Pedro Beça

University of Aveiro | UA · Division of New Communication Technologies

The experience of visitors in cultural spaces is not limited to the actual moments in that space. These institutions, like museums, seek to enrich the visitor’s experience not only during but also after the visit. Creating solutions to capture memories of the visits can be a way to extend the experience. Therefore, this paper reports on a proposal...

The performance of the natural language understanding (NLU) module is a key issue when developing a natural language interaction (NLI) system. For the NLU to perform in an accurate way, it must be trained to correctly understand a wide scope of users’ intentions and give (correct) answers. The interaction context must also be considered, meaning th...

Nowadays, social media platforms such as Facebook, Tik Tok and YouTube are the main tools for viewing and sharing audio-visual content. In this context, creating opportunities for students to create digital artifacts able to transmit sustainability and environmental concerns to a wider audience may harness the potential of the online participatory...

Games are engaging activities for students that can be applied in classes worldwide. Simultaneously, toolkit’s potential has been rising over the years due to its ability to encompass relevant tools on specific subjects. Moreover, toolkits can be applied as authoring tools transforming students into game designers, motivating the creation of digita...

In recent years, serious games and gamification strategies have been used in the education field and seen as highly motivating for educating and motivating younger people. As regard to games, and in the field of environmental education, they emerge as an innovative approach to raise environmental awareness among youths, namely by challenging studen...

The chapter “Definition of a Digital Tool to Create Physical Artifacts: The Case of the Gamers4Nature Project” was previously published non-open access. It has now been changed to open access under a CC BY 4.0 license and the copyright holder updated to ‘The Author(s)’. The book has also been updated with this change.

The Gamers4Nature (G4N) project aims to promote environmental awareness through the creation of digital games addressing that theme. The G4N Toolkit to Game design, developed within the project, is an artifact that encompasses resources to support the game creation process and sets of environmental-related thematic cards. In order to be used by oth...

In this paper is presented the development and validation of a set of accessible short videos that explain the purpose and features of the Toolkit created within the Gamers4Nature project. The project Gamers4Nature aims to raise awareness about the preservation of the environment and biodiversity, through the creation of games for mobile devices. T...

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and to assess the CVD risk (CVDRisk) in a sample of workers at a specific workplace: a higher education institution in Portugal. Data were collected using a questionnaire (e.cuidHaMUs.QueST®) with 345 HEI workers from June 2017–June 2018 with a high respons...

Chapter “An Authoring Tool to Engage Younger Audiences in the Development of Nature Preservation Games: The G4N Toolkit to Game Design” was previously published non-open access. It has now been changed to open access under a CC BY 4.0 license and the copyright holder updated to ‘The Author(s)’. The book has also been updated with this change.

Although research indicates that integrating students as active agents in the development of games encourages awareness and learning by doing and can be seen as a basis for the development of critical thinking skills, it also stresses that there are some obstacles in involving students to explore educational contents through digital game design. Th...

Research indicates that engaging younger audiences in the creation of their own digital games for learning may increase the interest towards the addressed theme and a better understanding of the value of what is learned. Giving young creators the tools needed to develop good games emerges as a key point for the success of this kind of activity. Too...

The user experience can be evaluated in different ways, from a combination of approaches and techniques capable of collecting insights about a particular product or system. In the TV ecosystem research field, verifying how users react to new features is an essential step to the integration of functionalities able to enhance the user experience. Thi...

In a context where the urgency to act towards the promotion of environmental awareness is imperative, the Gamers4Nature (G4N) project aims to encourage the active participation of students in the creation of mobile games addressing environmental-related themes. This chapter introduces the G4N Cards Set Canvas, a tool integrated into the G4N portal-...

Background: The World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization recognize that workplace health is not only affected by occupational hazards, but is mainly affected by social determinants and individual factors. An accelerated rise in noncommunicable diseases has fostered the importance of creating supportive environments and e...

The goal of this study was to perform an evaluation of a set of voice interaction models (supported by a hands-free solution activated by a wake-up word, a mobile app and a TV remote control with microphone) to identify the most appropriate solution for interactive television. The research addressed issues associated with natural language systems s...

