2025
Authors
Reis, A; Barroso, J; Rocha, T;
Publication
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 18TH ACM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PERVASIVE TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO ASSISTIVE ENVIRONMENTS, PETRA 2025
Abstract
This paper presents ElderMind, a mobile application designed to promote cognitive stimulation and engagement among older adults. Developed using a User-Centered Design (UCD) approach, the application incorporates gamified elements to enhance usability. ElderMind features three cognitive games-memory, puzzle, and maze-solving-each with adjustable difficulty levels, ensuring accessibility for diverse user needs. Key functionalities include performance tracking, customizable font sizes, and multilingual support, making it a versatile tool for aging populations. Accessibility and usability assessments were conducted to refine the application iteratively, addressing issues such as visual contrast and touch target sizes. Preliminary usability testing with participants aged 50-64 demonstrated ease of use, with most tasks rated as not difficult at all. Feedback highlighted the application's simplicity and accessibility while identifying areas for improvement, such as interface aesthetics and game variety. ElderMind represents a preliminary solution toward inclusive digital solutions for cognitive health and user engagement.
2025
Authors
Paulino, N; Oliveira, M; Ribeiro, F; Outeiro, L; Pessoa, LM;
Publication
2025 JOINT EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON NETWORKS AND COMMUNICATIONS & 6G SUMMIT, EUCNC/6G SUMMIT
Abstract
Human Activity Recognition (HAR) is the identification and classification of static and dynamic human activities, which find applicability in domains like healthcare, entertainment, security, and cyber-physical systems. Traditional HAR approaches rely on wearable sensors, vision-based systems, or ambient sensing, each with inherent limitations such as privacy concerns or restricted sensing conditions. Instead, Radio Frequency (RF)-based HAR relies on the interaction of RF signals with people to infer activities. Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) are significant for this use-case by allowing dynamic control over the wireless environment, enhancing the information extracted from RF signals. We present an Hand Gesture Recognition (HGR) approach using our own 6.5GHz RIS design, which we use to gather a dataset for HGR classification for three different hand gestures. By employing two Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) models trained on data gathered under random and optimized RIS configuration sequences, we achieved classification accuracies exceeding 90%.
2025
Authors
Santos, T; Bispo, J; Cardoso, JMP;
Publication
2025 IEEE 33RD ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON FIELD-PROGRAMMABLE CUSTOM COMPUTING MACHINES, FCCM
Abstract
Critical performance regions of software applications are often accelerated by offloading them onto an FPGA. An efficient end result requires the judicious application of two processes: hardware/software (hw/sw) partitioning, which identifies the regions for offloading, and the optimization of those regions for efficient High-level Synthesis (HLS). Both processes are commonly applied separately, not relying on any potential interplay between them, and not revealing how the decisions made in one process could positively influence the other. This paper describes our primary efforts and contributions made so far, and our work-in-progress, in an approach that combines both hw/sw partitioning and optimization into a unified, holistic process, automated using source-to-source compilation. By using an Extended Task Graph (ETG) representation of a C/C++ application, and expanding the synthesizable code regions, our approach aims at creating clusters of tasks for offloading by a) maximizing the potential optimizations applied to the cluster, b) minimizing the global communication cost, and c) grouping tasks that share data in the same cluster.
2025
Authors
Almeida, F;
Publication
Comput. Secur.
Abstract
2025
Authors
Alves, P; Trindade, J; Monteiro, G; Campos, P; Saraiva, P; Marreiros, G; Novais, P;
Publication
ENTERTAINMENT COMPUTING
Abstract
Accurately determining someone's personality is complex and often requires lengthy questionnaires, which are subject to social desirability bias, or a great amount of users' interactions with the system. Also, most existing research focuses on broader personality dimensions rather than more granular personality traits, which better characterize a person. In this work, we propose to implicitly acquire the users' granular personality traits using mobile short-duration serious games, in < 5 min and in a single play interaction, namely cautiousness and achievement-striving as concept proof, to replace personality questionnaires. Two platform mobile games were developed, one for each trait, Which Way and Time Travel, respectively. Then, an experiment with real participants (n = 100) was conducted. Time Travel proved to be capable of detecting achievers (get all coins, diamonds, and better scores), while Which Way couldn't effectively measure cautiousness, although following hard paths could be related to less cautious persons. As expected, significant correlations with other personality traits were also found (15 out of 30), such as anger, modesty, excitement seeking, and adventurousness. Contrary to other types of (serious) games, the results show short-duration mobile minigames are a viable way of unobtrusively determining the users' granular personality, being the path to replacing personality questionnaires.
2025
Authors
Mota, A; Ferreira, MC; Fernandes, CS;
Publication
DISABILITY AND REHABILITATION-ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Abstract
BackgroundIndividuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) face complex and ongoing rehabilitation needs. In this context, mobile health applications have emerged as promising tools to support self-management and rehabilitation.ObjectiveTo map and characterize mobile applications specifically developed to support rehabilitation of individuals with SCI.MethodsA scoping review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A systematic search was performed across five electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL). Studies published between 2015 and 2024 describing the use of mobile applications in the rehabilitation of adults with SCI were included.ResultsA total of 24 studies were included. We synthesized the identified applications descriptively into four domains: self-management and health education; gamification and motivation for physical rehabilitation; monitoring and prevention of secondary complications; and assistive technology and advanced rehabilitation. A consistent adoption of user-centered design principles was observed. Despite high levels of reported usability, challenges remain regarding long-term engagement, technological complexity, and sustained adherence.ConclusionMobile applications represent a promising complementary resource to support rehabilitation and health management in individuals with SCI. However, more robust longitudinal studies with larger sample sizes are required to assess the clinical impact and long-term feasibility of these interventions.
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