A Digital Game Development Education Project

The success of the digital game industry is spawning several undergraduate degrees aiming at the training of digital game developers. Building adequate new courses curricula is not a trivial task and demands a profound analysis of the scientific areas to introduce as well as the dependencies throughout the entire degree. Another important aspect of every academic educational plan are the satellite projects that promote entrepreneurship and provide practical professional experiences to students. This paper presents the main guidelines adopted in the creation of the first digital game development undergraduate degree created in Portugal.

Modelling the Mechanical Behavior of Polymer-Based Nanocomposites

Molecular dynamics simulations were employed to analyze the mechanical properties of polymer-based nanocomposites with varying nanofiber network parameters. The study was focused on nanofiber aspect ratio, concentration and initial orientation. The reinforcing phase affects the behavior of the polymeric nanocomposite. Simulations have shown that the fiber concentration has a significant effect on the properties, with higher loadings resulting in higher stress levels and higher stiffness, matching the general behavior from experimental knowledge in this field. The results also indicate that, within the studied range, the observed effect of the aspect ratio and initial orientation is smaller than that of the concentration, and that these two parameters are interrelated.

A digital game development education project

The success of the digital game industry is spawning several undergraduate degrees aiming at the training of digital game developers. Building adequate new courses curricula is not a trivial task and demands a profound analysis of the scientific areas to introduce as well as the dependencies throughout the entire degree. Another important aspect of every academic educational plan are the satellite projects that promote entrepreneurship and provide practical professional experiences to students. This paper presents the main guidelines adopted in the creation of the first digital game development undergraduate degree created in Portugal.

PERFORMANCE CAPTURE: À PROCURA DAS MELHORES TÉCNICAS E ESTÉTICAS NO CONTEXTO DA ANIMAÇÃO DIGITAL

This paper investigates realism in character computer animation, which triggered the development of new techniques and aesthetic in spectacular cinema and contemporary culture. With the advent of motion or performing capture, animation has made possible that virtual characters or digital creatures reach higher levels in emotional acting, taking place in virtual cinematic worlds or even special effects movies. This technology, when placed at the service of imagination and fantasy can provide new dimensions in character motion and communication. In this context, projects like Peter Jackson’s (2001) The Lord of the Rings, James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) and more recently Steven Spielberg’s Tintin (2011) demonstrate that motion technology is constantly evolving, and it represents a credible option to explore new techniques and aesthetic in contemporary animation.

O livro ilustrado digital e o livro ilustrado impresso

O presente estudo tem como objecto central o livro ilustrado e tem como objectivo principal compreender as diferenças entre dois modelos: o livro impresso e o livro digital. Partindo de um objecto de estudo concreto, um livro tradicional em formato impresso desenvolvido na disciplina de Ilustração no contexto do Mestrado de Ilustração e Animação do Instituto Politécnico do Cávado e do Ave, é nosso objectivo perceber as principais diferenças que ocorrem na transição para um suporte digital, especificamente num formato iPad, assim como enunciar algumas das metodologias possíveis para que esta transição seja eficaz. Num momento de transição como o que vivemos actualmente, em que o ilustrador tem cada vez mais necessidade de se adaptar a novos meios, novas ferramentas de trabalho e novas formas de comunicação, importa reflectir sobre a natureza do livro e sobre as características que distinguem os dois suportes, o tradicional e o digital. Assim, é nossa intenção perceber essas diferenças e enunciar alguns dos procedimentos que o ilustrador deve ter em conta quando experimenta a transição de um objecto de ilustração para um meio digital táctil como é o iPad.

A preparação do livro ilustrado para iPAD - do livro tradicional impresso ao livro interativo digital

O presente estudo tem como objeto central o livro ilustrado e como principal objetivo compreender as diferenças entre dois modelos: o livro impresso e o livro digital. Partindo de um objeto de estudo concreto, um livro tradicional em formato impresso, é nosso objetivo perceber as principais diferenças que ocorrem na transição para um suporte digital, especificamente num formato iPad. Pretendemos também enunciar algumas das metodologias possíveis para que esta transição seja eficaz. Num momento de transição como o que vivemos atualmente, em que o ilustrador tem cada vez mais necessidade de se adaptar a novos meios, novas ferramentas de trabalho e novas formas de comunicação, importa refletir sobre a natureza do livro e sobre as características que distinguem os dois suportes: o tradicional e o digital. Assim, é nossa intenção identificar e perceber essas diferenças e enunciar alguns procedimentos a ter em conta quando o ilustrador experimenta a transição de um objeto de ilustração para um meio digital tátil, como é o iPad.