Students are being more often challenged not only to play but also to create games when there is increasing evidence of the impact, in terms of learning, of students' involvement in creating their own games centred on educational content. Nevertheless, the game making process has certain specificities that are not usually recognized by the public b...

The Gamers4Nature (G4N) project aims to develop and implement a set of strategies that encourage younger audiences (i.e. upper-secondary and undergraduate students) to participate in the creation of mobile games, while promoting knowledge about environmental preservation. This paper introduces one of these strategies, the G4N portal-repository. The...

In a context where the involvement of youngers in the development of games is seen as an effective way to promote a deeper identification and engagement with the educational content, the Gamers4Nature project introduces a Toolkit designed to support youngsters in the creation of mobile digital games addressing environmental and biodiversity preserv...

Voice User Interfaces (VUI) are giving promising steps towards interaction scenarios based on natural language interpretation rather than simple voice commands. The adaptation of these systems for each usage context requires a deep training process of the Natural Language Understanding component with the support of human collaboration. Among the se...

Involving students in the creation of their own games about a theme may enhance the interest toward the addressed topic, a sense of ownership and a better understanding of the value of what is learned. This paper presents the application of a Toolkit to Game Design in two Game Creation sessions with upper-secondary students. The Toolkit was develop...

A Internet é um motor indispensável para a democratização do consumo de conteúdos audiovisuais, com particular enfoque nos últimos anos para os conteúdos em formato de vídeo. Nesse sentido, diferentes plataformas, iniciativas e movimentos contribuem efetivamente para estimular a produção e disseminação de novos conteúdos, no contexto de uma Cultura...

The Gamers4Nature project aims to deliver a set of strategies to empower and encourage youngsters (upper-secondary and undergraduate students) to actively participate in games creation while raising knowledge about environmental preservation and biodiversity conservation. To accomplish these goals, a Toolkit to Game Design is being created, contain...

To analyze the usability and acceptability of an online tool to promote the health of the teacher's voice. Method: A cross-sectional study will be performed with a convenience sample. Data collection was done through an acceptability questionnaire and the Portuguese version of the System Usability Scale (SUS), after using the online tool (developed...

Voice interaction with the television is becoming a reality on domestic environments. However, one of the factors that influences the correct operation of these systems is the background noise that obstructs the performance of the automatic speech recognition (ASR) component. In order to further understand this issue, the paper presents an analysis...

In a Natural Language Interaction (NLI) solution, the efficiency of the Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) component is a key issue. Considering this, the paper presents an analysis of the performance of three ASR systems on several noise scenarios resembling the interaction with the TV in a domestic environment. The evaluation setup resorted to co...

Pediatric dysphonia has a high prevalence, and adhesion to vocal rehabilitation is a challenge for speech therapists. This paper aims to present the development of the endless run game Space Letters– A Journey Through the Voice. The game is aimed at children from 6 to 10 years and its purpose is the vocal health promotion. The user will have to pic...

Consumers have become better informed, forcing companies to offer products and services that fit their tastes and preferences. The technologies in the context of internet of things (IoT) have been in increasing demand, by allowing the adaptation and customization of products and services contextualized with the location of consumers functioning and...

The goal of this study is to perform an analysis of natural language models of interaction, associated to 3 types of input devices with a microphone, a hands-free device, a mobile app and a remote control, in order to identify the most suited to be adopted in a conversational voice solution for interactive television in Portuguese. The research add...

Ecologically responsible behaviour and commitment to a sustainable development should be fostered among citizens. The IMPRINT+ project, co-funded by Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, intends to promote an ecological reasoning at an European level, supported by the participation of local communities and particularly by young people. Based on...

O projecto IMPRINT+ (Imprinting an ecological compensation reasoning on society by means of young citizens) é liderado pela Universidade de Aveiro em conjunto com cinco parceiros de cinco países e visa promover uma cidadania ambiental mais consciente dos seus impactes no planeta, mais ativa na implementação de soluções locais e, no limite, com uma...

O Projeto IMPRINT+ resulta de uma parceria estratégica internacional que tem como principal objetivo criar uma consciência coletiva sobre a necessidade da redução da pegada ambiental, incentivando a população a alterar hábitos ecologicamente nefastos e a adotar atitudes ambientalmente mais saudáveis, assumindo proatividade cívica e desenvolvendo mú...

