Edgard Afonso Lamounier Júnior

Mobile Augmented Reality enhances indoor navigation for wheelchair users

Introduction: Individuals with mobility impairments associated with lower limb disabilities often face enormous challenges to participate in routine activities and to move around various environments. For many, the use of wheelchairs is paramount to provide mobility and social inclusion. Nevertheless, they still face a number of challenges to properly function in our society. Among the many difficulties, one in particular stands out: navigating in complex internal environments (indoors). The main objective of this work is to propose an architecture based on Mobile Augmented Reality to support the development of indoor navigation systems dedicated to wheelchair users, that is also capable of recording CAD drawings of the buildings and dealing with accessibility issues for that population. Methods Overall, five main functional requirements are proposed: the ability to allow for indoor navigation by means of Mobile Augmented Reality techniques; the capacity to register and configure building CAD drawings and the position of fiducial markers, points of interest and obstacles to be avoided by the wheelchair user; the capacity to find the best route for wheelchair indoor navigation, taking stairs and other obstacles into account; allow for the visualization of virtual directional arrows in the smartphone displays; and incorporate touch or voice commands to interact with the application. The architecture is proposed as a combination of four layers: User interface; Control; Service; and Infrastructure. A proof-of-concept application was developed and tests were performed with disable volunteers operating manual and electric wheelchairs. Results The application was implemented in Java for the Android operational system. A local database was used to store the test building CAD drawings and the position of fiducial markers and points of interest. The Android Augmented Reality library was used to implement Augmented Reality and the Blender open source library handled the basis for implementing directional navigation arrows. OpenGL ES provided support for various graphics and mathematical transformations for embedded systems, such as smartphones. Experiments were performed in an academic building with various labs, classrooms and male and female bathrooms. Two disable volunteers using wheelchairs showed no difficulties to interact with the application, either by entering touch or voice commands, and to navigate within the testing environment with the help of the navigational arrows implemented by the augmented reality modules. Conclusion The novel features implemented in the proposed architecture, with special emphasis on the use of Mobile Augmented Reality and the ability to identify the best routes free of potential hazards for wheelchair users, were capable of providing significant benefits for wheelchair indoor navigation when compared to current techniques described in the literature.

Virtual and Augmented Reality: A New Approach to Aid Users of Myoelectric Prostheses

© 2012 Barbosa Soares et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Virtual and Augmented Reality: A New Approach to Aid Users of Myoelectric Prostheses

A Proposal for a Meta-Information Visualization Using Treemap

The information visualization is important as it makes the appropriate acquisition of the information through the visualization possible. The choice of the most appropriate information visualization method before commencing with the resolution of a given visual problem is primordial to obtaining an efficient solution. This article has as its objective to describe an information visualization meta-model classification approach based on treemap, which is able to identify the best information visualization model for a given problem. The actual state of the visualization field is described, and then the rules and criteria used in our research are shown, with the aim of presenting a proposal for meta-information visualization model based on treemap, inspired upon the periodic table meta-model.

Neuro-behavioral pattern of sleep bruxism in wakefulness

Introduction: Sleep Bruxism (SB) is a non-functional rhythmic movement of the mandible with multifactorial aetiology and complex diagnose. It has been the subject of various studies over the past decades and it is considered a result of actions of the Central Nervous System modulated by Autonomous Nervous System. In this work, we test the hypothesis that SB subjects present a typical and defined neurobehavioral pattern that can be distinct from that of non-bruxers subjects and can be measured during wakefulness. Methods: Fifteen sleep bruxers (experimental-group EG) and fifteen non-bruxers (control-group CG) took part in the experiments. To verify the presence and severity of SB, clinical examinations, anamneses and questionnaires, including Visual Analogic Scale faces (VAS-f) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were applied. To legitimate the diagnoses of SB, a disposable instrument (Bitestrip) to assess the masseter activity during sleep was employed. All subjects were submitted to a set of experiments for measuring various visual evoked responses during the presentation of visual stimuli (pleasant, unpleasant and neutral images). Events in Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) were used to compare the neural responses of both CG and EG. Results: VAS-f showed EG with higher perception of stress than CG (trait: p=0.05), and lower quality of life for (state: p=0.007). STAI I and II showed significant differences of anxiety between CG and EG (p=0.013 and p=0.004, respectively), being EG the highest. The EG Bitestrip scores confirmed that 100% of subjects were sleep bruxers. Significant differences were found between EG and CG for events associated with emotional (pleasant and unpleasant) images in the first 250 ms after stimulation. In general, EG subjects showed higher amplitude and shorter latency of VEP events. Conclusion: It is possible to distinguish between SB and non-bruxers subjects during wakefulness, based on differences in amplitude and latency of cortical event related potentials elicited by visual stimulation. SB subjects show greater amplitudes in specific events in frontal areas when non-pleasant images are shown. Latencies tend to be anticipated in SB compared to CG subjects.

