2014
Authors
Paredes, H; Fonseca, B; Cabo, M; Pereira, T; Fernandes, F;
Publication
UNIVERSAL ACCESS IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
Abstract
The general adoption of mobile devices and its wide network coverage made it possible to make emergency calls virtually everywhere, even in the absence of a valid contact. However, there is still generally the need for audio connection. This restriction is a problem for deaf people, but also for the elderly and people without disabilities who face sudden situations where speech is hard to articulate. In this context, this paper presents SOSPhone, a prototype of a mobile application that was developed to enable users to make emergency calls using an iconographic touch interface running in a touchscreen mobile device. The prototype implements the client-side of the application and was demonstrated and evaluated by a large number of users, including people without any disability, emergency services' professionals and deaf people. This paper describes the SOSPhone prototype and presents the results of the interface evaluation process, which is important to validate the main client-side interaction and architectural principles in order to proceed with the integration with each specific national emergency services' platform.
2014
Authors
Cabo, M; Fernandes, F; Pereira, T; Fonseca, B; Paredes, H;
Publication
5TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR ENHANCING ACCESSIBILITY AND FIGHTING INFO-EXCLUSION, DSAI 2013
Abstract
eCall is a car system which automatically calls for help in case of a car accident. The system sends a minimum set of data containing information about the occurrence, such as the geographic location and the vehicle identification. Simultaneously, a 112-voice connection is established. Therefore, the operator at the Public-Safety Answering Point (PSAP) is able to hear what is happening in the vehicle and actually communicate with the occupant(s). However if the occupant(s)'s are deaf or has earing impairments he will not be able to describe the situation using the voice channel established. This paper proposes a solution for this problem extending the SOSPhone concept, developed for enabling universal access to emergency services. A prototype of an application integrated with the eCall that enables the communication with deaf people or earing impaired people is presented. The solution makes use of touch interfaces, embedding the emergency protocols in the user's device, gathering information with an iconographic interface. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
2014
Authors
Cassola, Fernando; Morgado, Leonel; Paredes, Hugo; Fonseca, Benjamim; Martins, Paulo; Carvalho, Fausto de;
Publication
Abstract
A sincronização online de ginástica potencia novas possibilidades para melhorar o bem-estar físico e social das pessoas com restrições de deslocação. A nossa
proposta passa pela criação de uma plataforma 3D - Online Gym - que permita que os utilizadores interajam e participem em sessões online de ginástica em grupo
através do Microsoft Kinect.
No presente artigo, com vista à concretização desta proposta, analisamos três alternativas tecnológicas para a implementação de serviços de deteção de
movimentos que possam ser integrados em
plataformas gráficas multiutilizador. Nos resultados, expõem-se as características de cada uma e o impacte respetivo para sua utilização na concretização desta
proposta ou outras iniciativas similares.
2014
Authors
Sillero, N; Oliveira, MA; Sousa, P; Sousa, F; Goncalves Seco, L;
Publication
AMPHIBIA-REPTILIA
Abstract
The Societas Europaea Herpetologica (SEH) decided in 2006 through its Mapping Committee to implement the New Atlas of Amphibians and Reptiles of Europe (NA2RE: http://na2re.ismai.pt) as a chorological database system. Initially designed to be a system of distributed databases, NA2RE quickly evolved to a Spatial Data Infrastructure, a system of geographically distributed systems. Each individual system has a national focus and is implemented in an online network, accessible through standard interfaces, thus allowing for interoperable communication and sharing of spatial-temporal data amongst one another. A Web interface facilitates the access of the user to all participating data systems as if it were one single virtual integrated data-source. Upon user request, the Web interface searches all distributed data-sources for the requested data, integrating the answers in an always updated and interactive map. This infrastructure implements methods for fast actualisation of national observation records, as well as for the use of a common taxonomy and systematics. Using this approach, data duplication is avoided, national systems are maintained in their own countries, and national organisations are responsible for their own data curation and management. The database could be built with different representation levels and resolution levels of data, and filtered according to species conservation matters. We present the first prototype of NA2RE, composed of the last data compilation performed by the SEH (Sillero et al., 2014). This system is implemented using only open source software: PostgreSQL database with PostGIS extension, Geoserver, and OpenLayers.
2014
Authors
Freire, H; Oliveira, PBD; Pires, EJS; Bessa, M;
Publication
NATURE INSPIRED COOPERATIVE STRATEGIES FOR OPTIMIZATION (NICSO 2013)
Abstract
The performance of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEA) is severely deteriorated when applied to many-objective problems. For Pareto dominance based techniques, available information about optimal solutions can be used to improve their performance. This is the case of corner solutions. This work considers the behaviour of three multi-objective algorithms (NSGA-II, SMPSO and GDE3) when corner solutions are inserted into the population at different evolutionary stages. Corner solutions are found using specific algorithms. Preliminary results are presented concerning the behaviour of the aforementioned algorithms in five benchmark problems (DTLZ1-5).
2014
Authors
Carvalho, D; Bessa, M; Magalhães, L;
Publication
Interacción
Abstract
In recent years there has been a boom of different natural interaction paradigms, such as touch, tangible or gesture-based interfaces, that make better use of human's innate skills rather than imposing new learning processes. However, no work has been reported that systematically evaluates how these interfaces influence users' performance with regard to their level of digital literacy or even age. Furthermore, it is also important to understand the interaction paradigms' impact when performing basic operations, such as data selection, insertion and manipulation, and which interface could be the most efficient for each task. This paper reports the first step of an exploratory evaluation about the relationship between different interaction paradigms and specific target-audiences: dealing with a selection task. We conducted an experiment with 60 subjects to evaluate how different interfaces may influence the performance of specific groups of users. Four input modalities are evaluated in a selection task and results for these different user groups are reported in terms of performance, efficacy (error rate) and user preference. For each group of users, we determined there was a statistically significant difference between the mean time taken to complete the task in each interface. Also, the one input modality every user was accustomed with (the computer mouse) was the one that showed the most discrepancy regarding performance between the groups. We believe that this study raises new issues for future research.
The access to the final selection minute is only available to applicants.
Please check the confirmation e-mail of your application to obtain the access code.