ESTGV - DI - Artigo em ata de evento científico internacional
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- Progressive Sophistication of Communication and Interaction in Videogames for Children and Young People with Autism Spectrum DisorderPublication . Alves, Valter; P. Duarte, RuiChildren and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often struggle with communication and social interaction skills (Hyman et al., 2020). Studies show benefits for people with ASD from playing videogames (Baldassarri et al., 2020; Malinverni et al., 2017). Still, current solutions targeting this audience tend to assume and expose educational goals (e.g., Zakari et al., 2014). We’ve been researching and developing guidance on how to design videogames with the potential to improve those skills while providing experiences that players can perceived as purely ludic. Previously, we distilled a set of six guidelines (Alves et al., 2021) that we were able to put into practice in specific games. However, the guideline that suggests to “focus level design on the progressive sophistication of communication and interaction” has been more challenging. To a certain extent this can be attributed to the scale of the projects in which we were able to experiment with that guideline, so far, which did not allow the team to reach its full implementation. We realised that while the other guidelines can be applied right from early stages and in small developments, this guideline, consistently with what it suggests, implies more complexity, at least to include alternate ways to perform some game actions. The acknowledgement of this disparity and the desire to provide tangible instantiations of that “sophistication”, led us to dedicate even more attention to this aspect and to systematize some major ideas so that we can share them while we are also working in their application. A key point of our proposal is that the introduction of more complex ways to communicate and interact is meant to allow players to engage in new strategies (more challenging but also more advantageous), if/when they are willing to try them, but previous alternatives should remain as usable. The specificities of the target users demand a cautious approach to changes and to the anxiety implied by risking and possibly failing. Players should be able to mix the alternatives and go back and forth in complexity, according to what they are prepared to invest in each specific circumstance. Another important aspect is that the unfolding of new alternatives, regarding communication and interaction, should be triggered by each player’s behaviour patterns and not directly by the game levels common to all players. This implies to rethink or complement conventional patterns for game level design. Currently, we are working on ways to enrich the tools for players to communicate and interact. The underlaying ideas are not innovative per se, in the sense that we can reference games (for the general public) that integrate them in some way or context. Our argument is that it is relevant to assemble and redesign them, considering the specific purpose of this research. For instance, in previous experiments we understood that it would be relevant that a player (playing character) could signal other players an interest in their collaboration or proximity. This would support that kind of proactivity (should it emerge) while influencing others to interact. We also consider very worth integrating mechanisms that allow expressing empathy towards other characters, or other emotional displays. Again, many games embed solutions that include predefined messages and/or graphics (e.g. emojis), but the specificities of our target audience require that the system is tailored in a way that is suitable and may contribute to developing this type of externalization of one’s feelings. Ultimately, it would be relevant to test a message system closer to an in-game chat, for more advanced levels of communication. Finally, we are also very interested in further integrating trading systems, common to many games, as a way to entice players to interact.
- Learning with a Newborn Bee - Design and Development of a VideogamePublication . Alves, Valter; Carapito, Nuno; Sousa, Catarina; P. Duarte, Rui; Braguez, Joana Rita Cerieira; Fonseca, F.; Pereira Cardoso, José Carlos; Lamelas, Bruno; Costa, Cristina Amaro DaIn Europe, there are several challenges for beekeeping, such as low level of professionalism and the general public unfamiliarity with bees. Given the importance of beekeeping for rural development and of bees themselves for the preservation of biodiversity and the sustainability of the planet, knowledge promotion about bees and beekeeping is of utmost importance. The project “beeB – Foster for beekeeping bridges through innovative and participative training” (2019-1-PT01-KA202-60782) was developed with the contribution of six countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Norway, and Estonia) and created tools to allow family beekeepers, or any other non-professional beekeepers, to acquire skills in this area by using innovative and adaptive forms of training that are based on ecological and good practices. The project also set out to create innovative ways of disseminating knowledge associated with the world of bees and its wonders, raising a general interest that might contribute to value the beekeeping sector and to stimulate novel beekeeping pathways. One of the outputs of the project was Ba-Bee-Bee, a videogame that develops as an interactive narrative. The plot is based on the discoveries of a newborn bee inside the hive. The bee can move through scenarios and trigger conversations with other characters. Along the dialogues, when some key concepts are introduced, the game unlocks collectible cards that can be revisited at any moment via the game inventory. In the back of each card, players can find a short paragraph systematizing or adding some more information on the topic. Players can roam freely through the world game, making it possible to repeat interactions and unlock cards that they might have missed. The game runs in desktop computers and mobile devices. All the text presented, in the dialogues, cards, and interface was localized for the partner languages. The process of developing the game was a combination between game design decisions and integration of scientific knowledge targeting the intended public. It implied to distil pieces of information about bees and beehives and translate them into a narrative that led the game environment, the plot and character actions, and the gameplay itself. Developing games that promote learning but are not strictly didactical is a challenge for interdisciplinary teams. The paper intends to contribute with the analysis of the experience of Ba-Bee-Bee, starting with the description of its design and development, followed by a critical discussion of the solutions found for combining playfulness, flow, and learning
- Behavioral Anomaly Detection of Older People Living IndependentlyPublication . Cunha, Carlos; P. Duarte, Rui; Mota, DavidOlder people living independently represent one significant part of the population nowadays. Most of them have family or friends interested in being informed about changes in their routine. Considering these changes signal some physical or mental problem, they can trigger a contact or action from the interested persons to provide support. This paper presents an approach for non-intrusive monitoring of older people to send alerts after detecting anomalous behaviors. An analysis of seven months of data gathered using PIR sensors in a couple’s living house has shown regularities in their presence in compartments along the day. We validated the adequacy of an outlier detection algorithm to build a model of the persons’ behavior, exhibiting just 3.6% of outliers interpreted as false positives.
