Browsing by Author "Oliveira, Manuel Au-Yong"
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- Accessibility in mobile applications of portuguese public administrationPublication . Carneiro, Marcos; Branco, Frederico; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Oliveira, Manuel Au-Yong; Moreira, Fernando; Martins, JoséToday’s society presents a fast development marked by the digital era, where the sharing, disclosure and access to information is made through information and communication technologies. The use of mobile applications is growing exponentially, spreading to the most varied social classes and everyday activity areas. Worldwide, its use in the most variety of services, has been increasing significantly. Given that, it is essential that mobile applications are accessible in a way that allows access conditions and equal opportunities to all the users. With this study we present indicators regarding the state of accessibility in mobile applications through the evaluation of five Portuguese public administration applications. The methodology used was a fully manual evaluation through a proposal of a model of evaluation divided by quantitative and qualitative requirements created by us, as well as the use of functionalities such as VoiceOver and TalkBack. Taking into account that the study initially proposed on accessibility in mobile applications is the first to be carried out in Portugal and one of the few currently worldwide, it is believed that its content may help, in some way, to raise awareness of the state of accessibility in the Portuguese mobile applications, to create measures that make these applications more accessible to all and that this work could be taken into account in future studies of the topic.
- Accessible software development: a conceptual model proposalPublication . Silva, João Sousa e; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Branco, Frederico; Pereira, António Manuel; Oliveira, Manuel Au-Yong; Martins, JoséEqual access to all software and digital content should be a reality in the Digital Era. This argument is something defended both by existing regulations, norms and standards, and also business organizations and governments. Despite this acknowledgement, the reality is still far from the desired equality. For certain groups of disabled or impaired citizens, such as the visually impaired, the existence of e-accessibility compliance represents an opportunity to integrate, in a more simple and straightforward manner, their societies. Despite the existing poor results on e-accessibility compliance, the mentioned citizens insist on using digital devices in their daily lives. Even though, in the last decade, multiple standards and regulations have been published towards indicating how to develop accessible digital user interfaces, there are still two major issues surrounding its implementation: the complexity and disparity of the documents containing the abovementioned norms, and also the lack of e-accessibility know-how by software experts. With this in mind, a proposal for an accessible software development model that encompasses e-accessibility incorporation as one of the development process activities has been presented. This model might represent a very interesting support tool for software development organizations and a novel resource for learning and training institutions to be able to improve their computer science and informatics students’ skills on e-accessibility.
- Assessing the success behind the use of education management information systems in higher educationPublication . Martins, José; Branco, Frederico; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Oliveira, Manuel Au-Yong; Oliveira, Tiago; Naranjo-Zolotov, Mijail; Cruz-Jesus, FredericoThe continuous use of dynamic and disruptive ICT as energizing elements of the educational process is a reality of current days, where millennials are the centre of an education paradigm in which students are much more inclined to use technologies than enrolling in a traditional non-digital course. Considering education management information systems (EMIS) capacities to collect, analyse, process and publish information and data, it is easy to perceive their relevance to both education organizations and students. Nevertheless, and despite EMIS complexity and inherent possibilities, the existing literature does not provide for a detailed characterization on the impact these systems might have on students’ success. Thus, this research focuses on understanding the use of EMIS by students and the arising of net benefits; it introduces an EMIS success model which posits that to ensure net benefits for students, education institutions must safeguard that their education management information systems are of high quality, while at the same time students are maintained satisfied with the system and engage in continuous use. To assess the posed model, an empirical study has been performed, involving students from higher education institutions. Findings from the study allow us to perceive that, as information systems (IS) success models state, EMIS use and students’ satisfaction are predictors of net benefits. This same model also claims that the available information quality and EMIS inherent service quality are also strong determinants of both continuous EMIS use and student satisfaction.
- Digitally monitoring thermalism health and wellness effects - a conceptual model proposalPublication . Martins, José; Moreira, Fernando; Oliveira, Manuel Au-Yong; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Branco, FredericoAs life expectancy grows and the population requirements for satisfactory health and wellness levels increases, there is a clear opportunity for the incorporation of alternative techniques and tools for promoting health and preventing disease. One of these tools, is the use of thermal water-based treatments, commonly known as thermalism, as tools to trigger patients’ overall wellness. Despite the collective assumption of the effects of thermalism, there is little to no scientific evidence of these treatments, thus impairing the potential of this activity to become more widespread in society. Thus, with this paper, we present a conceptual model for a non-invasive sensing system based on wearables that can monitor a set of patients’ biomarkers which will serve as the basis for the validation of the effects of thermalism. This system will also serve as a management and operation control tool for thermal SPA managers and technical directors.
- Kitchen robots: the importance and impact of technology on people’s quality of lifePublication . Fonseca, Ema; Oliveira, Inês; Lobo, Joana; Mota, Tânia; Martins, José; Oliveira, Manuel Au-YongThe 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.
- Microtransactions in the company’s and the player’s perspective: a manual and automatic analysisPublication . Gusmão, Pedro; Almeida, Tiago G.; Lopes, Francisco; Muryn, Yuriy; Martins, José; Oliveira, Manuel Au-YongMicrotransactions 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.
- Qualitative analysis of virtual reality adoption by tourism operators in low-density regionsPublication . Martins, José; Gonçalves, Ramiro Manuel; Oliveira, Manuel Au-Yong; Moreira, Fernando; Branco, FredericoVirtual reality technologies have grown in complexity and functionality, increasing their relevance in various sectors of activity. Applying these innovations to tourism is advantageous for the organisations, the tourists and even the territories. They can provide multisensory immersivity, simulate actions and movements in real-time, enriching reality using interactive virtual objects. Thus, captivating visitors and showing territories from richer and livelier perspectives. This study describes a review of the adoption of virtual reality technology at the organisational level. In order to adapt the literature review to the tourism topic, the process of analysis of the literature was carried out with a constant concern to analyse research that studied the topic. Assuming the need to further develop the work done and to obtain a confirmation on the contribution resulting from the bibliographic review, a focus group was developed, which allowed several specialists to discuss collaboratively and interactively the research project topics without having to be in face-to-face contact. The results of this study allow not only to acknowledge the relevance of virtual reality for tourism but also to understand how the existing literature and experts are aligned with the identification of opportunities for disruptive development of solutions that trigger tourism destinations and organisational development.
- Smart cities and smart tourism: what future do they bring?Publication . Matos, Ana; Pinto, Bruna; Barros, Fábio; Martins, Sérgio; Martins, José; Oliveira, Manuel Au-YongWe 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?