it serves as the only media between the automated system and human users. To guarantee an understandable and transparent HMI, an evaluation method is urgently needed. However, there hasn't been a standardized and objective assessment method for HMI transparency. The methods used to evaluate HMI nowadays are primarily subjective and not efficient. To bridge the gap, an objective and standardized HMI assessment method was proposed in a previous study, but the adaptation to a simulator environment was not validated. Hence, the objective of this study is to first identify suitable objective workload measures in a driving context before incorporating them into the proposed transparency assessment method. In this study, two psychophysiological measures, electrocardiography (ECG) and electrodermal activity (EDA) were evaluated for their effectiveness in finding differences in mental workload among different HMI designs in a driving simulator. Three HMI designs with different transparency were developed and used as independent variables. Besides the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) between normal heartbeats from the ECG and the skin conductance response (SCR) from the EDA, self-reported NASA-TLX scores were also evaluated and considered as dependent variables. The study was conducted in a static driving simulator with a field of view of 120 degrees. A total of 24 participants were recruited, and each experienced 12 trials counterbalanced for HMI designs and driving scenarios. Participants were asked to monitor the HMI constantly and activate SAE Level 2 automated driving system whenever they felt comfortable. During the interaction, the eye tracker was applied to identify the time points when participants were gazing at the HMI designs. These time points were later used as references to calculate the corresponding RMSSD and SCR. Results showed that the RMSSD from ECG and the SCR from EDA were able to identify significant differences in objective mental workload when interacting with in-vehicle HMIs. Plus, the same correlations among HMI designs for two psychophysiological measures and the NASA-TLX were also identified. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to use psychophysiological measures to estimate the mental workload when interacting with HMI during automated driving. The results of this study could be used as a firm ground for future research. The findings not only help identify suitable objective workload measures for the interaction with HMI during simulator driving but also serve as the first step toward a standardized transparency assessment method.
Currently there are many types of wearable devices for unconventional sitting. The devices are named suggestively: wearable chairless chair. What all these products have in common is an additional support behind the heel. The additional support, a ground contact behind the heel, appears to add more stability and at the same time increases the complexity of the product, the weight and the difficulty of wearing it.The research assumes that there is no need for additional support nor ground contact. The working method consisted of analyzing products on the market. The analysis was followed by understanding the functioning and the biomechanical cause for the existence of the posterior support. The analysis was carried out by relating the human silhouette, its body volumes and geometry, to the shape and structure of the devices. We focused on the side view because it is the one that gives the asymmetric behavior of the body volumes. In the biomechanical analysis we kept the premises of locating the center of mass, of spatial summation of the partial centers of mass (the head, the trunk and the limbs) as well as the reference to the ground support polygon of the soles. Biomechanical and static analysis was followed by the identification and isolation of that component of body geometry responsible for the need of posterior support. The analysis was then repeated in its absence. It was necessary to correct the geometry of the body and change the degree of flexion of the knees and ankles. The verification of the hypothesis has been achieved by developing a device that corresponds to a body geometry, does not provide posterior support and at the same time eliminates orthostatic muscle stress. Tests were carried out with primitive mock-ups and prototypes, with briefly articulated parts that meet the condition of being wearable through permanent contact with the leg and the thigh. The results were encouraging from the point of view of stability but were unsatisfactory from the point of view of the comfort offered by the primitive prototypes. Refinement of the prototype was achieved by developing the design of the thigh and leg interface components as well as the design of the flexion locking subsystem. Of particular concern was the contact between the product and the surface of the thigh and calf. Refined in this way the prototype unquestionably preserved the stability of the human subject and presented an improvement in comfort criteria.In conclusion, the research confirms the hypothesis. The no ground contact prototype allows a posture in which orthostatic stress is avoided, with good stability and with enough containment to be wearable.
A customs agency that integrates the services of tariff classification, maritime clearance and supply chain services, must comply with regulations of legal requirements, implying a constant specialization in the management of talent in operations management, the development of a quality management system contributes to continuous improvement processes, with the implementation of the QHS methodology, competency standards will be developed to certify the specialized talent of the staff, ensuring the learning curve and generational change to consolidate the KPIs of customer satisfaction.
The built environment witnessed in the last years significant challenges and changes. From the growing of population inhabiting urban areas, natural disasters, and a pandemic context, built environment disclosers its impact in human experience. Based on the concepts of human centred design and social and cultural sustainability, urban solutions have been developing to improve and qualify user experience. The layout of public and private spaces has been challenged in its formal configuration, dimensions, and equipment, by means of research, available data, and the success of some practices. This movement has been beneficial to city centres, but it is expanding to dwelling peripheries, boosting multifunctionalities and solutions oriented to human requirements and expectancies answering to a need well recognised and experienced during the pandemic context.Despite the changes and the good examples, colour as a vital parameter of visual communication, is still neglected and applied as a simple aesthetic component. Repeatedly, the chromatic palettes are based on (inter)national fashion trends, disregarding the geography, climate, and culture of the place. Colour focus and/or blur our attention, while emphasising and/or disguising an element in its context, organising the space, aiding in orientation while communicating messages and symbols that illustrate the identity of the place and the community. Colour has the ability of challenge the perception of the volumes - despite their nature and scale – and spaces regarding their formal shape, proportions, visual weight, and texture. Furthermore, colour as an element of urban environment, expresses the hierarchy of the elements and their order in the environmental composition with respect to function, structure, etc. Furthermore, colour defines how individuals visually experience the environ, and as a medium it gives significance, emotional attitude, and functional information, emerging as a crucial attribute in human perception of the built environment.Numerous reasons can justify the repeated negligence in the use of colour in urban environ: the fear of using colour, unawareness, (or lack of skills) about how to use it, the copy of international and/or awarded models, and the use of finishing materials and colour tendencies, among others. However, this is a common reality for designers and architects, which sets the hypothesis of these professionals are unaware of the roles performed by colour and its impact in human daily living, while experiencing environments, products, and communication systems.The aim of this research paper is to raise the discussion regarding the way colour is neglected in the design of urban space although its importance to define the user experience. From the discussion we expect to have a better understanding of the problem and propose some guidelines to minimise it. To achieve the expected results, this piece of research will be supported by literature review related with the identified keywords and the analysis of some case studies in the Portuguese context. Literature review aims to explore the concepts and justify its importance not only for this study but in the urban planning, and the case studies to illustrate the (un)aware use of colour and its impact in place and community identity.
