MULTIS architecture for integration of virtual worlds in information systems

Aye, it is a great day for me and my team today.
After a long wait, and a longer still period, we finally published our early approach for integration of virtual worlds in information systems - Learning Management Systems (LMS) in particular, but actually applicable in most business information systems.

We called it MULTIS - the name of a project funded by the company then called Portugal Telecom Inovação (now Altice Labs). It enables customization and control of the learning experience in virtual worlds, from the traditional backoffice of a Web-centric information system.

The paper also provides a detailed literature review on such efforts and related technology.

Now off to write how we used this architecture and what we achieved...

iLRN 2015 conference - Immersive Learning Research Network

I'm the programme co-chair for next year's iLRN 2016 conference in Santa Barbara, California, USA.

Last year's event was a terrific meeting of people from around the world, pushing forward knowledge and technology about immersive learning.

It's not just for computer scientists and educational sciences. It's not just for educators. We need all on board: interaction designers, philosophers, social scientists, ethnographers, economics, and more.

Submit your work and join us in Santa Barbara for a great event.
http://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2016

III Seminário - "Tolkien - Construtor de Mundos"

No próximo dia 29 vou poder conhecer mais apaixonados por Tolkien, no ambiente académico do III Seminário "Tolkien - Construtor de Mundos", No Anfiteatro III da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa.
O meu tema será a relação do universo de Tolkien com os videojogos. Nem sempre (ou quase nunca) pacífica, mas profunda e sustentada.

É que se hoje em dia há conceitos transversais, como anões fortes e de trato difícil e elfos altos, com uma magia inerente, espécie de mito primordial deturpado em fadinhas vitorianas, a Tolkien isso se deve.
É que provavelmente não seria assim. Veja-se, por exemplo a diferença entre os elfos do Dragon Age (imagem da esquerda) e os elfos do Pai Natal (à direita).

O mesmo se constata nos anões. Tal como os elfos de Tolkien são encarados como um mito primordial que se concebe deturpado nos elfos natalícios e vitorianos, os anões são igualmente concebidos de igual forma. Aliás, na mitologia de Tolkien os anões foram criados antes dos elfos, por impaciência de Aulë, mas obrigados a esperar pelos primogénitos de Ilúvatar (os elfos), para enfim despertarem. Estes anões de Tolkien são complexos, próximos dos anões nas histórias da Europa Central e Setentrional, mas seriam esses a afirmar-se nos videojogos? Pela mesma altura que Tolkien começava a ser lido, com O Hobbit, entrava de rompante um filme de Disney... A Branca de Neve e os Sete Anões. E nesse filme, o conceito de anão é muito diferente. Mas já num dos primeiros videojogos, ADVENTURE, surgia dentro de uma caverna um anão que atirava um machado ao jogador... Bem longe do Soneca e do Dunga, claramente (até porque esses usavam picaretas).
Disto e de mais, enfim, poderei falar dia 29.

 

Tese - Enquadramento de atividades de programação com robôs de solo na educação pré-escolar

É sempre um prazer quando um aluno entrega uma tese de doutoramento. E que tese, Clotilde Sampaio!
De facto, trabalhar com uma engenhoca nas escolas durante uns tempos, muitos o fazem... mas... dois anos letivos inteiros? Com robôs? No pré-escolar? Nunca ninguém o fizera.
E muito aqui está, muito mais até do que o que se extraiu para as conclusões... em cada expressão das crianças, em cada atitude... que manancial para reflexão, para pensarmos no impacte das tecnologias na aprendizagem e no desenvolvimento da criança.
Um trabalho que proporciona uma leitura agradável e valiosa.

Enquadramento de atividades de programação com robôs de solo na educação pré-escolar

Virtual worlds in education: real success beyond 00's rhetoric and the challenges of reality

Serendipity occured, yet again.
Within a year, a pair or papers has emerged, which combined provide a global panorama on the status of virtual worlds' use in education. More on them ahead.

