Acknowledgements

This thesis is the only final step of a long journey full of challenges and hard work, which would have not been possible without the support of many people who accompanied me in the past few years. Firstly, I want to express my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Heinrich H. Bülthoff, for stimulating me in my research and for allowing me to work in his group at MPI during these years. He created a great research environment where I was able to meet brilliant colleagues and precious friends. Along similar lines I want to thank Prof. Dr. Frank Allgöwer, for accepting me in his group within the prestigious university of Stuttgart, for co-advising my thesis and for giving me invaluable help. I also want to thank Prof. Dr. Cristian Secchi, for showing interest in my work and for accepting to co-advise my thesis. My most sincere gratitude goes to Dr. Paolo Robuffo Giordano and Dr. Antonio Franchi, who supervised me during the years of my doctorate. They have both given me constant guidance and have been always available for discussions, on days, nights and weekends. I will cherish the many things that I have learned from them during these years. Finally, I want to thank the great colleagues that I was lucky to wor