António Coelho

ABSTRACT Serious Games are increasingly used as a tool for various applications contrary to the traditional entertainment purpose. Many game engines are available, and Unity3D is another example that presents some features such as rapid prototyping and an easy learning curve. The 3D space where action takes place is sometimes hard to map into a logical memory structure providing flexible access to that information. The problem of tracking players' path as well as their decisions in 3D environments arises when there is no previous knowledge of the scenario representation and the creation of a memory data structure poses an extra effort for the modeller. The proposed solution in this paper, albeit simple, is a straightforward way to track the location of the video game character and map it when he/she passes certain limits. This mechanism proved to represent a key step forward, addressing the important issue of tracking the decision-making process of players for future analysis and behaviour elicitation.

Following the proliferation of Augmented Reality technologies and applications in mobile devices it is becoming clear that AR techniques have matured and are ready to be used for large audiences. This poses several new multimedia interaction and usability problems that need to be identified and studied. AR problems are no longer exclusively about rendering superimposed virtual geometry or finding ways of performing GPS or computer vision registration. It is important to understand how to keep users engaged with AR and in what occasions it is suitable to use it. Additionally how should graphical user interfaces be designed so that the user can interact with AR elements while pointing a mobile device to a specific real world area? Finally what is limiting AR applications from reaching an even broader acceptance and usage level? This position paper identifies several interaction problems in today's multimedia AR applications, raising several pressing issues and proposes several res...

Os ambientes virtuais para simulação de condução para fins científicos requerem modelos tridimensionais de estradas realistas. A geração de modelos de estradas com este nível de qualidade requer a prévia definição dos traçados rodoviários. Dependo dos requisitos da experiência, o traçado rodoviário de uma estrada pode ser obtido recorrendo a especialistas da área de projeto de vias comunicação. A conceção do traçado de uma via pode tornar-se uma tarefa morosa e dispendiosa, mesmo recorrendo a ferramentas CAD. Na preparação de experiências científicas em simulador, o processo de obtenção de um traçado pode ser otimizado recorrendo a métodos de geração automática. Este artigo apresenta um método que permite gerar de forma automática traçados rodoviários adequados para implementação de experiências de simulação de condução em diversas áreas científicas, como ergonomia, psicologia e engenharia de tráfego. O processo de geração de traçados foi inspirado nos métodos utilizados em engenhar...

Spatial analyses and competition assessments can be used by firms to identify target geographic markets for entry. By integrating these two kinds of analysis, this paper presents an innovative method that identifies target geographic markets for health care providers. In these target markets, supply is potentially insufficient to satisfy demand and competition problems that make entry unsuccessful are not expected to occur. Considering the Portuguese hospital health care market, an application of the method in a case study illustrates how the method works in practice.

ABSTRACT This paper present the creation of a platform, highly scalable and modular, providing new services to the advertising and marketing for the catering industry, taking advantage of the spatial context and user preferences, benefiting from the advantages of Mobile Advertising and Mobile Augmented Reality.

ABSTRACT Serious Games are games where the entertainment aspect is not the most relevant motivation or objective.For instance, they can be learning tools and a way to put learners in the role of decisions makers,receiving immediate feedback from their actions and decisions,exploring and experimenting with low danger for each mistake that happens.Beyond the motivation as key for the success,Serious Games have challenging goals;they are fun to play and/or engaging;they incorporate some concepts of scoring;and they impart skills,knowledge and attitudes that can be applied in the real world.The growing interest on this type of game results from several factors such as:the theoretical grounding in different learning theories,the development of high-quality gaming experiences,the increased offer of collaboration and competition options and the opportunity for integrated assessment. These motivating and engaging environments, which serve as base for problem solving and simulation of different situations and contexts, can be applied to aid players developing professional skills. But,how do we certify acquired knowledge and skills? This is the starting point of this work where we intend to define a new correlation matrix between the game mechanics of serious games and an array of competences certification,identifying the most suitable game mechanics for each specific competence. With the best suited game mechanics identified the next step is to apply them in the game design in order to obtain the desired learning outcomes through the game. Through the association of game mechanics with the necessary pedagogical elements,the game will ensure the certification. This paper will propose a new approach about using a serious game for competencies certification using in-game validation. This generic matrix represents the results of the analysis about what the student should learn, understand and be able to do after they complete the learning process for specific task or job position (competencies) and the most known game mechanics. Lominger’s set of sixty seven competences became a universal common denominator as most of these competencies lead to task success which allowed its author,in collaboration with Microsoft,to create a similar approach,but this one focused solely on education and learning:The Educational Competency Wheel. This new approach is based on a set of success factors which can be mapped into required attributes,behaviors,areas of knowledge, skills and abilities for successful performance. With this paper we intend to explain the strategy used to build the generic correlation matrix to be applied in different contexts and situations. The applicability of this generic matrix will be done in four steps. Firstly it is necessary to identify which specific situations can take advantage from a game learning approach. The second step is the definition of the learning target group competencies profiles. In this step,the Education Competences serves as a reference to identify which one or combination of competencies must be used to obtain the correct outcomes of each situation. The third step is obtaining the correlation matrix from the generic matrix, identifying the required game mechanics and the quantification of minimum uses of each mechanic. The fourth and final step is the game development that includes an assessment competency model to evaluate the learning progression and training competencies, guaranteeing the successful performing of each situation.