It's been 9 years since the early 2006 surge in the attention given to Second Life by the worldwide media. Other educational communities had been working in virtual worlds for years, using Activeworlds (e.g. Quest Atlantis) and some even remembering the efforts of the late 1980s and 19
90s text-based virtual worlds: MUDs and MOOs (Portuguese speakers can check my written seminar on the subject at this link). But Second Life's 2006 public exposure, 5 years after its creation, really filled the balloon of expectations and enthusiasm, and is to this day synonym for many users with the term "virtual world", even though it never accounted for more than a trifle of virtual world users, dwarfed by most the largest players in gaming virtual worlds, even if one ignores the stratospheric user figures of World of Warcraft. The media's hype went fullblown, expectations ran wild, and many other virtual worlds meant for social interaction were created. Some evolved, some remain with us still, some disappeared, some morphed.

Educational uses are now more solid, research has provided insights and hard data. Experienced practicioners have developed know-how and a trove of exaples. Many bad practices have been exposed, many good practices highlighted. The technology itself has grown more stable, the required hardware has become more commonplace. New challenges such as the move from the desktop to low-cost laptops, tablets, and smartphones has emerged. And then concerns subsided, has the graphics capability of these devices increased and new approaches such as augmented reality started to emerge.

The media frenzy went away, not without announcing the death of Second Life and virtual worlds, eager as always to kill babies themselves had fed with hype. Regardless, Educators kept on using virtual worlds, the number of people at least cursory involved kept increasing, and in some cases they've achieved widespread audiences. Minecraft for young teens is perhaps the best recent example, with such a status that finding its merchandising and inspired toys - and figurines - is now commonplace.

So why aren't virtual worlds being used in most schools or indeed most online educational environments? As research and practice demonstrated over these years, we now know they work - and how to achieve great learning results with them. At the same time, research and practice has revealed the shortcomings that need to be tackled. We've moved on from the hype phase, the media has gone. The post-hype desillusion has also faded from the media, and sustainable, mature use is now growing.

The two papers below complement each other to provide the global panorama.

My own paper brings to fore the technological perspective.

Morgado, L. (2013). Technology Challenges of Virtual Worlds in Education and Training - Research Directions. In "2013 5th International Conference on Games and Virtual Worlds for Serious Applications (VS-GAMES) - Bournemouth, Dorset, UK - 11-13 September 2013, Bournemouth". Piscataway, NJ: IEEE.

I describe the required research agenda for educational use of virtual worlds to become more widespread, from individual computing issues, explaining the need to have better tools for educators and learners, and the almost virgin path of technology features supporting educational organizations, not just users.

The paper from the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group provides the complementary educational perspective.

Gregory, S.; Butler, D.; de Freitas, S.; Jacka, L.; Crowther, P.; Reiners, T.; Grant, S.; et al. (2014). Rhetoric and reality: Critical perspective on education in a 3D virtual world. In Hegarty, B.; McDonald, J.; & Loke, S. (Eds.), "Proceedings of the 31st Annual Ascilite Conference (ascilite 2014): Rhetoric and Reality: Critical perspectives on educational technology, Nov 23-26 2014", pp. 279-289. Dunedin, NZ: University of Otago. 

It provides a nice summary of current knowledge on educational practices - and which practices - and then explain the challenges found in the educators' practice, such as adequate learning design and easier to use tool sets, and all the way to the need of a life cycle approach to virtual world use.

The parallels in both papers, developed independently, are almost eerie, and a great demonstration of how the community is reaching similar insights from both perspectives. Let's hope this junction of realizations can bring about more widespread change.

Dissertação de António Botelho

Defendeu recentemente com êxito a sua dissertação sob minha orientação o António Botelho, no Mestrado em Engenharia Informática, na UTAD - Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro. Desenvolvido no âmbito da sua atividade profissional na empresa Portugal Telecom Inovação, em Aveiro, visa constituir um documento factual dos problemas que se colocam aos profissionais de Engenharia Informática no desenvolvimento de software integrado em equipas empresa.

Desenvolvimento de software colaborativo de learning objects integrado em equipa de desenvolvimento empresa... by Leonel Morgado

Dissertação de Margarida Silva - Design iterativo para idosos

Defendeu recentemente com êxito a sua dissertação sob minha orientação a Margarida Silva, no Mestrado em Engenharia de Reabilitação e Acessibilidade Humanas, na UTAD - Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro.

Desenvolvido no âmbito da sua atividade profissional na empresa Cnotinfor, de Coimbra, é um primeiro passo para o que se espera venha a ser uma plataforma social de treino cognitivo para idosos.

