Erica Esteves Cunha de Miranda

A Case Study of MasterMind Chess: Comparing Mouse/Keyboard Interaction with Kinect-Based Gestural Interface

As gestural interfaces emerged as a new type of user interface, their use has been vastly explored by the entertainment industry to better immerse the player in games. Despite being mainly used in dance and sports games, little use was made of gestural interaction in more slow-paced genres, such as board games. In this work, we present a Kinect-based gestural interface for an online and multiplayer chess game and describe a case study with users with different playing skill levels. Comparing the mouse/keyboard interaction with the gesture-based interaction, the results of the activity were synthesized into lessons learned regarding general usability and design of game control mechanisms. These results could be applied to slow-paced board games like chess. Our findings indicate that gestural interfaces may not be suitable for competitive chess matches, yet it can be fun to play while using them in casual matches.

Japanese language learning supported by computational tools: State of the art and challenges for the Latin America community

In Latin America live a lot of foreigners from all parts of the world and many of them form communities. It is increasingly frequent that their descendents search for new opportunities in the countries from where they descend, even though they have grown up at the Latin American culture. This paper deals with the theme of ways of computational support for Japanese language learning to the Latin America dwellers that go to Japan. As results of this work, we highlight the state of the art of computational tools developed to support the Japanese language learning and, additionally, we present challenges of future computational development to the Latin America computing community related to the subject-matter.

Actor’s social complexity: a proposal for managing the iStar model

Complex systems are inherent to modern society, in which individuals, organizations, and computational elements relate with each other to achieve a predefined purpose, which transcends individual goals. In this context, these systems’ complexity is originated by the large number of parts interacting in a non-simple way, given the properties of these parts and the laws, as well as by the wishes that govern these interactions. Also, in organizations, there is a need for additional information to understand this universe considering the already consolidated static and dynamic dimensions. With this purpose, the iStar framework was developed to capture and represent intentional and social information in two views: Strategic Dependency (SD) and Strategic Rationale (SR). This framework, however, does not offer alternatives to deal with the complexity that is inherent to modern society systems, which is related to a large number of parts interacting, when modeled from their views. The problem is present in monolithic languages because they do not consist of building blocks, such as subprocesses or modules. Despite this problem, the iStar framework provides modeling versatility by combining goal-oriented paradigms and agents. Another positive point is the focus on intentional and social properties, thus providing expressiveness aligned with the modern society’s demand, in which everything is related. Therefore, the objective of this research was to provide ways for the iStar framework to deal with the complexity presented by complex systems and, consequently, make iStar models understandable to be used, in a given context. The proposal is based on a state of the art review to create an interdependente part for the iStar models and will make the construction of views as a composition of these parts possible. To make it happen, and considering its benefits, a textual notation (SMiLe - Scalable Modular iStar Language) was conceived and applied to support the architecture within this social modeling scenario. The proposal and its artifacts were submitted to a proof of concept, and then, through adjustments, an evaluation was carried by the users through a case study. The results pointed to evidence of the possible management of iStar model and an improvement in the understanding of this model, suggesting that the proposed solution is a feasible alternative for the established objective.

Numerical modeling of solar irradiance on earth's surface

Modeling studies and estimation of solar radiation in base area, touch from the problems of estimating equation of time, distance equation solar space, solar declination, calculation of surface irradiance, considering that there are a lot of studies you reported the inability of these theoretical equations to be accurate estimates of radiation, many authors have proceeded to make corrections through calibrations with Pyranometers field (solarimeters) or the use of satellites, this being very poor technique last because there a differentiation between radiation and radiant kinetic effects. Because of the above and considering that there is a weather station properly calibrated ground in the Susques Salar in the Jujuy Province, Republic of Argentina, proceeded to make the following modeling of the variable in question, it proceeded to perform the following process: 1. Theoretical Modeling, 2. graphic study of the theoretical and actual data, 3. Adjust primary calibration data through data segmentation on an hourly basis, through horizontal and adding asymptotic constant, 4. Analysis of scatter plot and contrast series. Based on the above steps, the modeling data obtained: Step One: Theoretical data were generated, Step Two: The theoretical data moved 5 hours, Step Three: an asymptote of all negative emissivity values applied, Solve Excel algorithm was applied to least squares minimization between actual and modeled values, obtaining new values of asymptotes with the corresponding theoretical reformulation of data. Add a constant value by month, over time range set (4:00 pm to 6:00 pm). Step Four: The modeling equation coefficients had monthly correlation between actual and theoretical data ranging from 0.7 to 0.9.

Sumo Sensei: Design, implementação e teste com usuários de uma ferramenta móvel para apoiar o estudo de kanjis básicos

O estudo da língua japonesa por latino americanos vem crescendo, e possui vários desafios devido à sua forma de escrita. Kanjis sao caracteres logográficos muito presentes na gramática japonesa e, por isso, conhecê-los se torna essencial para quem almeja aprender japonés. O uso de ferramentas computacionais que apóiem o estudo desse idioma é cada vez mais difundido, porém há poucas ferramentas computacionais que ensinam japonês a partir de idiomas latinos, como espanhol e português, limitando o uso para os nativos dessas línguas. Este trabalho apresenta Sumo Sensei, uma ferramenta móvel desenvolvida com design contextualizado a uma popular luta japonesa. A ferramenta tem o intuito de apoiar o estudo de 103 kanjis básicos através de centenas de palavras de vocabulário formadas a partir dos mesmos, mesclando o aprendizado à diversao proporcionada por elementos do jogo. A ferramenta apoia o estudo por cooperaçao e competiçao com partidas online em tempo real, trazendo dinamismo com a inclusao de itens ligados à cultura do sumo, além de possibilitar o estudo individualizado por meio do modo treinamento contextualizado ao treino real do sumo. Neste artigo, ainda, apresentamos resultados de um teste realizado com o intuito de avaliar o uso da ferramenta por usuários com diferentes perfis e níveis de proficiência na língua japonesa.

Evaluating multiple aspects of educational computer games: literature review and case study

Evaluation is an important step in the life cycle of software, once through this practice it is possible to find issues that could compromise the user experience. With educational computer games, the same rule is applied. The use of educational games is increasing, and it is important to verify these tools to provide users with the most adequate learning environments. This verification can be made through the evaluation of multiple aspects of these tools. This work presents a literature review about evaluation of multiple aspects of software, followed by a more specific review focused on multiple aspects of educational computer games. Then, a case study is presented, in which an evaluation method is applied with an educational computer game, aiming to verify the positives and the issues to be improved in the game. The reviews and the description of the process to use the method intend to help and guide other researchers to choose evaluation methods that can fit their own context and needs.