Abstract

Abstract
Many of the 17 million Europeans who suffer from food allergies could benefit from a more direct information system in the identification of the 14 allergens regulated by the Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) no 1169/2011 in packages of food products. This study aimed at creating pictograms representing these 14 allergens along visual and tactile lines, through relief printing. Based on Inclusive Design approach, the project meant to overcome restrictions such as sight impairment or illiteracy. Making use of User Centered Design (UCD) methodology, and with the support of the SAED (Disabled Students Support Services of the University of Porto) and GAENEE-UP (Support Office for Students with Special Educational Needs of the University of Porto), it employed field observation processes, in which potential users recorded their tactile perception of basic elements of visual communication. The result is the creation of a universal code, which is meant to satisfy the expectations and needs of potential users, namely people with impaired sight.

Abstract

Abstract
Digital technologies have become our privileged method of interacting with information. With their ubiquity, and focus on personalisation, optimisation and functionality, chance and accidental interactions in the Digital Medium are being replaced with filtered, predictable and known ones, limiting the scope of possible user experiences. In order to promote the design of richer experiences that go beyond the functionally-driven paradigm, we propose that digital systems be designed in order to favour serendipity. Through a literature-based analysis of serendipity, we explore the distinct meanings of value that are possible with serendipitous systems, offering examples of the current state of the art, observing the methods used to do so, and proposing a possible typology, while highlighting unexplored fields, experiences and interactions.

Abstract
Virtual meetings have become increasingly common with modern videoconference and collaborative software. While they allow obvious savings in time and resources, current technologies add unproductive layers of protocol to the flow of communication between participants, rendering the interactions far from seamless. In this work we describe in detail Remote Proxemics, an extension of proxemics aimed at bringing the syntax of co-located proximal interactions to virtual meetings. We also describe the role of Eery Space as a shared virtual locus that results from merging multiple remote areas, where meeting participants’ are located side-by-side as if they shared the same physical location. Thus rendering Remote Proxemics possible. Results from user evaluation on the proposed presence awareness techniques suggest that our approach is effective at enhancing mutual awareness between participants and sufficient to initiate proximal exchanges regardless of their geolocation, while promoting smooth interactions between local and remote people alike. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.

Abstract
Travel on Virtual Environments is the simple action where a user moves from a starting point A to a target point B. Choosing an incorrect type of technique could compromise the Virtual Reality experience and cause side effects such as spatial disorientation, fatigue and cybersickness. The design of effective travelling techniques demands to be as natural as possible, thus real walking techniques presents better results, despite their physical limitations. Approaches to surpass these limitations employ techniques that provide an indirect travel metaphor such as point-steering and target-based. In fact, target-based techniques evince a reduction in fatigue and cybersickness against the point-steering techniques, even though providing less control. In this paper we investigate further effects of speed and transition on target-based techniques on factors such as comfort and cybersickness using a Head-Mounted Display setup.