Design Iterativo para Idosos – Estímulo das Funções Cerebrais e Criação de Ferramentas de Comunicação usand... by Leonel Morgado

The anti-shamanic interface: bringing culture to human-computer gestural interaction

Some years ago, I was delighted reading the twin novels by Danuel Suarez. These technothrillers presented so many novel yet seemingly feasible ideas that I've often referred to him as XXI Century Jules Verne.

One such idea was the shamanic interface. In the utopian view of Suarez, this would be an augmented reality interface based on gestural commands from magic and ritual, enabling all people on Earth to use it, even from non-technological cultures.

This made me consider: most gestural interactions nowadays are mandated by the systems: we need to learn whatever gestures a systems decides are the adequate ones.

So, perhaps Suarez is utopian in thinking of a single gestural interface. But each person should be able to leverage the richness of meaning in his/her own culture in that interaction! Just like nowadays we respect language and symbols!

And yet... and yet... we've been trying for decades to develop systems where people can tell a computer what to do in complex ways: sliders and buttons on interfaces, programming languages, visual languages, icons, animations. With little success beyond immeadiate exploration (albeit "little" can be large, when one considers the successes of Logo and Scratch programming).
Perhaps, just perhaps, we can leverage the richness that exists in every culture, in its gestures associated with rituals and ceremony, perhaps even in everyday emphasis gestures associated with speech, to empower people to use computers with more depth and broader scope than mere immeadiacy of commands?

I first made a keynote about this in the CISTI conference in Chaves, in 2011; and then a TEDx Viseu talk later that same year. Below is the playlist of the 3-part keynote, which has English subtitles.



Two more formal pieces of this puzzle are now available: my paper at DSAI 2013, where I lay down the argument and background; and the MEng thesis of my student Filipe Carvalho, at INESC TEC / UP, where he takes the first step to analyse what this entails. Here I embed them both.

Cultural awareness and personal customization of gestural commands using a shamanic interface by Leonel Morgado

Shamanic interface for computers and gaming platforms by Filipe Carvalho

Simulador de Manutenção Mecânica de Motores de F-16 | Mechanical Maintenance Simulator for F-16 Engines

Há alguns anos, dois alunos meus iniciaram o desenvolvimento de um simulador de trabalho em equipa, dedicado às tarefas de manutenção mecânica dos motores Pratt&Whitney F100 que equipa os aviões F-16 da Força Aérea Portuguesa. Na altura mencionei neste blogue esse projeto, por duas vezes.

Outros alunos passaram por este projeto, mas neste ano de 2013 os dois que estiveram na sua génese concluíram um passo importante: entregaram e defenderam com êxito as suas dissertações de mestrado em Engenharia Informática na UTAD - Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, onde lecionei (atualmente sou docente da Universidade Aberta).

Ficam aqui as duas dissertações, que devem ser consideradas em conjunto: na do Paulo Fernandes detalha-se o funcionamento nuclear do simulador e dos testes com utilizadores (formadores da Base Aérea N.º 5, em Serra de Porto de Urso, Monte Real, Leiria); na do André Pinheiro a forma como se pode alterar a máquina de estados e acrescentar objetos ao simulador sem ter de alterar o código subjacente.

Parabéns aos novos mestres!

Implementação de um Sistema de Formação para Mecânicos da Força Aérea Portuguesa uploaded by Leonel Morgado

Sistema de edição de componentes e estados para simulador de manutenção mecânica de motores de F-16 uploaded by Leonel Morgado

Fim de tempo - novo tempo | End time - new time

Chegou ao fim a existência das ilhas-simuladores da Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro no mundo virtual Second Life. As ilhas UTAD e Vita Project foram encerradas.
Foi um dia de mudança para mim: comecei a usar o Second Life no dia 25 de abril de 2006 (um dos portugueses mais antigos neste mundo) e rapidamente de forma profissional e de investigação (o primeiro artigo é ainda desse ano).
Em 21 de fevereiro de 2007 arrendei pela primeira vez um terreno para aulas no Second Life, que no dia 3 de abril de 2008 abandonei para se começar a usar uma ilha-simulador inteira, a Utopia Portugal VI, em cooperação com a ARCI. Mais tarde, no seguimento do Projeto Vita, a investigação em mundos virtuais na UTAD passou a ter duas ilhas no SL, que agora se abandonam, numa nova passagem para novos caminhos.

