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    Human-Centered Computing and Information Science

    HumanISE is an interdisciplinary centre focused on research at the forefront of human-centred computing (HCC) with broad and deep expertise in computer science (CS) and information science (IS).

    At HumanISE, engineers, scientists and designers focus on research and development of software systems, methods, and tools, capable of leveraging human abilities and practices within their communities and environments, involving high technical and managerial complexity, due to large scale, high heterogeneity, high uncertainty, high integrity, strict compliance to standards and legal frameworks, or domain-specific organisational issues.

    Our mission is to pursue high-quality research, innovation, consultancy, and technology transfer, impactful, in close cooperation with academic and industrial partners. We focus on five main research areas - Computer-Human Interaction, Computer Graphics and Interactive Digital Media, Information Management and Information Systems, Software Engineering, and Large Scale and Special Purpose Computing Systems, Languages and Tools - and four innovation areas - Personalised Health Research, Earth, Ocean and Space Science, Geospatial Information Systems Engineering, and Information Systems and Applied Computing.

    Furthermore, at HumanISE, we are also strongly committed to training young researchers and professionals, with a significant track record in the supervision of master and PhD students.

    Presently, our researchers originate from the University of Porto (UP), Polytechnic of Porto (IPP), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Universidade Aberta (UAb) and University of Minho (UM).

    Latest News
    Computer Science and Engineering

    Portugal’s semiconductor dialogue takes shape with contributions from INESC TEC – six months after the kick off of the Competence Centre

    Portugal’s position within the semiconductor ecosystem was one of the topics discussed at an event promoted by the Portuguese Competence Centre for Semiconductors (POEMS) – which features INESC TEC as a partner.

    21st November 2025

    Computer Science and Engineering

    INESC TEC and Águas do Douro e Paiva sign collaboration protocol

    On 31 October, INESC TEC signed a new collaboration protocol with Águas do Douro e Paiva (AdDP) at AdDP’s facilities in Lever.

    06th November 2025

    Computer Science and Engineering

    Seniors training with Artificial Intelligence? The future (really is) today

    The project is called IATOS and it aims to make remote physical training safer, more effective, and accessible for older adults. Led by a consortium including INESC TEC, AGIT TECH, and the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, the initiative seeks to create a digital platform for AI-assisted physical training, specifically designed for people over 65.

    29th September 2025

    Power and Energy Systems

    There are innovative technological solutions to be developed for local energy markets – with contributions from INESC TEC

    The delay in generating synthetic data for time series – fundamental elements in energy forecasting scenarios – was one of the motivations for GENESIS, a project that aims to provide local electricity markets with contextual synthetic data and reliable artificial intelligence models.

    22nd September 2025

    Computer Science and Engineering

    INESC TEC researchers organised an international conference on computer vision and computer graphics

    The VISIGRAPP 2025 - 20th International Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications - took place in Porto, in late February. It brought together more than 380 researchers and professionals interested in keeping up with and discussing theoretical advances and applications in Computer Vision, Computer Graphics, Human-Computer Interaction, and Information Visualisation - the main themes of the co-located conferences VISAPP, GRAPP, HUCAPP, and IVAPP, respectively. One of the co-chairs of this conference was INESC TEC researcher A. Augusto de Sousa.

    27th March 2025

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    Team
    Ademar Aguiar

    Centre Coordinator

    Artur Rocha

    Centre Coordinator

    Hugo Paredes

    Centre Coordinator

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    003

    Laboratories

    Information Systems Laboratory

    Laboratory of Software Engineering

    Laboratory of Computer Graphics and Virtual Environments

    Publications

    HumanISE Publications

    View all Publications

    2026

    An Explosion of the Uses of Immersive Learning Environments: A Mapping of Reviews Update

    Authors
    Beck, E; Morgado, LC; O’Shea, M;

    Publication
    Communications in Computer and Information Science

    Abstract
    Since the publication of the 2020 paper, “Finding the Gaps About Uses of Immersive Learning Environments: A Survey of Surveys,” the landscape of immersive learning environments (ILEs) has continued to evolve rapidly. This update aims to revisit the gaps identified in that previous research and explore emerging trends. We conducted an extensive review of new surveys published after that paper’s cut date. Our findings reveal a significant amount of new published reviews (n?=?64), more than doubling the original corpus (n?=?47). The results highlighted novel themes of usage of immersive environments, helping bridge some 2020 research gaps. This paper discusses those developments and presents a consolidated perspective on the uses of immersive learning environments. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

    CloseRead Abstract

    2026

    Comparing and extending satisfiability solution methods for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem

    Authors
    Coelho, J; Vanhoucke, M;

