ACTIVE PROJECTS


Kids Project
PI: Clara Coutinho; TM: Pedro Branco, Nelson Zagalo, Ana Medeiros, Catarina Rocha
Areas: Tangible Interfaces | Capacitive Manipulatives 
Ref: engageLab_proj_2013_001

Kids Project aims at introducing new interfaces in education, merging new interaction technologies and having children as design partners. We are interested in studying the field of school and out-of-school learning, the use of devices by children and also in their active engagement in the development of physical and digital interfaces with new educational features.


Câmara Neuronal
TM: Adolfo Luxúria Canibal, João Martinho Moura, Miguel Pedro Guimarães
Areas:  Digital Art | Performance | Neuroscience
Ref: engageLab_proj_2012_009

In this project the movement / physical interpretation, as well as mental and sensory interpretation of the performer, are translated into sound and visual compositions in real time, inside an immersive projection environment.


engageBook
PI: Nelson Zagalo; TM: Pedro Branco, Ana Lúcia Pinto, Ana Carina Figueiredo, Ido Iurgel, Eduarda Coquet 
Areas: Interactive Storytelling
Ref: PTDC/CCI-COM/119030/2010

The main project goal is developing an augmented book that allows an evolving experience, through the narrative and ludic potential exploration of the artefact. It will be handled as a traditional book with a narrative that can be changed by the children, prompting the creation of multiple narrative variations. The tablets and the web will have a role in the narratives representations and sharing. The final narrative/s will be a combination of the narrative proposal, choices and interactions made by children; and the creation and sharing of experiences among various users. The project will have children feedback to evaluate it.


Hybrid Learning Materials
PI: Clara Coutinho; TM: Cristina Sylla, Pedro Branco, Nelson Zagalo, Sérgio Gonçalves, Paulo Brito, Ana Medeiros, Eduarda Coquet.
Areas: Tangible Interfaces | Storytelling
Ref: PTDC/CPE-CED/110417/2009

The underlying concept of this project is the creation of innovative pedagogic materials that promote experimental, participatory and active involvement from an early age by bringing together the tradition of games and playful activities with the new interactive technological solutions. Our approach is to develop and evaluate a toolbox of Tangible Interfaces using low cost materials, such as paper and cardboard embedded with sensors.


Processing Social Signals in Human-Computer Interaction
PI: Pedro Branco; TM: Nuno Otero, Nelson Zagalo, João Ferreira, Manuel João Ferreira, Marta Sousa, Nuno Branco
Areas: Social Signals Processing | Affective Computing
Ref: PTDC/EIA-EIA/098634/2008

This project aims at understanding the relevance of social signals in HCI contexts, identifying, in an integrated fashion, the set of social signals most relevant to user experience, ability to execute tasks, and interaction incidents, with the focus on computationally easy to detect social signals.
Based on observational studies, a model will be developed leading to the implementation of a measurement device capable of monitoring those social signals and classifying user confidence/level of experience, quality of interaction and existence of critical incidents.


Nuve
PI: João Martinho Moura; TM: Né Barros (Balleteatro)
Areas:  Digital Art | Dance
Ref: engageLab_proj_2011_008

NUVE is an artistic project that aims to explore the artistic possibilities offered by the digital dance performances in the interaction between the individual and his virtual double. In NUVE we conceptualized, developed and implemented a digital artifact, resulting in a fluid digital performance based on the theme of the analog body versus the digital virtual body.


História dos Videojogos Portugueses (History of Portuguese Video Games)
PI: Nelson Zagalo
Areas: Video games | Media History
Ref: engageLab_proj_2009_003

This project aims to create a knowledge database of reference on the history of videogames in Portugal. The result of this project will be the publication of a book during the year 2013.


FINISHED PROJECTS


VirtualActor - Development of a software framework for animating 3D virtual characters, employing partially autonomous virtual actors
PI: Ido Iurgel; TM: Pedro Branco, Nelson Zagalo
Areas: Interactive Storytelling
Ref: PTDC/EIA/69236/2006

The goal of the project is the creation of an authoring framework that employs interactively adaptable, situation aware, partly autonomous virtual actors for the creation of linear computer animation with 3D-virtual characters. The project will study the creation of 3D-movies employing high-level directions, situation descriptions and explanations. We will focus our research on emotional expression and personality of the virtual actors, in the context of communication and dialogues.


Emovere: illustrating the emotional expressiveness of online writing
PI: Carolina Oliveira; TM: Pedro Branco, Nelson Zagalo
Areas: Affective Computing | Digital Art
Ref: engageLab_proj_2011_007

Our work is based on the words, since the words are one of the most significant ways of human expression, not only for their inherent semantic value but also for the emotional power they convey. Emovere was developed to dynamically generate an aesthetical representation of the overall affective dimension of the online writing as fluid as a waterfall. The result is a particle-based visualization system in which each particle represents an emotive feed posted online, color coded according to its affective classification.