Este percurso é normal: há já bastante tempo que os caminhos de investigação nos têm levado para outras plataformas. Toda a colaboração com a Força Aérea Portuguesa tem vindo a desenvolver-se em OpenSimulator (apesar do que disse a comunicação social, que chama SL a tudo), bem como projetos de investigação mais tecnológicos ou educativos - recentemente, o YED - Young Europeans for Democracy.

As ilhas da UTAD no Second Life, foram sendo úteis quer no âmbito de uma colaboração com o CITEVE, quer na organização de eventos, como a conferência SLACTIONS 2012, pois a fiabilidade da largura de banda dos servidores da Linden Lab é impecável. Contudo, quando em 2011 acabou o desconto para instituições de ensino, os preços da Linden Lab deixaram de fazer sentido face às muitas alternativas de criação de mundos virtuais gratuitas ou muito baratas. É verdade que pelos vistos esse desconto está a voltar a ser aplicado, mas é necessário ponderar cuidadosamente para que projetos faz sentido pagar os preços elevadíssimos da Linden Lab em comparação com as complexidades de instalação local ou de alojamento numa das grids baseadas em OpenSimulator. Para os projetos da UTAD, por enquanto não faz sentido, pelo que vindo embora a usufruir do alojamento pré-pago por dois anos, ainda ao preço de 2010, não se renovou o alojamento. Estamos agora totalmente no nosso servidor local em OpenSimulator, nos computadores dos laboratórios, dos docentes e dos alunos, e eventualmente noutros para projetos que façam sentido - e que permitam backup no final, coisa que a Linden Lab não permite.
========================================================================

...and we've reached the end of the existence of islands-simulators for the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (Portugal) in the Second Life virtual world. The sims UTAD and Vita Project were now shut down.
A day of changing for me: I've started using Second Life on April 25th, 2006 (one of the oldest Portuguese in this world) and soon used it professionaly and for research (my first paper on the subject was presented that very year).
On February 21st, 2007 I first rented land for classes in Second Life, which I abandoned on April 3rd, 2008, to start using a full sim, Utopia Portugal VI, in cooperation with the Portuguese non-profit ARCI. Later, as part of EC-funded VITA Project, research on virtual worlds at UTAD started using two sims in SL, which are now abandoned, as part of new paths we're treading.

It's a normal course: for quite some time now, research paths have led us to use other platforms. All cooperation with the Portuguese Air Force has been taking place using OpenSimulator (in spit of what the media said, slapping "SL" on top of anything), as well as more technological research projects and educational ones - such as the recent YED - Young Europeans for Democracy.

UTAD islands in Second Life kept being useful both as part of a cooperation with CITEVE, and for holding events, such as the SLACTIONS 2012 conference, since the bandwidth and reliability of Linden Lab's server is impecable. However, when 2011 saw an end to educational organizations discount tier prices, prices offered by Linden Lab stopped making sence in view of the many free or much cheaper alternatives. It's true that it seems that the discount is coming back, but one needs to ponder seriously with projects require the extremely high prices offered by Linden Lab in comparison with the complexities of a local installation or lodging in one of the grids based on OpenSimulator. For UTAD's projects, for the moment there's no point in that, so - even though we've used the prepaid two years, which we bought at the original price in 2010 - we did not renew the lodging. We are now fully at our local OpenSimulator server, and in personal computers from labs, students, and faculty, and possibly in other places, for projects for which it makes sense - and where a final backup is available, something Linden Lab doesn't provide.

VIRTUAL ILLUSION: O Estado Somos Todos Nós

VIRTUAL ILLUSION: O Estado Somos Todos Nós: Já consegui ler o estudo do FMI - Rethinking The State—Selected Expenditure Reform Options, January 2013 . É um artigo preconceituoso funda...

Computador pessoal - uma ferramenta para pensar

Em 2010, aceitei o convite do Rui Tukayana para participar na TSF numa série de rubricas sobre invenções. Além de uma sobre as fraldas descartáveis, fica aqui aquela onde falo do computador pessoal e da sua qualidade principal, que não é ser uma ferramenta de produtividade, mas sim uma ferramenta de apoio ao pensamento.