- Connecting Students with Research through Active Participation in Projects: An Experience in a Design and Multimedia DegreePublication . Alves, Valter; P. Duarte, Rui; Sousa, Catarina; Abrantes, Steven LopesThe relationship between students and the higher education institutions has been perceived differently in the literature and policy documents, including a variety of terms such as “consumers,” “active participants,” “community of learning,” “students as change agents,” “students as partners,” and “students as co-creators of learning and teaching” (Bovill et al., 2016; Cook-Sather et al., 2014; Dunne & Zandstra, 2011; Matthews et al., 2018). In recent years, higher education has seen a growth in research and practice focused on students becoming active partners in the processes of learning and teaching. For example, inquiry and research-based learning, as well as problem and project-based learning, have assumed greater importance. Engagement in research and collaborative forms of pedagogical relationships between academics and students are considered important elements to improving teaching and learning (Sousa, Lopes, & Boyd, 2020). By involving students in research projects, the teaching staff opens opportunities for problem-based and student-centered approaches where the role of the academic/ teacher is to facilitate learning and to provide guidance and information (Willcoxson et al., 2011). Students and academics work in a more horizontal and collaborative way. Therefore, the importance of explicitly inviting students to connect with researchers and research as an integral part of their learning journey has been highlighted (Fung, 2017). This paper presents the experience of the Multimedia Technologies and Design degree of involving students in research projects developed by the teaching staff. In four different funded research projects, with several partners from different external institutions, students were invited to participate as members of the research teams. The involvement was not part of any assignment and therefore constituted an extracurricular activity that students volunteered for. This year, four students are engaged, participating in the work that is connected to all four projects. The initiative is underpinned by the concept of a “community of practice” developed by Wenger (1998), who advocated the idea that learning is social. A community of practice is organized around groups of people who share common interests or concerns and who are able to deepen their knowledge about a specific subject by interacting regularly (Wenger, 1998, 2007). In the paper, the process of involvement of the students in the projects is analyzed. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the projects have been developed without in-person meetings. The technological solutions that were implemented will be analyzed in terms of limitations and advantages for the active participation of the students and contributions for collaboration. Through the description of the workflow implemented, specific challenges of involving students in research projects from the field of Design and Multimedia will be substantiated.
- Vibração Em Regime Livre de Placas Laminadas Espessas pelo Método dos Elementos Finitos Hierárquico (Free-State Vibration of Thick Rolled Plates using the Hierarchical Finite Element Method)Publication . P. Duarte, Rui; Ribeiro, PedroUm elemento finito hierárquico é desenvolvido para estudar o comportamento não linear geométrico de placas laminadas simétricas e assimétricas em materiais compósitos. É aplicada a teoria de Mindlin e as relações não lineares de von Kármán entre as deformações e os deslocamentos, ou seja, são considerados os efeitos da inércia rotacional, das deformações transversas e da não linearidade geométrica devida a grandes deformações. As equações de movimento no domínio do tempo são determinadas aplicando os princípios dos trabalhos virtuais e de d´Alembert. O modelo é aplicado em regime linear calculando as frequências naturais de placas encastradas, estudando a variação das frequências naturais com a espessura das placas e as propriedades de convergência do elemento. O modelo é validado comparando os resultados com os de outros autores. Já em regime não-linear, as equações são transformadas para o domínio da frequência utilizando o método do balanceamento dos harmónicos e a variação da frequência natural de vibração com a amplitude do deslocamento é analisada.