Recovery and coping stress supported by serious games

Stress is a serious problem that affects a large number of people. Regardless financial or social status, age and profession, a person exposed to stress may develop health problems that can interfere with work and his quality of life. Thus, due to absenteeism and reduced productivity, companies and governments lose money when people are stressed. In this scenario, it is important to use strategies to combat such drawback. Recovery and Coping are examples of such strategies. Recovery refers to activities that allow individuals to regain consumed energy after work, stress or strain. The experience of Recovery is achieved by activities that offer: psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery experience and control. Coping refers to actions and strategies applied by an individual to react to stress and problem situations. Coping with stress can be basically achieved, in two ways: problem-focused or emotion-focused. Literature shows that strategies that take into account the needs of individual workers have a greater chance of success. On the other hand, computer games offer players some experiences like: relaxation, sense of control, challenges, learning opportunities and immersion. These characteristics can contribute to the control process of stress. The objective of this paper is to propose a new methodology for combating stress, focused on emotion. In so doing, we use Serious Games associated to Flow theory and Virtual/Augmented Reality techniques, considering particular patient needs.

The Use of Virtual Reality for Simulation and Training of Bovine Artificial Insemination with Haptic Devices

This paper describes the use of Virtual Reality in simulation and training for Artificial insemination in cows using Phantom Force Feedback Device. It demonstrates the technique of collision detection among virtual objects and submits a comparison between the simulation and the practice. The work presents the practical results and discusses the application of these technologies in training.

Metáforas de trânsitos para auxiliar o processo de ensinoaprendizagem de disciplinas de Algoritmos e Programação de Computadores

A educacao a distancia tem ganhado significativa atencao tanto na academia quanto nas iniciativas governamentais. Neste contexto, cresce tambem a preocupacao com a avaliacao da qualidade dos diversos aspectos destes cursos mediados pelas tecnologias da informacao e comunicacao. Apesar de muitos trabalhos discutirem diversos aspectos da avaliacao em Ead, a literatura carece de relatos de experiencia que, especialmente, abordem os cursos tecnicos a distancia que possuem especificidades relevantes. Assim, este trabalho relata uma experiencia onde se avalia e adapta uma das propostas existentes na literatura de avaliacao mediada por foruns, ao contexto dos cursos tecnicos a distancia, constituindo-se esta adaptacao e sua discussao as principais contribuicoes do mesmo.Em Educacao a Distância mediada por meio de Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem, foruns de discussao sao um instrumento importante e amplamente utilizado na articulacao de debates e discussoes entre os atores envolvidos no processo de ensino e aprendizagem. Com a ampla utilizacao dos foruns muitas mensagens sao trocadas e isso, por vezes, excede a capacidade de monitoramento por parte dos professores e tutores. O presente trabalho apresenta a concepcao de um classificador de mensagens de foruns que classifica as mensagens em positivas ou negativas, a fim de identificar mensagens que necessitam de maior atencao. Este trabalho aplica conceitos de mineracao de textos, com o algoritmo SVM obtendo taxas de acerto satisfatorias.Este artigo apresenta o framework Contagious, cujo proposito e estabelecer diretrizes que norteiem a construcao de redes sociais online orientadas a Difusao de Inovacoes. Compreendo-se o fenomeno das redes sociais online como consequencia natural do carater social do ser humano, vislumbrou-se esse meio tecnologico de comunicacao e interacao social como potencial ferramenta para a extensao de praticas educativas, com vistas a formacao do carater integral do cidadao. Para isso, foi adotada a teoria de Difusao de Inovacoes, propria das ciencias sociais. As contribuicoes deste trabalho, portanto, compreendem duas vertentes: a) o mapeamento de principios de uma teoria social na forma de recursos computacionais e; b) um enfoque orientado a educacao sobre as redes sociais online.A proposta do trabalho consiste em desenvolver um sistema para ser usado no celular como ferramenta de auxilio para alfabetizacao, utilizando-se de imagens e sons como forma de facilitar o aprendizado. Como metodo de desenvolvimento utiliza-se o processo P@PSEduc (Processo Agil para Software Educativo) e a ferramenta JME (Java Micro Edition).O crescente uso e difusao de tecnologias Web, a ubiquidade de ferramentas educacionais vem proporcionado verdadeiras revolucoes nos ambientes de ensino. Atualmente, sabe-se que nao mais se deve tratar alunos de forma homogenea, como se assim os fossem. Em face disso, este artigo apresenta um sistema adaptativo de apoio a aprendizagem colaborativa, cujo tema e a construcao e representacao do conhecimento por meio de mapas mentais multimidia. Tal sistema, baseia-se na Teoria da Carga Cognitiva, cuja preocupacao primaria e a facilidade com a qual as informacoes sao processadas pelos individuos.

A software architecture for adapting virtual reality content to mobile devices

This paper presents a proposal of software architecture to assist in the development of Virtual Reality applications for mobile devices based on context adaptation techniques. The aim of this solution is to offer support to Virtual Reality context appropriateness to be used by different mobile devices in accordance with their individual limitations. This adaptation is dynamically performed by the proposed solution without the need for user interaction, providing Virtual Reality content portability for mobile applications.

A Software Architecture for Adapating Virtual Reality Content to Mobile Devices

This paper presents a proposal of software architecture to assist in the development of Virtual Reality applications for mobile devices based on context adaptation techniques. The aim of this solution is to offer support to Virtual Reality context appropriateness to be used by different mobile devices in accordance with their individual limitations. This adaptation is dynamically performed by the proposed solution without the need for user interaction, providing Virtual Reality content portability for mobile applications