Abstract
We have sought to understand the current state of the art on smart tourism and on smart cities. Furthermore, we have sought to understand community awareness and the will to embrace innovation, as they are decisive factors to acquire base knowledge and overcome barriers in (soon to be) overpopulated cities and for those who are looking for a limited time culture experience - known as tourists. We live in an age where technology is increasingly present in our lives and provides us solutions to societal problems. Problems such as traffic, infrastructure and natural resources management, or even increasing citizens’ participation in governance, bringing them closer to decision-making. The objective is to understand the current level of people’s knowledge about the impact that technologies have on the society in which we live and their perception of the usefulness in solving these same problems. Therefore, an anonymous questionnaire was carried out (176 valid answers were received), as well as a focus group with two experts on the Smart Cities subject. What future is brought by those who live and breathe technology? Are people willing to accept a paradigm shift?. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.

Abstract
Virtual Reality (VR) has as a key feature, the users’ interaction with a virtual environment. Depending on the purpose of a given VR application, it can be essential to use multisensory stimulus without biasing users towards specific actions or decisions in the virtual environment (VE). The goal of the present work is to study if the choice of paths can be influenced by the addition of multisensory stimulus when navigating in a VE using an immersive setup. The awareness of having to take such decisions was also considered. For the purpose, we used a VR game-like application contemplating three levels. Each level was symmetrical and had two possible paths to move to the next level (left or right). For each level, there was a multisensory stimulus on the right path (from a subject orientation): wind, vibration, scent respectively. The sample of the study consisted of 50 participants, and the results showed that none of the multisensory stimuli had a significant impact users’ decision. The users’ awareness of having to decide also did not affect their path. We conclude that multisensory stimuli can be used to raise the credibility of the virtual environments without compromising the users’ decisions. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.

Abstract
Collecting, storing, integrating and transforming data, together with the problem of security and privacy, are topics that present great challenges for society. The needs of the industry in general and agri-food in particular in the mushroom production sector, due to their specificities, requires the adoption of emerging technologies to make them more productive and more competitive in this global market. In this type of industry it is important, and essential, the control of the environmental variables of the production areas and the way they are presented, because the information associated with these variables would provide an important complement to the established production control system. In this paper we propose a conceptual approach for an extension to a mushroom farm distributed process control system with IoT and blockchain integration that not only allows to collect distributed data on the environmental indicators inherent to the mushrooms production, but also complement the already existent production control system, which is extremely important for the overall success of the farm management information system used by the group managers. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Abstract
The interest in technology allied to household chores has been growing exponentially. Robots like Bimby have revolutionized the way of cooking, since they perform several functions, which were once done manually. How do users of kitchen robots see this continuous evolution and what is the impact on their routines? What are the main advantages associated with this technology and how do non-users see them? This study is a focus on the variables gender, quality of life and technological evolution, as a way to determine if women and men use kitchen robots on an equal scale, if the potentialities of these machines contribute to real improvements in the lives of their users and if, in a near future, this technology will replace the human element in the preparation of meals. To answer these questions, two methodological approaches were followed: quantitative (via questionnaires) and qualitative (via interviews and a focus group). The first approach allowed us to conclude on the profile of kitchen robots and their impact on people’s quality of life. The second approach led us to understand the interest of suppliers, and whether the interest is to help human beings or to replace their role altogether in the kitchen. With this study we conclude that kitchen robots have effectively brought improvements in terms of time spent with household tasks, the typical user of this technology is indeed a woman and, finally, that it will be difficult for a robot to replace humans entirely, since anyone who really likes to cook will never stop doing it. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.

Abstract
Microtransactions dominate today’s video game industry and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, despite all the controversy it brings. To approach this problem, we created a survey, shared it on several gaming forums (a total of 1661 answers were obtained), then we designed a theoretical model and based on that, an automatic analysis was performed to understand what microtransactions are adequate to certain types of videogames. In parallel, we also performed a manual analysis that helped us gain insights into player preferences. Through the manual analysis we can conclude that players show a greater tendency to spend on microtransactions in mobile games. On average, respondents spend more on microtransactions than on purchasing videogames per month; with this, we can understand why the market of microtransactions has been growing greatly in recent years. Players that have jobs spend more on time savers microtransactions, and this probably happens because of the lack of time these players have comparing to the rest and the fact that they have an income to spend. Players aged 25 and above have shown to be more inclined to spend money to remove advertisements from games; however, players under the age of 25 are more inclined to spend money on general microtransactions in contrast to their older counterparts. It is also noticeable the negative sentiment towards players that spend money on advantageous items. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019.

Abstract
Students are getting better over time but perhaps it is, at the same time, getting ever more difficult to capture their attention in class, especially as regards research and research methodology. The Business Narrative Modelling Language (BNML) has been used (Oliveira and Ferreira, 2011; Goncalves et al., 2013; Au-Yong-Oliveira et al., 2015; Goncalves et al., 2016) to portray and discuss research findings. With qualitative research, in particular, the research process may be more transparent, more objective and faster by following the rules of BNML. Throughout the first semester for 2017-18, and on a Strategy and Competitiveness course, at the master's level, the advantages of BNML were shown on several occasions. Students were required to present what was for most of them their first research case study. BNML uses both the narrative and pictorial representations to showcase and highlight research results. In the age of the smartphone, icons and emojis, students respond well to pictorial representations. However, on the other hand, one has to acknowledge that children go from doing drawings to represent everything in their lives to unexpectedly stopping giving drawings to their parents and siblings and friends on all occasions - including for Christmas and for birthdays. Therefore, it is still a challenge to get adult students to understand BNML, especially in large classes. What is still lacking is a handbook on how to use BNML - despite the existence of a number of publications on the topic. This article thus seeks to shed further light on this research tool. Sharper master's students, doing a dissertation and one-on-one with the lecturer, quickly comprehend and grasp the essence of BNML and its use of key words and game patterns to tell the research case story, over time. Movement and colour and emotion may all be seen in BNML - which remains intuitive, and thus true to qualitative and interpretive research. In Portugal, qualitative research is still not seen, by many researchers, to be a serious research method, especially by the more conservative of researchers, who favour the use of statistics and thus of "more scientific" quantitative research methods in management research. We hope to contribute to a change of mind-set with our article.