A team of myself plus Nelson Zagalo and Ana Boa-Ventura created the SLACTIONS conference concept and organized SLACTIONS 2009. After the 2010 and 2011 editions organized by the Manchester Business School and the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong, we now return to the organization of SLACTIONS 2012. 

We are preparing an exciting event. There will be a machinima contest, worldwide chapters (currently in preparation in Texas, Florida, Brazil, Portugal, Italy, and New Zealand, more upcoming).

Several journals are already supporting the subsequent publication of selected papers. Check out below.

SLACTIONS 2012

4th Research Conference on Virtual Worlds

Life, imagination, and work using metaverse platforms

November 15-17, 2012

http://bit.ly/Kg1cUw

The metaverse is emerging, through the increasing use of virtual world technologies that act as platforms for end-users to create, develop, and interact, expanding the realm of human cooperation, interaction, and creativity.The conference focus is scientific research on applications and developments of these metaverse platforms: Habbo Hotel, IMVU, Second Life, OpenSimulator, Open Croquet, Activeworlds, Open Wonderland, Minecraft, and others, including MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft, and virtual worlds based on social networks, such as *-ville and others, providing a forum for the research community to present and discuss innovative approaches, techniques, processes, and research results.

SLACTIONS 2012 is the fourth edition of SLACTIONS, which was the first international conference held simultaneously in several countries on the topic of metaverse platforms. SLACTIONS aims at covering most areas currently enabled by metaverse platforms, from educational research to content production, from gender studies to media distribution, and from metaverse-based branding, advertising, and fundraising to emerging mash-ups and technology applications.SLACTIONS is unique in its format too, as a one-of-a kind event conducted both in a metaverse platform (Second Life) and on-site in multiple countries throughout the world. SLACTIONS will thus contribute to the current redefinition of the way we think about hybrid online and on-site scholarly collaborations.

Whereas metaverse platforms are no longer a novel topic, they still pose challenges for the adaption of conventional instructional and business practices, research methodologies, and communication practices. We are looking forward to presenting a program of research results, case studies, panel discussions, and demonstrations that scholars, educators, and businesses can port to their own environments and apply in their research, teaching, and business strategy. We will accept papers from the full spectrum of intellectual disciplines and technological endeavors in which metaverse platforms are currently being used: from Education to Business, Sociology to Social Sciences, Media Production to Technology Development, Architecture and Urban Planning to the Arts.

1. Topics covered may include but are not limited to:

• Accessibility in metaverse platforms
• Advanced scientific visualization in metaverse platforms
• Automatic content generation
• Behavioral studies in the metaverse
• Combination of metaverse platforms with external systems (e-learning, e-business, etc.)
• Communicational paradigms in the metaverse
• Content management and production
• Creativity, design, and arts on the metaverse
• E-business and e-commerce applications
• Educational research, applications, and case studies
• Embodiment in metaverses and Gender Studies
• GIS/metaverse mash-ups
• Integration between metaverse platforms
• Nonprofit activities and fundraising
• Adapting and developing research methodologies for metaverses
• Social Sciences studies in or through metaverse platforms
• Space representation, use, and management in metaverses
• Using metaverse platforms for cooperation

2. Format

SLACTIONS has the format of a hybrid online and physical conference. All paper presentations and plenary sessions by guest speakers will be held on-line in the Second Life virtual world, and projected locally at local chapters, for participants attending physically. Physical participants can interact with the online participants via a "physical chapter avatar" and microphone.

Participants will also be able to follow the proceedings broadcast on the Web and interact via a text chat applet. Workshops and other events are conducted locally – or in mixed format across several participating chapters – and local chapters may held local topical round tables.

3. Publication venues

All accepted papers and posters will be published on-line and in ISBN-registered digital proceedings. Video posters and live presentations can submit an abstract for inclusion in the digital proceedings.

The authors of the best papers will be invited to provide revised and expanded versions for publications in special editions of journals or as single contributions to theme-specific journals.

