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Publications

Publications by António Coelho

2006

Selective presentation of perceptually important information to aid orientation and navigation in an urban environment

Authors
Bessa, M; Coelho, A; Cruz, JB; Chalmers, A;

Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PATTERN RECOGNITION AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Abstract
A map can be a major advantage when exploring unfamiliar environments. With the proliferation of mobile devices, such as PDAs and even mobile phones, the tourist industry is currently exploring the potential of new presentation strategies that will maximize the promotional appeal of tourism in their region. Mobile devices are capable of guiding a tourist when he/she is exploring a city. These mobile devices offer the potential for providing relevant 3D information to enable tourists to locate themselves within the city, rapidly navigate around the unfamiliar environment and explore it interactively. However, the computational resources of current mobile technology prevents the display of full complex 3D content in real-time, and thus selective rendering techniques must be adopted to ensure the viewer is provided with the perceptually most important information at interactive rates. This paper presents a series of experiments which help to identify key features of a scene for users to orientate themselves in that environment. Knowledge of these salient key features enable them to be provided to a user at a high quality while the remainder of the scene can be rendered in a much lower quality, saving significant bandwidth and computing power, without the user being perceptually aware of this difference in quality within the image.

2009

Improving Digital Maps Through GPS Data Processing

Authors
Freitas, TRM; Coelho, A; Rossetti, RJF;

Publication
2009 12TH INTERNATIONAL IEEE CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (ITSC 2009)

Abstract
Personal Navigation Assistants (PNA) depend on updated digital maps for correctly positioning and route guiding users. As updating digital maps by the usual means is a highly expensive and time consuming task, GPS points gathered by existing navigation devices can be used to compare the existing real road network with the digital one. This paper describes an approach to update digital maps through the use of GPS points obtained during users' journeys as a means to identify map incongruence. Detection of new roads and roundabouts are presented with an explanation of the problem and a sample of the results.

2010

Data Model for Procedural Modelling from Textual Descriptions

Authors
Rodrigues, R; Coelho, A; Reis, LP;

Publication
2010 IEEE CONGRESS ON EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTATION (CEC)

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. This paper proposes a data model to be used on an architecture for high level modelling of monumental buildings, through the introduction of additional knowledge from textual information. The firsts results shows that the data model is flexible enough to build distinct models of churches and other buildings. This data model also provides a high level three-dimensional model that can be used by other procedural modelling solutions to create detailed monumental buildings. The results also demonstrate that it is possible to use simple text to create a rudimentary 3D model, showing the way to further investigation, allowing non-specialized users to increase effectiveness using a procedural modelling system.

2011

Game Design Evaluation Study for Student Integration

Authors
Cruz, A; Sousa, A; Coelho, A;

Publication
SERIOUS GAMES DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATIONS

Abstract
This paper presents the evaluation of a serious game project, where the primary goal was to develop a set of collaborative game levels on a virtual campus, in order to help the integration process of newcomer students to the university. The global activities that can be performed by the students were designed for a group approach in a controlled virtual environment. For the present work we have selected Second Life for the implementation of these collaborative "game levels". A prototype evaluation was conducted to collect results with a sample of university students. With this data, some conclusions were extracted in order to delineate future developments.

2012

Virtual Centre for the Rehabilitation of Road Accident Victims (VICERAVI)

Authors
Mendes, L; Dores, AR; Rego, PA; Moreira, PM; Barbosa, F; Reis, LP; Viana, J; Coelho, A; Sousa, A;

Publication
SISTEMAS Y TECNOLOGIAS DE INFORMACION, VOLS 1 AND 2

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. The applicability and the benefits of virtual worlds for a holistic neuropsychological rehabilitation will be tested using virtual reality (OpenSimulator) to simulate tasks of everyday life,,enabling participants to perform cognitive and social skills training through their avatars. The progresses of this group will se compared with a group of conventional neuropsychological rehabilitation. The main innovation of the work is the possibility if administering neuropsychological rehabilitation at distance, via ecological virtual environments. Moreover, the paper discusses also relevant criteria and issues in respect to the use of serious games, simulation and virtual environments in rehabilitation.

2012

Virtual City Neurocognitive Rehabilitation of Acquired Brain Injury

Authors
Dores, AR; Miranda, MJ; Carvalho, IP; Mendes, L; Barbosa, F; Coelho, A; de Sousa, L; Caldas, AC;

Publication
INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES

Abstract
Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) is one of the leading causes of individuals' reduced participation in various contexts of life, compromising autonomous functioning and performance in complex activities. Neurocognitive rehabilitation, carried out by transdisciplinary teams, is part of the intervention after the acute phase, aiming patients' maximum functionality and quality of life. Serious games and virtual reality begin to provide innovative solutions in this area. In this study, a prototype platform for the rehabilitation of executive functioning and other related cognitive functions is presented: the Virtual City. Part of a larger project, it consists of urban virtual environments that simulate real-life scenarios and activities. Tests will be performed to validate it as a tool for the rehabilitation of ABI.

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