Abstract
The growing use of Information Technology in the commercial arena leads to an urgent need to find alternatives to traditional dispute resolution. New tools from fields such as artificial intelligence (AI) should be considered in the process of developing novel online dispute resolution (ODR) platforms, in order to make the ligation process simpler, faster and conform with the new virtual environments. In this work, we describe UMCourt, a project built around two sub-fields of AI research: Multi-agent Systems and Case-Based Reasoning, aimed at fostering the development of tools for ODR. This is then used to accomplish several objectives, from suggesting solutions to new disputes based on the observation of past similar disputes, to the improvement of the negotiation and mediation processes that may follow. The main objective of this work is to develop autonomous tools that can increase the effectiveness of the dispute resolution processes, namely by increasing the amount of meaningful information that is available for the parties.

Abstract
In our daily living, the environment surrounding us influences us as much or more than we influence it. Whether it is a domestic, leisure or working environment, its conditions will certainly have short and long-term effects on aspects such as stress, mood or fatigue, which will in turn influence indicators such as productivity, quality of work, quality of life, personal/group performance or even health. In this paper a dynamic environment is proposed that, based on the behavioural analysis of its users, will adapt its conditions to improve particular indicators. This will result in better working environments, with an impact on the quality of the work produced. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013.

Abstract
The work presented focuses not only on the behavioural patterns that influence the outcome of a negotiation, but also on the discovery of ways to predict the type of conflict used in the process and the stress levels of the actors. After setting up an experimental intelligent environment provided with sensors to capture behavioural and contextual information, a set of relevant data was collected and analysed, with the underlying objective of using the behavioural patterns (obtained by statistical/probabilistic methods) as a basis to design and present plans and suggestions to the associated participants. In sooth, these proposals may influence in a positive way the course and outcome of a negotiation task in many aspects. This work highlights the importance of knowledge in negotiation, as in other social forms of interaction, providing also some new insights for informed decision support in situations in which uncertainty and conflict may be present. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.

Abstract
In traditional learning, teachers can easily get an insight into how their students work and learn and how they interact in the classroom. However, in online learning, it is more difficult for teachers to see how individual students behave. With the enormous growing of e-learning platforms, as complementary or even primary tool to support learning in organizations, monitoring students' success factors becomes a crucial issue. In this paper we focus on the importance of stress in the learning process. Stress detection in an E-learning environment is an important and crucial factor to success. Estimating, in a non-invasive way, the students' levels of stress, and taking measures to deal with it, is then the goal of this paper. Moodle, by being one of the most used e-learning platforms is used to test the log tool referred in this work. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013.

Abstract
Conflicts are a natural consequence of our daily social interactions and should be regarded as opportunities to improve some aspect, condition or flaw. In order for conflicts to have positive outcomes, not only from an economical view but also concerning the maintenance of good interpersonal-relationships, tools are needed that can explain to the parties the inner mechanisms of the conflict resolution process, its restrictions and its rules. Only well-informed parties can take good and realistic decisions and better understand the others’. In this thesis, the most important aspects in a conflict resolution process concerning the aforementioned are identified, with the objective of designing a tool that can effectively support the parties from the beginning to the end of the conflict. The resulting tool, UMCourt , has as main objective to support decisions by providing the right information in the right moment to the right stakeholders. Specifically, several problems are addressed that include the definition of a suitable agent-based architecture, the building of important knowledge and the support in the negotiation process, either by generating solutions or by analysing the behaviour of the parties. This last issue is addressed in more detail in this thesis. In fact, the most serious drawback that was identified in current conflict resolution methods is their complete disregard for contextual and subjective information about the parties: the trend has been, for many years, to focus on the objective aspects of the conflict. The main contribution of this thesis is a vision on conflict resolution that goes the other way around: asides from objective information, decisions should also be based on contextual features such as our level of stress, body language, attitudes or our conflict handling style. We rely on this information on a daily basis to communicate efficiently. It results only logical that it should be included in conflict resolution methods that rely so heavily on communication. The approach put forward relies on the analysis of the individual’s behaviour in order to infer such context information. Disputant parties and, in particular, mediators and negotiators, can better understand the state of the participants and take better decisions (e.g. make a pause, understand how a party is affected by an issue). This is particularly important when online dispute resolution methods that rely on cold and impersonal communication technologies (often constituting a barrier to efficient communication) are used.;Os conflitos são uma consequência natural das nossas interações sociais e devem ser vistos como oportunidades para melhorar determinados aspetos, condições ou mesmo falhas. Para que tenham resultados positivos, não só do ponto de vista económico mas também do ponto de vista das relações interpessoais, são necessárias ferramentas que expliquem às partes as particularidades do processo, as suas restrições e as suas regras. Apenas partes bem informadas podem tomar decisões realísticas e melhor entender as decisões dos restantes. Nesta tese, os aspetos mais importantes num processo de resolução de conflitos são identificados, com o objetivo de definir uma ferramenta que possa, efetivamente, suportar as partes do início ao fim do conflito. A ferramenta resultante, designada UMCourt , tem como principal objetivo suportar decisões fornecendo a informação certa no momento certo às entidades certas. Especificamente, vários problemas são atacados que incluem a definição de uma arquitetura de software adequada, a construção de conhecimento e o suporte à negociação, quer através da geração de soluções quer através da análise comportamental das partes. Este último tópico é tratado em mais detalhe nesta tese. De facto, a limitação mais significante que foi identificada nos atuais métodos de resolução de conflitos é a negligência da importância dos fatores contextuais e da informação subjetiva acerca das partes: a tendência tem sido no sentido de se focarem apenas nos aspetos objetivos. A principal contribuição desta tese é a de uma visão do processo de resolução de conflitos que aponta no sentido oposto: para além da informação objetiva, as decisões devem também ser baseadas em aspetos contextuais tais como o nível de stress, a linguagem corporal ou o estilo de lidar com o conflito. Enquanto indivíduos, baseamonos nestes aspetos diariamente para comunicar de forma eficiente. É portanto lógico que tal informação seja incluída em métodos de resolução de conflitos que se baseiam de forma tão clara na comunicação. A abordagem proposta baseia-se na análise comportamental de cada indivíduo para aquisiçao da informação de contexto. As partes em conflito e, em particular, os mediadores e negociadores, podem entender melhor o estado de todos os participantes e tomar melhores decisões (e.g. fazer uma pausa, perceber como uma parte é afetada por uma questão). Isto é especialmente importante quando são usados métodos de resolução de conflitos em linha baseados no uso de tecnologias de comunicação frias e impessoais, que geralmente configuram elas próprias um obstáculo à eficiência da comunicação.

Abstract