O impacto da exclusão digital na utilização potencial de um mercado eletrónico de serviços de cuidados de saúde e serviços sociais

Cada vez mais os indivíduos necessitam de competências digitais avançadas para participar plenamente na sociedade. Numa Europa em crescente envelhecimento é atualmente reconhecida a importância e o potencial da indústria de serviços para envelhecer bem baseados nas tecnologias de informação e de comunicação (TIC), de que é exemplo o mercado eletrónico de serviços sociais e de cuidados de saúde, o GuiMarket, proposto pelos autores para um município do Norte de Portugal. Com base nos resultados de um inquérito realizado junto de uma amostra de 315 indivíduos, o artigo discute a importância reconhecida a tal serviço e a frequência de utilização prevista, concluindo existir uma íntima relação entre o acesso às TIC e a utilização que os inquiridos preveem fazer do GuiMarket.

The impact of the digital divide on the perceived interest of an e-Marketplace to support healthcare and social care services

In a Europe increasingly aging, it is now recognized the importance and potential of the service industry for ageing well based on information and communication technologies (ICT), as exemplified by the electronic market of social services and health care, the GuiMarket, proposed by the authors. However, this new range of services requires that individuals have advanced digital skills to fully participate in society. Based on the results of a survey made on a sample of 315 individuals, this paper discusses the importance granted GuiMarket and the intended frequency of use, concluding there is a close relationship between ICT access and use that respondents anticipate making of GuiMarket and alike services.

Artificial neural networks for automatic modelling of the pectus excavatum corrective prosthesis

Pectus excavatum is the most common deformity of the thorax and usually comprises Computed Tomography (CT) examination for pre-operative diagnosis. Aiming at the elimination of the high amounts of CT radiation exposure, this work presents a new methodology for the replacement of CT by a laser scanner (radiation-free) in the treatment of pectus excavatum using personally modeled prosthesis. The complete elimination of CT involves the determination of ribs external outline, at the maximum sternum depression point for prosthesis placement, based on chest wall skin surface information, acquired by a laser scanner. The developed solution resorts to artificial neural networks trained with data vectors from 165 patients. Scaled Conjugate Gradient, Levenberg-Marquardt, Resilient Back propagation and One Step Secant gradient learning algorithms were used. The training procedure was performed using the soft tissue thicknesses, determined using image processing techniques that automatically segment the skin and rib cage. The developed solution was then used to determine the ribs outline in data from 20 patient scanners. Tests revealed that ribs position can be estimated with an average error of about 6.82±5.7 mm for the left and right side of the patient. Such an error range is well below current prosthesis manual modeling (11.7±4.01 mm) even without CT imagiology, indicating a considerable step forward towards CT replacement by a 3D scanner for prosthesis personalization.

Voxel-based registration of simulated and real patient CBCT data for accurate dental implant pose estimation

The success of dental implant-supported prosthesis is directly linked to the accuracy obtained during implant’s pose estimation (position and orientation). Although traditional impression techniques and recent digital acquisition methods are acceptably accurate, a simultaneously fast, accurate and operator-independent methodology is still lacking. Hereto, an image-based framework is proposed to estimate the patient-specific implant’s pose using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and prior knowledge of implanted model. The pose estimation is accomplished in a threestep approach: (1) a region-of-interest is extracted from the CBCT data using 2 operator-defined points at the implant’s main axis; (2) a simulated CBCT volume of the known implanted model is generated through Feldkamp-Davis-Kress reconstruction and coarsely aligned to the defined axis; and (3) a voxel-based rigid registration is performed to optimally align both patient and simulated CBCT data, extracting the implant’s pose from the optimal transformation. Three experiments were performed to evaluate the framework: (1) an in silico study using 48 implants distributed through 12 tridimensional synthetic mandibular models; (2) an in vitro study using an artificial mandible with 2 dental implants acquired with an i-CAT system; and (3) two clinical case studies. The results shown positional errors of 67±34μm and 108μm, and angular misfits of 0.15±0.08º and 1.4º, for experiment 1 and 2, respectively. Moreover, in experiment 3, visual assessment of clinical data results shown a coherent alignment of the reference implant. Overall, a novel image-based framework for implants’ pose estimation from CBCT data was proposed, showing accurate results in agreement with dental prosthesis modelling requirements.