Game of Checkers, a recreation based on Interactive Storytelling
PI: Raquel Pinto; TM: Nelson Zagalo
Areas: Interactive Storytelling | Videogames
Ref: engageLab_proj_2010_006

The project Game of Checkers, a recreation based on Interactive Storytelling is aninteractive installation that emerged in the context of Technology and Digital Art. This installation provides a space designed for reflection on issues that deal with the violation of human rights, in particular the violation of women's rights. In order to develop this project it was necessary to choose a suitable reality to work with, so we designed an illustration of the structure of feminism in the context of the Portuguese late nineteenth and twentieth century.


Monsterous Sounds
PI: Tara Pattenden
Areas:  Digital art | Wearable technologies
Ref: engageLab_proj_2010_005

This project is to create a series of audible costumes by using a mix of electronics and soft circuitry.  The costume forms are based on monsters, a sense of ritual and the unimaginable.  They will be used in audio visual performance and installations - worn by both performer and audience. 


Developing and evaluation lowcost pedagogical digital manipulatives for kindergarten
PI: Cristina Sylla TM: Pedro Branco, Clara Coutinho, Eduarda Coquet
Areas: Digital Art | Education
Ref: engageLab_proj_2010_004

This project aims at creating, evaluating and deploying tangible interfaces (also called digital manipulatives) for kindergarten education (4-6 years old) integrating electronic components and smart materials capable of sensing and render digital information through physical manipulation. As part of this development we are interested in using children drawings to assess their experience.


From Gesture to Poetry
PI: Vitor Lago Silva TM: Pedro Branco
Areas: Digital Art
Ref: engageLab_proj_2009_002

The project aims to build an instrument composed of a suit and a glove embedded with sensors that generate poetry from the gestures of a performer. It aims to explore new ways of creating poetry researching into the relation of the body and the language.


Virtually Painting
TM: Heduíno Rodrigues, Nuno Nogueira, Jorge Sousa
Areas: Digital Art
Ref: engageLab_proj_2009_001

Playing with the concepts of the tangible versus virtual, this project proposes a fun approach to create digital collages on a wall with a paint roller. It is being explored in a spin-off brand (inter4view.com) as an interactive marketing application.


Development of a sketch-based instructional laboratory for Digital Arts and Computer Graphics
TM: Adérito Marcos, Pedro Branco, Nelson Zagalo
Areas: Education technology
Ref: HP Technology for Teaching Grant Initiative (ID: 11446121)

This project intends to evaluate the use of wireless Tablet PCs, as an enabler of these activities initially in the context of the Masters programs in digital arts and computer graphics. Due to its form factor, Tablet PCs are appealing devices to support students during and after classes, if activities based on free sketching are considered. Within the classroom they support discussion and an effective communication with the professor and colleagues through annotation and sharing enabled by a Wi-Fi shared video projector system.


Pellisaquae-VIS: Visualização Gráfica na Monitorização de Dados em Hidrocinesiterapia
TM: Adérito Marcos

The project aims at devise visualization mechanisms and implement an application to monitor and analyse hydrokinetic therapy sessions. A special suit provided with electronic sensors is being developed to maximize hydrokinetic therapy sessions performance and allow an accurate monitoring and evaluation of patient’s treatment response. It is clear the need of a well tailored computer application that process and records properly all data sent by sensors in real time.


PostCaVET: Post-graduate Systems Development in Cape Verde and East-Timor       
TM: Adérito Marcos
Areas: Information Visualization
Ref: Edulink Program 9 ACP RPR 12#20

This project aims to build postgraduate management, support information and communication (ICT) systems, develop academic skills through staff training and implement key Master’s courses. This will be achieved through extensive institutional cooperation between the National University of Timor Leste and the Univeristy of Cape Verde, supported by the expertise of the University of Minho in Portugal.


SIDNUET - Staff and Institutional Development for the national University of East Timor
TM: Adérito Marcos
Areas: Education technology
Ref: Contract ID/Asia-Link/005/103-618

The SIDNUET project aims to strengthen the administrative, management and training capacity of the Universidade Nacional de Timor Lorosa'e through the development of a university-wide information and communication (IC) system and the training of key university staff. The target groups are initially academic, administrative and library staff and eventually all the university staff and its student body.
Starting/Duration: July 2005/30 months


INSCAPE - Interactive Storytelling for Creative People
TM: Nelson Zagalo
Areas: Interactive storytelling
Ref: FP6 - IST - IP - 0041500

INSCAPE aims at enabling ordinary people to use and master the latest Information Society Technologies for interactively conceiving, authoring, publishing and experiencing interactive stories whatever their form, be it theatre, movie, cartoon, puppet show, video-games, interactive manuals, training simulators, etc. INSCAPE will generate and develop the knowledge in the emerging domain of Interactive Storytelling by researching, implementing, demonstrating and disseminating a complete suite of innovative concepts, tools and working methods tightly integrated in a homogeneous web-based framework and offering a full chain to people with no particular computer skills, from content acquisition and creation, organising, processing, sharing, and using all the way to publishing, from creators to "viewers".