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Publications

2025

Bridging the gaps: an updated mapping of the uses of immersive learning environments

Authors
Morgado, L; Beck, D; O'Shea, P;

Publication
VIRTUAL REALITY

Abstract
Since publication of the 2020 survey of surveys, Finding the gaps about uses of immersive learning environments: a survey of surveys, the field of immersive learning environments has experienced substantial growth and diversification. This updated review systematically maps recent developments by analyzing 64 new literature surveys published after the original corpus date, significantly expanding the corpus from 47 to 111 reviews. Through thematic content analysis, our study identifies and integrates five new educational use themes-Games, Observation, Personification, Storytelling, and Student Authoring-and revises existing categories based on recent research. We observed shifts in the prevalence of themes, most notably an increase in uses related to data collection, interactive exploration and manipulation, contextual/media integration, and physical world simulation. We also discussed these changes in relation to recent technological advancements and the influence of emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, our results provide an updated representation of immersive learning uses within the conceptual framework of immersion dimensions (system, narrative, agency), updating current research clusters and persistent gaps. By illustrating areas with limited exploration, such as highly interactive narrative experiences, or low-technology interactive uses, this paper informs future research directions and contributes to an understanding of how immersive environments are being employed for learning. This comprehensive mapping thus serves as a resource for researchers and educators aiming to leverage immersive learningenvironments. This paper builds on a shorter version accepted for inclusion in the proceedings of the iLRN 2025 conference, offering expanded results, additional analyses, and extended discussion that clarifies and deepens the original findings.

2025

Blockchain-enabled distributed learning for enhanced smart grid security and efficiency

Authors
Abdellatif A.A.; Shaban K.; Massoud A.;

Publication
Computers and Electrical Engineering

Abstract
This study introduces a secure, adaptable, and decentralized learning framework empowered by blockchain technology to enhance smart grid security and efficiency. Security is achieved through blockchain's ledger, ensuring data integrity, privacy, and resilience. Adaptability refers to the framework's ability to adjust to changing conditions, supporting multiple learning paradigms. Decentralization enhances fault tolerance by distributing control across nodes. Our framework excels in scalability, data-exchange security, and rapid response times, aiming to establish an intelligent blockchain-based smart grid supporting centralized learning (CL), federated learning (FL), and active federated learning (AFL). We present an innovative blockchain-based architecture customized to optimize information sharing and security within the blockchain. Our solution addresses various learning paradigm requirements by: (i) Selecting reliable entities for participation based on high-quality training data models; (ii) Acquiring a reliable subset of data for CL and AFL, balancing learning performance, latency, and cost; (iii) Adjusting blockchain configuration to align with specific learning paradigm requirements. Results from real-world datasets demonstrate superior performance compared to existing solutions. Our framework achieves high learning performance while minimizing latency and blockchain costs.

2025

Evaluating Skin Tone Fairness in Convolutional Neural Networks for the Classification of Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Authors
Reis, SS; Pinto-Coelho, L; Sousa, MC; Neto, M; Silva, M; Sequeira, M;

Publication
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL

Abstract
The present paper investigates the application of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for the classification of diabetic foot ulcers, using VGG16, VGG19 and MobileNetV2 architectures. The primary objective is to develop and compare deep learning models capable of accurately identifying ulcerated regions in clinical images of diabetic feet, thereby aiding in the prevention and effective treatment of foot ulcers. A comprehensive study was conducted using an annotated dataset of medical images, evaluating the performance of the models in terms of accuracy, precision, recall and F1-score. VGG19 achieved the highest accuracy at 97%, demonstrating superior ability to focus activations on relevant lesion areas in complex images. MobileNetV2, while slightly less accurate, excelled in computational efficiency, making it a suitable choice for mobile devices and environments with hardware constraints. The study also highlights the limitations of each architecture, such as increased risk of overfitting in deeper models and the lower capability of MobileNetV2 to capture fine clinical details. These findings suggest that CNNs hold significant potential in computer-aided clinical diagnosis, particularly in the early and precise detection of diabetic foot ulcers, where timely intervention is crucial to prevent amputations.

2025

Real Remote Laboratory for Cooperative and Online Learning of Digital Systems

Authors
Mendonça, HS; Alves, JC;

Publication
2025 7TH EXPERIMENT@ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, EXP.AT'25

Abstract
As digital design methodologies and tools are evolving to higher abstraction levels, teaching the low-level concepts of digital electronic system design is becoming increasingly challenging. The raise of the design abstraction level and, more recently, the ability of AI-assisted automated design is pushing the interest of students away from the lower-level details of the digital world. Nevertheless, digital electronic systems are (still) made of transistors, gates and flip-flops, and people do need to keep this basic knowledge to be able to build efficient circuits, understand them and develop the essential electronic design automation tools. For learning these subjects, hands-on experimentation, and learning by doing, is proven to be an effective tool, and when students finally see and feel the results of their designs, motivation raises rapidly. This paper presents the technical aspects of a platform created in the DECEL project to support an FPGA-based remote laboratory based on a commercial single-board computer that can be located somewhere in the Internet. This computer runs a Linux operating system and is based on an AMD/XILINX device that integrates in the same chip an ARM Cortex A9 CPU and a region of FPGA programmable logic. The user develops a digital circuit using standard hardware-description languages (Verilog or VHDL) and runs the implementation tools for the target FPGA using a very simple web interface running in a remote server.

2025

6th International Computer Programming Education Conference, ICPEC 2025, PORTIC, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal, July 10-11, 2025

Authors
Queirós, R; Pinto, M; Portela, F; Simões, A;

Publication
ICPEC

Abstract

2025

Current Challenges and Future Perspectives in Testing IoT Systems: A Comprehensive Review

Authors
Bruno Lima; Rui Pinto;

Publication
IEEE Sensors Reviews

Abstract

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