Abstract
The inevitable need of new infrastructures for encouraging plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) penetration into the system has drawn various attentions towards the required studies. In this regard, the PEVs parking lot (PL) has shown to have proper potentials. Other than providing a charging place for the PEVs, PLs can be considered as an integrated form of PEV batteries and act as storage in the system. However, the accuracy of PL's operation can be enhanced through detailed modeling of various affecting factors such as PEV's preferences on using the charging capability of the PL. In this study, a new model to add the PEVs' preferences in the PL's market participation problem is proposed. Various categories of PEVs are considering based on their arrival/departure pattern, duration of stay in the PL, and charging requirements. The results showed a considerable difference in PL's strategy in market participation, with and without considering PEVs' preferences.

Abstract

Abstract
Keeping students interested and motivated is perhaps one of the most difficult and traditional tasks assigned to teachers. With technology being engaged increasingly into learning activities, with its advantages and disadvantages, some new aspects need to be considered. Undoubtedly, technology acts as an enhancer for learning, opening new paths for teaching. However there are some drawbacks too. Keeping students in the right track, doing what they are expected to do, with commitment and motivation, becomes an enormous challenge when an amazing digital world full of all kind of temptations is at the distance of their personal smartphones or even in the computer they use to study. This excess of stimuli and the process of switching and choosing between them has as potential effects on attention, stress and mental fatigue. Stressed or fatigued students fail to deliver the required performance for the task they are engaged in. This paper presents a non-intrusive approach for monitoring student's performance in real time and measure the effect of these external variables on students. The long-term goal is to empower teachers with valuable information about the students' state, allowing them to better manage their students and teaching methodologies.

Abstract

Abstract
Following the proliferation of Augmented Reality technologies and applications in mobile devices it is becoming clear that AR techniques have matured and are ready to be used for large audiences. This poses several new multimedia interaction and usability problems that need to be identified and studied. AR problems are no longer exclusively about rendering superimposed virtual geometry or finding ways of performing GPS or computer vision registration. It is important to understand how to keep users engaged with AR and in what occasions it is suitable to use it. Additionally how should graphical user interfaces be designed so that the user can interact with AR elements while pointing a mobile device to a specific real world area? Finally what is limiting AR applications from reaching an even broader acceptance and usage level? This position paper identifies several interaction problems in today's multimedia AR applications, raising several pressing issues and proposes several research directions. Copyright

Abstract
In the last two decades, CAD/CAM technologies have opened new conceptual and material opportunities in architecture. By combining computational design and digital fabrication technologies, architects have embraced a higher level of geometric complexity and variability in their design solutions. Such non-standard possibilities were expanded with the recent introduction of robotic technologies in the discipline, which have allowed moving beyond the fabrication of building components to reach the construction of building parts. As a result of this digital condition, traditional materials have known innovative applications in architecture. In this context, this paper presents cork, which is a natural and recyclable material. By describing its unique set of properties and features, it argues about cork's relevance for the building construction in the present times. With this underlying motivation, this paper defines the current state of the architectural research on the use of robotic fabrication with cork. It does so by describing and illustrating a set of different experiments conducted by the authors in their academic institutions. The results unveil a set of innovative applications of cork in building construction and, at the same time, contribute to show how robotic technologies can be used to rethink and update traditional and old materials in architecture.