• Journal of Virtual Worlds Research: Selected papers will be fast-tracked for publication in early 2013 issues of JVWR. (ISSN 1941-8477)
• Computer & Graphics - International Journal of Systems & Applications in Computer Graphics: Authors of the Best Paper in computer graphics themes will be invited to submit an extended version to be considered for journal publication. (ISSN: 0097-8493 / Imprint: ELSEVIER / impact factor 2010: 0.720)
• VIRtual - Electronic Journal of Visualization, Interactive Systems and Pattern Recognition: Authors of selected papers on visualization and graphics will be invited to submit extended versions to a special Issue of the journal. (ISSN 0873-1837
• Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research: Authors of selected papers on e-business/e-commerce/m-commerce/e-learning/e-government will be invited to submit extended versions the journal. (ISSN 0718-1876)

Check out http://www.slactions.org regularly for more information and developments on the proceedings publisher and journal venues for best papers.

4. Official language of the conference

The official language for the on-line space and all submissions is English only. However, at the physical site of local chapters you can also use the native language of that location.

5. Submissions

Authors are invited to submit:

• A full paper of eight to ten pages for oral presentation
• A "work in progress" paper of 4 pages for oral presentation
• A Flickr image or YouTube video, indexed with the tag “slactions2012” for poster presentations ‘in-world’
• A live presentation in Second Life.

All submissions are subject to a double blind review process and should be professionally proofread before submission. All manuscripts should be formatted according to the ASIS&T proceedings template. (Disclaimer: SLACTIONS is not associated with ASIS&T.)

6. Important dates

• Submissions deadline: June 30th, 2012
• July 15th, 2012 - Submission results provided to authors
• September 15th, 2012 - Deadline for early registration
• October 15th, 2012 - Deadline for print-ready versions of accepted papers
• November 15-17th, 2012 - Conference (tentative dates)

7. Local chapters

In preparation. Check out http://www.slactions.org for updated lists and contacts.

Note: If you believe your institution can hold a physical chapter in an as-yet unsupported region, please contact the organization at info AT slactions.org.

8. Steering Committee

Leonel Morgado - University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Nelson Zagalo - University of Minho, Portugal

Ana Boa-Ventura, University of Texas-Austin, USA

9. Programme Committee

Ahmer Iqbal – University of Jyvaskyla, Finland

Ana Amélia Carvalho – University of Coimbra, Portugal

Ana Boa-Ventura – University of Texas, Austin, USA

Ângela Pereira – Leiria Polytechnic Institute, Portugal

António Lopes – Lusófona University, Portugal

Benjamim Fonseca – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Clare Atkins – Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Daiana Trein – University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brazil

Daniel Gonçalves – Higher Technical Institute, Portugal

David Deeds – Changchun American International School, China

David Herold – Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Donizetti Louro – Catholic University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Emanuel Peres – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Filipe Santos – Leiria Polytechnic Institute, Portugal

Greg Lastowka - Rutgers School of Law /Camden, USA

Hugo Paredes – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Isabel Valverde - Lisbon Technical University, Portugal

James Corbett - CEO at MissionV Education/ Business Development Manager at Daynuv Owner at GlobalGreyhounds Ltd., Ireland

João Varajão – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

José Luís Ramos - Évora University, Portugal

Leonel Morgado – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Lina Morgado - Open University, Portugal

Luís Magalhães – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Luís Pedro – University of Aveiro, Portugal

Marco António Chávez-Aguayo – University of Barcelona, Spain

Margarita Pérez-García - Catholic University College Limburg & Provincial University College Limburg, Belgium

Micaela Esteves – Leiria Polytechnic Institute, Portugal

Narciso Cerpa – University of Talca, Chile

Nelson Zagalo – University of Minho, Portugal

Nuno Silva – Higher Institute of Engineering of Porto, Portugal

Paulo Frias – University of Porto, Portugal

Paulo Martins – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Pilar Lacasa – University of Alcalá, Spain

Ramiro Gonçalves – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Steven Warburton – King’s College London, United Kingdom

Teresa Bettencourt – University of Aveiro, Portugal

Vincent Ng – Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

Yesha Sivan – The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, and Metaverse Labs Ltd., Israel / Managing Editor of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

10. Organization

Ana Margarida Maia – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Daniela Pedrosa – University of Coimbra / University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Gonçalo Cruz Matos – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Maria da Glória Fraga - University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Leonel Morgado – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Ricardo Rodrigues Nunes – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Vinicius Loureiro – University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal

Yesha Sivan – The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Israel, and Metaverse Labs Ltd., Israel/Managing Editor of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research

For any other info, please contact or follow us.