ABSTRACT Serious Games are increasingly used as a tool for various applications contrary to the traditional entertainment purpose. Many game engines are available, and Unity3D is another example that presents some features such as rapid prototyping and an easy learning curve. The 3D space where action takes place is sometimes hard to map into a logical memory structure providing flexible access to that information. The problem of tracking players' path as well as their decisions in 3D environments arises when there is no previous knowledge of the scenario representation and the creation of a memory data structure poses an extra effort for the modeller. The proposed solution in this paper, albeit simple, is a straightforward way to track the location of the video game character and map it when he/she passes certain limits. This mechanism proved to represent a key step forward, addressing the important issue of tracking the decision-making process of players for future analysis and behaviour elicitation.

ABSTRACT "The Fifth Empire" is a single-player action adventure game in 2D. Centering around an adaptation of the myth the Fifth Empire (Nebuchadnezzar's dream and its interpretation by prophet Daniel) [1] is an epic allegory of the human condition, with a reinterpretation of European and Portuguese history as backdrop. This is a project that is still in process, which main goal is the development of an attractive videogame, with a strong and enriched educational purpose, since the game takes place in a real and historical setting. Moreover, through entertainment, the game should promote curiosity about the Portuguese history and motivate a more detailed study by the target audience.

ABSTRACT Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology which produces a synthesis between a computer-generated data and the physical world of a viewer while establishing 3D registration and real time interaction. Among the wide range of application of AR, its use in advertising shopping experiences has recently been embraced by advertisers due to its novelty and engaging potential. Part of a wider research aiming at understanding the impact of AR on consumer psychology, this paper presents a demo platform application developed for a real-time shopping experience for shoes and attempts to define a ground base for posterior marketing research in the field. In order to fully evaluate consumer experiences and compare with the main AR platform two other shopping applications were designed: a marker-based and a static one. The platform will assist in exploring the antecedents of consumer purchase intention and in defining metrics for measuring shopping experiences with AR.

ABSTRACT Digital maps are very commonly used in the analysis, administration and representation of urban spaces. Despite the degree of information they can provide, they still pose some difficulties in decision making due to the three-dimensional nature of such ever-changing settings. This paper presents a collaborative solution for large virtual environment recreation aimed at urban landscape simulation. By providing an extensive interactive three-dimensional virtualization of a real-world city, multiple users may contribute with additional data, to either improve the model fidelity or to preview the impact of certain urban changes. This is achieved by employing procedural modeling methods to generate a basic three-dimensional city model from real-world data and a set of parameters, which can later be refined through human intervention. A multi-user simulation platform has been conceived, allowing the collaborative management of the model data, as well as the simulation of possible urban landscape changes, introducing therefore more advanced analysis and representation features to study and discuss the impact of certain decisions on the urban landscape.

... Keywords: Mobile Advertising; Location Based Services; Geospatial Applications; User profile; Mobile Computing; Tourism 1 ... The allocation of points is not homogeneous, and their unit value depends on the ... After some tests, it was decided that the best approach would be to ...

Resumo: As redes de abastecimento de água e saneamento têm vindo a aumentar nos últimos tempos, com este aumento cresce também a necessidade de apostar na melhoria da qualidade de serviço. Neste projecto foi desenvolvido um Sistema de Informação ...

... A visualization paradigm for 3D map-based mobile services. Artigo em Revista Científica Internacional. Autores, Mário Freitas A. Augusto Sousa António Coelho. Área: 2 Engenharia e tecnologia > 2.2 Engenharia electrotécnica, electrónica e informática. Idioma: Inglês. Ano: 2011 ...

Abstract The generation of three-dimensional models of urban environments using procedural modelling is presented as being a solution that allows financial and temporal gains, maintaining an acceptable visual fidelity level. Nevertheless, the modelling of anchor buildings (or monumental), identifying certain urban areas, needs a more careful modelling, due to the elevated level of detail necessary, using, generally, manual modelling.

Abstract The main objective of this work is to describe the Virtual Center for the Rehabilitation of Road Accident Victims—VICERAVI and the serious games it includes for the purpose of neuropsychological rehabilitation. The validation of the VICERAVI as a rehabilitation system involves 30 participants of both sexes, with brain injury due to road accidents.

Abstract The development platform of a digital game is frequently defined before any game design document. Without a proper examination, this could exclude other viable solutions. Although the online virtual world Second Life is sometimes erroneously denominated a game, it can be used as a development platform for many purposes. This paper analyses game creation within the Second Life virtual world and possible approaches for the implementation of game assets and game logic.

For beginners in computer programming, the learning curve can be in many cases quite steep, especially if it is their first contact with this area. Plus, the traditional learning methodologies are usually based on doing countless exercises that aim to cover many areas, but are often disconnected from each other and can become tiresome, as they offer little immediate rewards to the student.