In parallel to the main topics of research related to Virtual Environments, a quite different research topic has been developed, dealing with the exploration of technological domains by means of patent analysis.
This resulted both in publications and in the development of a software tool, mainly based on MATLAB and Python, for acquiring patent information and analyzing them based on textual data and citation information. Data Mining has been integrated with visualization over a map.
The tool has been applied to the technological domains related to my other research, like Robotics, Haptics, and Human Computer Interaction devices, although it can be applied to other technological fields.
Publications
- E.Ruffaldi, E.Sani, M.Bergamasco, Visualizing Perspectives and Trends in Robotics based on Patent Mining in IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2010, PDF
- E. Sani, E. Ruffaldi, M. Bergamasco, Exploring Patent Information: trends and main actors in Robotics in EPO Patent Statistics for Decision-Makers Conference, 2009, Vienna
- E. Sani, E. Ruffaldi and M. Bergamasco, "Interactive Technology Maps for Strategic Planning and Research Directions Based on Publications and Patents Analysis", in the HANDBOOK ON BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS, Ed. Angappa Gunasekaran and Maqsood Sandhu, World Scientific, 2010, ISBN 978-981-283-605-2
- E. Sani, E. Ruffaldi and M. Bergamasco, “Patent based analysis of Technology Maps for Innovation Management and Research Planning ”, in the proceedings “Towards new challenges for innovative management practices”, n°2, Vol. 1, pp. 4-10, Editors: J.Legardeur, J. Pinho de Sousa, ERIMA Publication, 2008. ISSN 2100-0778
- E. Sani, E. Ruffaldi, H. Faste, M. Bergamasco,"Business Models for Enactive Interfaces",in Proceedings of ENACTIVE07, p. 251, 2007
- E. Sani, A. Frisoli, M. Bergamasco, "Patent based analysis of innovative rehabilitation technologies", in Proceedings of Virtual Rehabilitation 2007, pp. 96-101 (this is not my paper, but it is a precursor of the above papers)