    Publication
    COMPUTERS & OPERATIONS RESEARCH

    Abstract
    This paper solves the resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) with a satisfiability problem (SAT) solver. This paper builds further on various existing SAT models for this well-known project scheduling problem and extends them with two methods to satisfy the resource constraints. Specifically, we use the wellknown minimal forbidden sets and compare them with the so-called covers that are traditionally used in SAT implementations. Moreover, we also implement an existing binary decision trees approach under various settings and extend the model with networks with adders, so far never used for solving the RCPSP, to guarantee that resource constraints are satisfied. The algorithms are tested under different settings on a set of 13,413 project instances with diverse network and resource structures, and the experiments demonstrate that a combination of these approaches help in finding better solutions within a reasonable time. Moreover, 393 new lower bounds, 62 new upper bounds, and 290 optimally solved instances (including 18 from the PSPLIB) have been discovered, which, to the best of our knowledge, had not been found before. The strong performance of the new algorithm motivated additional experiments, and the preliminary results suggest several promising directions for future research.

    CloseRead Abstract

    2026

    A framework for supporting the reproducibility of computational experiments in multiple scientific domains

    Authors
    Costa, L; Barbosa, S; Cunha, J;

    Publication
    Future Gener. Comput. Syst.

    Abstract
    In recent years, the research community, but also the general public, has raised serious questions about the reproducibility and replicability of scientific work. Since many studies include some kind of computational work, these issues are also a technological challenge, not only in computer science, but also in most research domains. Computational replicability and reproducibility are not easy to achieve due to the variety of computational environments that can be used. Indeed, it is challenging to recreate the same environment via the same frameworks, code, programming languages, dependencies, and so on. We propose a framework, known as SciRep, that supports the configuration, execution, and packaging of computational experiments by defining their code, data, programming languages, dependencies, databases, and commands to be executed. After the initial configuration, the experiments can be executed any number of times, always producing exactly the same results. Our approach allows the creation of a reproducibility package for experiments from multiple scientific fields, from medicine to computer science, which can be re-executed on any computer. The produced package acts as a capsule, holding absolutely everything necessary to re-execute the experiment. To evaluate our framework, we compare it with three state-of-the-art tools and use it to reproduce 18 experiments extracted from published scientific articles. With our approach, we were able to execute 16 (89%) of those experiments, while the others reached only 61%, thus showing that our approach is effective. Moreover, all the experiments that were executed produced the results presented in the original publication. Thus, SciRep was able to reproduce 100% of the experiments it could run. © 2025 The Authors

    CloseRead Abstract

    2026

    Renewable Energy Into Sustainability Metrics: A Multicriteria Decision

    Authors
    Rodrigues H.S.; Garcia J.E.; Silva Â.;

    Publication
    Communications in Computer and Information Science

    Abstract
    The integration of renewable energy into sustainability metrics is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in regions aiming to balance energy efficiency, waste management, and urban development. This study explores the application of multicriteria decision-making and statistical techniques to evaluate municipal sustainability, with a focus on renewable energy, using the Alto Minho region of Portugal as a case study. The analysis incorporates 12 SDG indicators across ten municipalities, addressing energy consumption, urban renewal, and waste management. Cluster analysis revealed distinct groups of municipalities, highlighting disparities in sustainability performance. Municipalities such as Melgaço and Monção excelled in energy-related metrics, while others showed strengths in waste management and urban renewal. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) emphasized the importance of renewable energy indicators, revealing notable changes in rankings when energy-related criteria were prioritized. Ponte de Lima and Melgaço ranked highest under energy-focused weighting schemes, showcasing their leadership in energy efficiency and renewable adoption. The findings underscore the need for targeted policies to enhance sustainability across municipalities, particularly in regions lagging in energy performance.

    CloseRead Abstract

    2025

    LLM Prompt Engineering for Automated White-Box Integration Test Generation in REST APIs

    Authors
    Rincon, AM; Vincenzi, AMR; Faria, JP;

    Publication
    2025 IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOFTWARE TESTING, VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION WORKSHOPS, ICSTW

    Abstract
    This study explores prompt engineering for automated white-box integration testing of RESTful APIs using Large Language Models (LLMs). Four versions of prompts were designed and tested across three OpenAI models (GPT-3.5 Turbo, GPT-4 Turbo, and GPT-4o) to assess their impact on code coverage, token consumption, execution time, and financial cost. The results indicate that different prompt versions, especially with more advanced models, achieved up to 90% coverage, although at higher costs. Additionally, combining test sets from different models increased coverage, reaching 96% in some cases. We also compared the results with EvoMaster, a specialized tool for generating tests for REST APIs, where LLM-generated tests achieved comparable or higher coverage in the benchmark projects. Despite higher execution costs, LLMs demonstrated superior adaptability and flexibility in test generation.

    CloseRead Abstract