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Publicações

Publicações por Nuno Escudeiro

2016

VirtualSign in Serious Games

Autores
Escudeiro, P; Escudeiro, N; Norberto, M; Lopes, J;

Publicação
SERIOUS GAMES, INTERACTION, AND SIMULATION, SGAMES 2015

Abstract
This paper presents the game developed within the VirtualSign project. This game aims to make the process of learning sign language easier and enjoyable. In the game the player can control an avatar and interact with several objects and Non-player characters in order to obtain signs. To obtain those signs the player will have to overcome challenges and use the VirtualSign Translator. The player then has to perform the gesture himself and information is sent from the translator to the game. This improves the interactivity and makes the game more interesting and motivating. The game has as an inventory system where the signs are kept and can be checked. This lets the user visualize and learn or train the various existing configurations of gestures. There are also various checkpoints to check the player acquired knowledge, a highscore list and a continuous storyline.

2017

VirtualSign Game Evaluation

Autores
Escudeiro, P; Escudeiro, N; Norberto, M; Lopes, J;

Publicação
SERIOUS GAMES, INTERACTION AND SIMULATION

Abstract
This paper presents the evaluation methods and techniques applied to the serious game developed within the VirtualSign project as well as the results achieved through those methods. VirtualSign is a Portuguese sign language bi-directional translator with three main components. The components are a gesture to text translator, a text to gesture translator and a serious game. The serious game aims to make the process of learning sign language easier and enjoyable using the VirtualSign bi-directional translator. The method used to evaluate the VirtualSign was the Quantitative Evaluation Framework (QEF). The translator undertakes a rigid validation process by both sign language experts and the deaf community. The evaluation process was also supported by questionnaires. The precision of the translator has a direct impact on the game performance. To evaluate the precision of the automatic translator we have used QEF and 10-fold cross validation to estimate the accuracy of the translator. The experimental results show a precision above 90%. In the identification of the Portuguese Sign Language terms As for the game the quality rate is 88% based on the QEF evaluation.

2015

Virtual Sign - A Real Time Bidirectional Translator of Portuguese Sign Language

Autores
Escudeiro, P; Escudeiro, N; Reis, R; Lopes, J; Norberto, M; Baltasar, AB; Barbosa, M; Bidarra, J;

Publicação
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR ENHANCING ACCESSIBILITY AND FIGHTING INFO-EXCLUSION

Abstract
Promoting equity, equal opportunities to all and social inclusion of people with disabilities is a concern of modern societies at large and a key topic in the agenda of European Higher Education. Despite all the progress, we cannot ignore the fact that the conditions provided by the society for the deaf are still far from being perfect. The communication with deaf by means of written text is not as efficient as it might seem at first. In fact, there is a very deep gap between sign language and spoken/written language. The vocabulary, the sentence construction and the grammatical rules are quite different among these two worlds. These facts bring significant difficulties in reading and understanding the meaning of text for deaf people and, on the other hand, make it quite difficult for people with no hearing disabilities to understand sign language. The deployment of tools to assist the daily communication, in schools, in public services, in museums and other, between deaf people and the rest may be a significant contribution to the social inclusion of the deaf community. The work described in this paper addresses the development of a bidirectional translator between Portuguese Sign Language and Portuguese text. The translator from sign language to text resorts to two devices, namely the Microsoft Kinect and 5DT Sensor Gloves in order to gather data about the motion and shape of the hands. The hands configurations are classified using Support Vector Machines. The classification of the movement and orientation of the hands are achieved through the use of Dynamic Time Warping algorithm. The translator exhibits a precision higher than 90%. In the other direction, the translation of Portuguese text to Portuguese Sign Language is supported by a 3D avatar which interprets the entered text and performs the corresponding animations. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V.

2015

Virtualsign Translator as a Base for a Serious Game.

Autores
Escudeiro, P; Escudeiro, N; Norberto, M; Lopes, J;

Publicação
THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGICAL ECOSYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING MULTICULTURALITY, PROCEEDINGS TEEM'15

Abstract
The goal of this paper is to present the development of a game aimed at making the process of learning sign language enjoyable and interactive, using the VirtualSign Translator. This game aims to make the process of learning sign language easier and enjoyable. In the game the player can control an avatar and interact with several objects and Non-player characters in order to obtain signs. Through the connection with VirtualSign Translator the data gloves and Kinect support this interaction and the gestures can then be represented by the character. This allows for the user to visualize and learn or train the various existing configurations of gestures. To improve the interactivity and to make the game more interesting and motivating, several checkpoints were placed along game levels. The game has as an inventory system where the signs are kept and can be checked allowing for the user to visualize and learn or train the various existing configurations of gestures. A High Scores system was also created, as well as a History option, to ensure that the game is a continuous and motivating learning process.

2013

Evaluating educational games in mobile platforms

Autores
Escudeiro, P; Escudeiro, N;

Publicação
International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation

Abstract
In this paper we present a quality model based on the software engineering paradigms, which is applied to evaluate digital learning content, specifically, games for mobile platforms. The model is called Quantitative Evaluation Framework (QEF), and measures system quality throughout its development life cycle. QEF evaluates the educational software quality, particularly the digital learning content (ISO 9126 is the standard of reference) in a three-dimensional space. Every dimension aggregates a set of factors. A factor is a component that represents the system performance from a particular point of view. The quality of a given system is defined and evaluated in our tri-dimensional Cartesian quality space in relation to a hypothetical ideal system represented in our quality space by the coordinates (1, 1, 1). Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

2013

Virtual Sign Translator

Autores
Escudeiro, P; Escudeiro, N; Reis, R; Barbosa, M; Bidarra, J; Baltazar, AB; Gouveia, B;

Publicação
PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER, NETWORKS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING (ICCNCE 2013)

Abstract
In this paper we present the overall study that includes the model developed (VS Model) and the experiences performed, with an automatic bidirectional sign language translator, between written and sign language, which is being supervised by the research group GILT (Graphics, interaction & learning technologies) under the frame of a national project called Virtual Sign (VS project). This project aims to develop and evaluate a model that facilitates access for the deaf and hearing impaired to digital content - in particular the educational content and learning objects - creating the conditions for greater social inclusion of deaf and hearing impaired people. Access to digital content will be supported by an automatic translator between Portuguese Writing (LEP) and Portuguese Sign Language (LGP) supported by an interaction model.

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