- Time Domain Analysis of Geometrically Nonlinear Vibrations of Composite Laminated Plates by the Hierarchical Finite Element MethodPublication . P. Duarte, Rui; Ribeiro, P.Composite laminated plates are employed in many areas of engineering such as aeronautics, space engineering and naval industry [1,2,3]. For example in aircrafts they are submitted to large acoustic, aerodynamic and inertia excitations and therefore experience vibrations with large amplitude, i.e., in the geometrically nonlinear regime. Vibrations with large amplitude cause large stresses and the diminution of life due to fatigue. Quasi periodic and chaotic behaviours are other possible consequences of non-linearity, completely ignored by the linear models which are normally used in engineering design. Non-symmetrical laminated plates have been rarely studied, particularly in non-linear dynamics. In this work, a hierarchical finite element, in which the model is improved by increasing the number of shape functions in each element, is formulated. The element is general, in the sense that it applies to symmetric or asymmetric plates. Compared with h-version elements, it has the major advantages of requiring a small number of degrees of freedom for accuracy and of being free from shear locking. Different shear deformation theories (SDT) have been developed to include the effect of transverse shear deformation [1,2,3]. The first order shear deformation laminated plate theory is followed here. Hence, Kirchhoff's hypothesis [4] is relaxed by removing the third part, that is the transverse normals do not remain perpendicular to the mid-surface after deformation. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 In this paper, the shape functions used are the Legendre polynomials in the Rodrigue's form [5,6,7,8,9]. A different number of transverse, middle plane, rotation about y and rotation about x, displacement shape functions are employed, and the convergence of the linear natural frequencies studied. Two symmetric, rectangular, graphite/epoxy composite laminated plates with constant thickness , width and length , composed of orthotropic layers oriented at different angles are considered. The element derived is employed to study the non-linear dynamic behaviour of some these laminated plates, in the time domain. The direct integration of the system of equations of motion is carried out by Newmark's method. In order to uncover the characteristics of the motions computed, time plots, phase planes and Fourier spectra are defined. For different fibre orientations, it is confirmed that the linear natural frequencies of the thick plate model are smaller than the thin plate ones. Harmonic excitations are applied, and the responses of the plates are determined with a reasonable computational cost, due to the reduced number of degrees of freedom of the model. For amplitudes of vibration much lower than the thickness of the plate, the solutions found are always periodic and highly dominated by the harmonic with frequency equal to the excitation frequency (principal harmonic). Increasing the force applied, the response amplitude increased in a non-linear way, the motions found are still periodic, but the time and phase plots show that higher harmonics are important.
- Contacts Manager: A Mobile Web Application Consumer of Web ServicesPublication . Sousa, Artur; Wanzeller, Cristina; P. Duarte, Rui; Batista, Manuel; Soares, António; Fernandes, CarlosWith the constant innovations in the mobile devices domain, the need to make available new forms of applications is growing. We believe that this kind of devices may become large consumers of web services. Therefore, we aim to explore the development of applications for mobile devices based in web services. Our project involves the implementation of an application which allows the WAP access to the Intranet/Extranet of an information technologies company, aiming to obtain the information about its costumers, from anywhere.
- Topics on XML Data Storage and ManagementPublication . Sousa, Artur; P. Duarte, Rui; Pereira, José Luís; Carvalho, João ÁlvaroAs new standards for technology specifications related to XML are unveiled, and stable tools to implement them become available, the widespread usage of XML as an universal format for data exchange between heterogeneous e-business systems will increasingly become a reality. In this paper we analyze the several approaches available for the storage and management of XML data.
- Real-time simulation of cumulus clouds through SkewT/LogP diagramsPublication . P. Duarte, Rui; Gomes, A.J.P.Modeling, simulation, and realistic rendering of natural phenomena have been important goals in computer graphics for decades. Clouds, as a natural phenomenon, represent a real challenge because their birth, life, and death are amorphous and dynamic in nature. As a consequence, cloud simulation is very time-consuming when using physically-based methods. This paper presents a real-time cloud simulation method based on SkewT/LogP diagrams to overcome this time performance problem. These diagrams allow us to simulate 3D clouds from sounding data made public worldwide by weather agencies. More specifically, a SkewT/LogP diagram describes the vertical motion of a cloud in the atmosphere, i.e., our cloud simulator system is based on physics but avoids solving differential equations of cloud motion to achieve real-time rates. We have also built a visual tool for 2D SkewT/LogP diagrams that allows us to inspect, control and simulate the thermodynamic process of ascending clouds in the atmosphere, as well as a 3D synthetic environment where clouds are advected by buoyant forces. This lightweight physically-based technique enables the incorporation of our cloud simulator in systems tied to important industries, namely movies, virtual environments, and video games.
- Are you lost? Using Facial Recognition to Detect Customer Emotions in Retail StoresPublication . Borges, Valter; P. Duarte, Rui; Cunha, Carlos; Mota, David; ThinkmindThe understanding of consumer behavior is a dynamic field, especially relevant to the success of companies and for consumer satisfaction. It is especially important in the situation of intense competition, currently characteristic for the retail store industry, where companies fight for every individual customer. Moreover, companies do not want customers to enter their system and leave without buying products they intended to buy. This has an impact on user satisfaction and retail stores income. In this paper we present a method that targets customer satisfaction in the aforementioned context using a facial recognition system acting at the emotional level of the customer. Our method is based on cumulative negative emotions that are associated to a sadness level, which triggers events for retail store assistants to help customers. Results show that this method is adequate to measure these emotions and is a useful reference for retail store assistant intervention.