Thank you very much for your collaboration :)

Best regards,

SLACTIONS Organizing Committee

E-mail: info AT slactions.org

Facebook: http://on.fb.me/Kg0lDr

Twitter: http://bit.ly/ICFs8T

Website: http://bit.ly/Kg1cUw

Aplicação de agentes inteligentes capazes de desempenhar o papel de membros na execução de trabalhos em equipa, em ambiente virtual 3D OpenSimulator

Defendeu com êxito o seu trabalho de mestrado em informática o aluno Andreas Carocha Vilela, que orientei em conjunto com o colega Rui Prada, do Instituto Superior Técnico.
Neste trabalho, fez-se uma primeira abordagem ao problema de permitir que num simulador de manutenção mecânica do motor Pratt&Whitney F100, usado nos F-16 da Força Aérea Portuguesa, possam estar presentes menos mecânicos do que o 4 previstos nos procedimentos reais.
O objetivo é que os mecânicos em formação possam treinar as intervenções mecânicas, mesmo que estejam sozinhos ou só com mais 1 ou 2 colegas disponíveis.
O próximo passo será integrar estas ideias no simulador que está a ser desenvolvido por outros alunos.

ATUALIZAÇÃO: está on-line um sítio Web com o código utilizado e uma demonstração em vídeo.

Aplicação de agentes inteligentes capazes de desempenhar o papel de membros na execução de trabalhos em equ...

Programar Aventuras no seu Computador

No ano de 1984, tinha acabado de receber um ZX Spectrum. Foi na feira do livro do Porto, na rotunda da Boavista, que o meu pai me comprou dois livros que mudaram a minha vida. Permitiram-me fazer alguma coisa com o computador e acima de tudo imaginar o que podia conseguir fazer. Um deles foi este: Programar Aventuras no seu Computador, de Andrew Nelson. Graças a ele também comecei à procura de livros de fantasia para arranjar mais ideias para criar as minhas próprias aventuras... e nessa busca deparei-me com O Silmarillion numa livraria e a sua capa misteriosa... depois com O Senhor dos Anéis, numa biblioteca itinerante da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian... Obrigado ao sítio "World of Spectrum" por ter colocado online esta versão digital.

Open publication - Free publishing - More aventuras

An approach for e-learning/b-learning dissemination in a higher education institution using pivot faculty

Em Junho, os então estagiários Ana Margarida Maia e Gonçalo Matos apresentaram na ED-MEDIA 2011, em Lisboa, a forma como estavam a atuar.

An approach for e-learning/b-learning dissemination in a higher education institution using pivot faculty

Tecnologias de suporte à utilização de mundos virtuais no ensino do empreendedorismo a crianças do 1.º ciclo do Ensino Básico

No passado dia 8 de Julho (como o tempo passa!) a minha doutoranda Ângela Pereira, docente do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, defendeu com êxito a sua tese, "Tecnologias de suporte à utilização de mundos virtuais no ensino do empreendedorismo a crianças do 1.º ciclo do Ensino Básico".

A Ângela trabalhou no terreno durante vários anos, identificando os requisitos tecnológicos que se colocam à utilização de um mundo virtual (no caso, com a plataforma Activeworlds), em escolas do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Depois definiu um modelo de arquitectura que permitiu dar resposta a esses requisitos, integrando o mundo virtual com o sistema informático de suporte em backoffice.  Por fim, foi desenvolvida uma aplicação que concretiza o modelo e testada novamente no terreno, em escola, com professores e alunos.

Tecnologias de suporte à utilização de mundos virtuais no ensino do empreendedorismo a crianças do 1.º cicl...

Doutoramento em Didáctica de Ciências e Tecnologia

Inicia-se no próximo ano lectivo um curso cujo corpo docente integro. Desde já estão convidados a candidatarem-se... :-)

Folheto - Doutoramento em Didáctica de Ciências e Tecnologia

Na UTAD, a ECT (Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia) acolhe novos alunos

Integrating a military air traffic control simulator with an LMS

Last week I and my student Tiago Ribeiro presented our paper at my favorite conference - VS-GAMES. We propose the integration of air traffic control simulations into learning management systems, such as Moodle.
Here is the paper.

Integrating a military air traffic control simulator with an LMS