Abstract
Higher education courses teaching about agile software development (ASD) have increased in commonality as the ideas behind the Agile Manifesto became more commonplace in the industry. However, a lot of the literature on how ASD is applied in the classroom does not provide much actionable advice, focusing on frameworks or even moving beyond the software development area into teaching in an agile way. We, therefore, showcase early work on a pattern language that focuses on teaching ASD practices to university students, which stems from our own experiences as educators in higher education contexts. We present five patterns, specifically focused on team and project setup phase: Capping Team Size, Smaller Project Scope, Business Non-Critical Project, Self-assembling Teams, and Team Chooses Topic as a starting point for developing the overall pattern language. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

Abstract
Service-based architectures provide substantial benefits, yet service orchestration remains a challenge, particularly for newcomers. While various resources on orchestration techniques exist, they often lack clarity and standardization, making best practices difficult to implement and limiting their adoption within the software industry. To address this gap, we analyzed existing literature and tools to identify common orchestration practices. Based on our findings, we define three key orchestration resource optimization patterns: Preemptive Scheduling, Service Balancing, and Garbage Collection. Preemptive Scheduling allows the allocation of sufficient resources for services of higher priority in stressful situations, while Service Balancing enables a restructuring of the nodes to allow better resource usage. To end, Garbage Collection creates cleanup mechanisms to better understand the system’s resource usage and optimize it. These patterns serve as foundational elements for improving orchestration practices and fostering broader adoption in service-based architectures. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

Abstract
We present CIDER, a novel framework for the collaborative editing of 3D augmented scenes. The framework allows multiple users to manipulate the virtual elements added to the real environment independently and without unexpected changes, comparing the different editing proposals and finalising a collaborative result. CIDER leverages the use of 'layers' encapsulating the state of the environment. Private layers can be edited independently by the different subjects, and a global one can be collaboratively updated with 'commit' operations. In this paper, we describe in detail the system architecture and the implementation as a prototype for the HoloLens 2 headsets, as well as the motivations behind the interaction design. The system has been validated with a user study on a realistic interior design task. The study not only evaluated the general usability but also compared two different approaches for the management of the atomic commit: forced (single-phase) and voting (requiring consensus), analyzing the effects of this choice on collaborative behaviour. According to the users' comments, we performed improvements to the interface and further tested their effectiveness.

Abstract
The European Health Data Space (EHDS) sets out regulations for the management of electronic health data, distinguishing between its primary use in direct healthcare and patient data portability, and its secondary use for research, innovation, and policy-making. We aim to empower individuals to take control of their health by enhancing personal health data management. In this work, we discuss the challenges in electronic personal health data access and propose developing a system that leverages personal health knowledge graphs and retrieval-augmented generation to ensure FAIR personal electronic health data representation and personalized health information delivery.

Abstract

Abstract
This study proposes a virtual reality (VR) experience that aims at raising awareness toward climate change through the simulation of a wildfire, a natural disaster that is becoming increasingly frequent in Portugal, and promote the adoption of sustainable behaviours and mitigation strategies. Here, the feasibility of such an approach is tested implementing both subjective, with the Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ) to evaluate the senses of presence, involvement and realism, and objective measures, i.e., a set of features extracted from the in-VR movement trajectories. The mean scores of IPQ items demonstrated that such devastating event is particularly effective in enhancing participants' involvement and sense of presence within the virtual environment, reinforcing the potential of VR to foster pro-environmental attitudes. Results also highlighted that these feelings were not altered by VR familiarity, whereas presence ratings were higher for participants who visited the actual location that the virtual environment replicated. Correlation analysis also discovered significant relationships between subjective and objective parameters. © 2025 IEEE.