Technology and Smart Tourism Revista Turismo & Desenvolvimento v. 2, n. 27/28 (2017) ISSN: 1645-9261

The growing success of second-screen devices is changing the way users relate and interact with the television bringing a new dimension to the TV ecosystem. Nevertheless, the specificities of mobile devices are creating numerous and significant challenges in the field of usability and user experience (UX). In addition, the evaluation of application...

This report is the materialization of IMPRINT+ Output 1. It consists of a multidisciplinary evidence based state-of-the- art summary research report regarding environmental sustainability, best practices and environmental action and is divided in three separated but complementary parts available to download at http://imprintplus.org/ Part I ENVIRO...

Portugal, Espanha, Itália, Áustria e Irlanda aliaram-se para a redução da pegada ecológica, num projeto internacional a três anos intitulado ‘Imprinting an ecological compensation reasoning on society by means of young citizens’ - IMPRINT+, financiado pelo programa Erasmus+. Liderado pela Universidade de Aveiro (UA), o projeto tem como mote a compe...

Durante séculos, a aprendizagem e o entretenimento foram suportados pela manipulação de objetos físicos. Os Tangible User Interfaces, cuja interação é baseada na manipulação de artefactos físicos, apesar de apresentarem importantes desafios tecnológicos e dificuldades conceptuais ao nível do design de interação (Shaer, 2009), encorajam a participaç...

“Ria de Aveiro” is a branded tourism region site, in the Central region of Portugal, which comprises a variety of natural and cultural tourist products and resources, which needs to be integrated in a way to enhance the promotion and management of this destination. In this way, Ria de Aveiro web-based Geographical Information System (GIS) was devel...

This paper describes a set of navigation and interaction and information visualization models, whose conceptualization and development is a research work of the Master in Multimedia Communications held in an enterprise context (PT Inovação), taking into account augmented reality scenarios in tablet devices with a large set of possible applications....

Challenges presented by current and constantly evolving technological, interaction and human variables linked to e-tourism have led to the need of understanding this industry as a living ecosystem. This paper presents an overview of an ongoing research project underdevelopment in Aveiro, Portugal in which e-tourism services and applications are bei...

Technological convergence has contributed to the emergence of a great variety of research niches in academic and economic areas with an ever-evolving transdisciplinary essence. In this convergence context, which is not dissociable from concepts such as innovation, creativity, competitiveness, sustainability and participation, tourism has also come...

Esta dissertação teve como principal objectivo a concepção de uma plataforma electrónica para apoio a gestão de actividades de formação. Tendo como objectivo de partida o apoio aos cursos de especialização tecnológica (CET) promovidos no âmbito do Programa Aveiro Norte da Universidade de Aveiro, a plataforma evoluiu para um grau de desenvolvimento...

Este artigo pretende demonstrar o impacto e relevância da Plataforma Aprend.e como instrumento de dinamização do Programa Aveiro Norte e da Escola Superior Aveiro Norte. \nEsta Plataforma surge inicialmente como uma ferramenta de gestão e administração do Programa Aveiro Norte, cujo objectivo é simplificar e automatizar os processos relacionados co...

O Programa Aveiro-Norte (PAN) surge como uma acção de Intervenção da Universidade de Aveiro no Norte do Distrito, com o objectivo de promover o reforço do ensino superior orientado para a formação inicial politécnica, formação especializada e requalificação profissional. Com o início das actividades lectivas no ano de 2003, tornou-se imperativo a c...

Neste artigo apresenta-se o ABC ? Arquivo Bibliográfico para Publicações Científicas. É feita uma descrição genérica dos motivos que levaram à sua implementação, das vantagens da sua utilização e a quem se destina. \nNos tópicos seguintes é feita uma descrição das funcionalidades que o sistema dispõe e de como utilizar essas funcionalidades. Por fi...

Neste artigo apresenta-se o ABC ? Arquivo Bibliográfico para Publicações Científicas. É feita uma descrição genérica dos motivos que levaram à sua implementação, das vantagens da sua utilização e a quem se destina. \nNos tópicos seguintes é feita uma descrição das funcionalidades que o sistema dispõe e de como utilizar essas funcionalidades. Por fi...