2026
Autores
Rocha, TDJVD; Nunes, RR; Barroso, JMP;
Publicação
Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems
Abstract
The video game industry has grown to become one of the largest in the market, surpassing even the film industry over a decade ago (Statista in Video game industry revenue worldwide 2000–2020). However, the development of games designed with visually impaired players in mind is still almost non-existent when compared to the sheer number of games released yearly. NonVisual Pong is our approach to addressing this challenge, providing blind players with a way to engage in competitive fun through gaming. We took the original Pong game from 1972 and fully adapted it to be played using only a controller—no visual display required. Following the development process, we tested our implementation with experts, discovering that, overall, our game was easy to pick up, required no overly complex setup, and successfully delivered the intended experience. Players enjoyed a balanced challenge and immersion, facilitated by audio cues and the controller’s vibrations. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
2026
Autores
Bernardo, BMV; Mamede, HS; Barroso, JMP; Naranjo-Zolotov, M; Duarte dos Santos, VMP;
Publicação
Emerging Science Journal
Abstract
2026
Autores
Saadatmand, M; Khan, A; Marín, B; Paiva, CR; Asch, NV; Moran, G; Cammaerts, F; Snoeck, M; Mendes, A;
Publicação
Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Abstract
The evolving landscape of software development demands that software testers continuously adapt to new tools, practices, and acquire new skills. This study investigates software testing competency needs in industry, identifies knowledge gaps in current testing education, and highlights competencies and gaps not addressed in academic literature. This is done by conducting two focus group sessions and interviews with professionals across diverse domains, including railway industry, healthcare, and software consulting and performing a curated small-scale scoping review. The study instrument, co-designed by members of the ENACTEST project consortium, was developed collaboratively and refined through multiple iterations to ensure comprehensive coverage of industry needs and educational gaps. In particular, by performing a thematic qualitative analysis, we report our findings and observations regarding: professional training methods, challenges in offering training in industry, different ways of evaluating the quality of training, identified knowledge gaps with respect to academic education and industry needs, future needs and trends in testing education, and knowledge transfer methods within companies. Finally, the scoping review results confirm knowledge gaps in areas such as AI testing, security testing and soft skills. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
2026
Autores
Rangel Teixeira A.; Teixeira Lopes C.;
Publicação
Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems
Abstract
This study examines the role of online health communities in Brazil dedicated to cannabis treatments for chronic diseases as platforms for evidence-based activism. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines qualitative analysis with computational techniques, including Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling, to analyze six online groups from WhatsApp and Facebook. Key themes emerging from the analysis include treatment per pathology, treatment effects, access barriers, peer support, and advocacy efforts. The findings reveal how these communities act as epistemic networks, where patients and caregivers co-produce knowledge by sharing personal experiences and engaging in dialogue with healthcare professionals. This study highlights how online health communities transform experience sharing into structured evidence, enabling collective action to address barriers such as limited access to cannabis-based treatments. It underscores the potential of digital platforms to empower patients, foster collaboration with healthcare professionals, and influence health governance.
2026
Autores
Rangel Teixeira, A; Teixeira Lopes, C;
Publicação
Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems
Abstract
Online health communities enable patients and caregivers to share experiences, seek advice, and collaboratively generate knowledge about treatments and condition. However, accessing relevant information often proves challenging due to platform limitations like insufficient search functionalities. A previous study identified key topics discussed in Brazilian online health groups centered on cannabis treatments for chronic diseases. Building on these findings, this study introduces a proof-of-concept chatbot designed to enhance access to the collective knowledge within these communities. The chatbot prototype, built using Google Dialogflow, was tailored to provide contextually relevant, accurate, and user-friendly responses. A user study involving 38 participants evaluated its performance, showing high user satisfaction, task completion rates, and trust in the information provided. The results highlight the chatbot’s potential enhance knowledge accessibility, promote patient engagement, and support evidence-based activism by organizing and disseminating community-generated content effectively. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
2026
Autores
Coelho, J; Vanhoucke, M;
Publicação
COMPUTERS & OPERATIONS RESEARCH
Abstract
This paper solves the resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) with a satisfiability problem (SAT) solver. This paper builds further on various existing SAT models for this well-known project scheduling problem and extends them with two methods to satisfy the resource constraints. Specifically, we use the wellknown minimal forbidden sets and compare them with the so-called covers that are traditionally used in SAT implementations. Moreover, we also implement an existing binary decision trees approach under various settings and extend the model with networks with adders, so far never used for solving the RCPSP, to guarantee that resource constraints are satisfied. The algorithms are tested under different settings on a set of 13,413 project instances with diverse network and resource structures, and the experiments demonstrate that a combination of these approaches help in finding better solutions within a reasonable time. Moreover, 393 new lower bounds, 62 new upper bounds, and 290 optimally solved instances (including 18 from the PSPLIB) have been discovered, which, to the best of our knowledge, had not been found before. The strong performance of the new algorithm motivated additional experiments, and the preliminary results suggest several promising directions for future research.
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