Scenario Planning and Evaluation of Pricing Strategies in the Portuguese Bulk LPG Market

Portugal has the largest LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) share of primary energy demand in the EU (about 5%). Due to the increasing international cost of LPG in the last years and the high price sensitivity of the consumers the preference for substitute energy sources in new and existing consumers has been increasing. To select the kind of energy, some consumer estimate and compare the total costs while others follow agents (equipment sellers) recommendations. It takes time to build agents perception about the most advantageous source of energy, which is seen as an important resource that drives client resource accumulation and retention. Marketing strategies have to take into consideration some market dynamic effects derived from the accumulation and depletion of these resources. A simple system dynamics model was built, combined with Economic Value Added framework, to evaluate some pricing strategies under different scenarios of LPG international cost.

Scenario Planning and Evaluation of Pricing Strategies in the Portuguese Bulk LPG Market

Portugal has the largest LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) share of primary energy demand in the EU (about 5%). Due to the increasing international cost of LPG in the last years and the high price sensitivity of the consumers the preference for substitute energy sources in new and existing consumers has been increasing. To select the kind of energy, some consumer estimate and compare the total costs while others follow agents (equipment sellers) recommendations. It takes time to build agents perception about the most advantageous source of energy, which is seen as an important resource that drives client resource accumulation and retention. Marketing strategies have to take into consideration some market dynamic effects derived from the accumulation and depletion of these resources. A simple system dynamics model was built, combined with Economic Value Added framework, to evaluate some pricing strategies under different scenarios of LPG international cost.

Realism in Gameplay: Digital Fiction and Embodiment

In this article we argue that digital simulations promote and explore complex relations between the player and the machines cybernetic system with which it relates through gameplay, that is, the real application of tactics and strategies used by participants as they play the game. We plan to show that the realism of simulation, together with the merger of artificial objects with the real world, can generate interactive empathy between players and their avatars. In this text, we intend to explore augmented reality as a means to visualise interactive communication projects. With ARToolkit, Virtools and 3ds Max applications, we aim to show how to create a portable interactive platform that resorts to the environment and markers for constructing the games scenario. Many of the conventional functions of the human eye are being replaced by techniques where images do not position themselves in the traditional manner that we observe them (Crary, 1998), or in the way we perceive the real world. The digitalization of the real world to a new informational layer over objects, people or environments, needs to be processed and mediated by tools that amplify the natural human senses.

Augmented Reality for Games

In this text, we intend to explore augmented reality as a means to visualise interactive communication projects. With ARToolkit, Virtools and 3ds Max applications, we aim to show how to create a portable interactive platform that resorts to the environment and markers for constructing the game’s scenario. We plan to show that the realism of simulation, together with the merger of artificial objects with the real world, can generate interactive empathy between players and their avatars.