Do print para o tablet. Estudo de caso da Revista Proteste

Actualmente o contacto com uma notícia é feito em rede e através de diversos media, o Papel, a Internet, a Televisão, os Telemóveis e os Tablets. Como dispositivo técnico de leitura de notícias os Tablets são uma plataforma que apresenta os conteúdos da notícia de uma revista de forma diferente. A informação é apresentada através de soluções visuais e com uma nova narrativa, diferente das revistas tradicionais. Os conteúdos estão mais fragmentados, o leitor pode ver um vídeo, ouvir uma música, seleccionar uma informação através de um sistema de “árvore de decisão” carregando num simples botão, aceder a um hyperlink ou simplesmente visualizar um slideshow. Todos estes recursos interativos estão disponíveis. Os números de venda de Tablets induzem a que muitas editoras se adaptem a esta inovação e que desenvolvam os seus produtos editoriais neste novo suporte. A revista Proteste, o principal produto da linha generalista que abrange todos os domínios do equipamento e os serviços destinados ao consumidor, da Editora DecoProteste Editores para a defesa do consumidor, LDA, necessita de migrar para estes dispositivos para cativar novos públicos. A presença desta revista nos Tablets está actualmente disponível através de um pdf com interação diminuta. Esta limitação será o ponto de partida deste trabalho de Projeto. A proposta terá um novo layout, que será estruturado com base na revista tradicional em papel, o objetivo é privilegiar a fácil usabilidade e apreensão dos conteúdos pelo leitor. A aplicação será concebida através de software compatível com o utilizado na produção da revista. Serão seleccionados conteúdos já publicados e identificadas as respectivas fontes. O projecto centrar-se-á no design de uma aplicação na qual serão criados todos os elementos interactivos de forma a introduzir uma nova narrativa/storytelling na publicação onde o consumidor possa interagir. A identificação com a revista em papel será muito forte através de uma nomenclatura que nos remeterá para os conteúdos disponibilizados em papel, nomeadamente as rubricas, os testes comparativos com designação de uma Escolha Acertada, que define a melhor relação “qualidade/preço”, bem como a selecção dos produtos e serviços com melhor desempenho. Os estudos de preços, outro dos sectores fundamentais da informação disponível em papel, também serão abordados. O modo como consumimos informação mudou. Com boas “histórias” em mãos e através dos meios tecnológicos disponíveis é a altura ideal para poder contá-las.

Online consumer behavior: The tablet shopper – A new kind of customer?

Tablet computers are on the rise and are increasingly superseding stationary computers in terms of modern online shopping. This paper therefore aims on understanding how tablet and website characteristics might impact online consumer behavior. The collected data resulted from focus groups and in-depth interviews conducted with a technology affine audience. It has shown that tablets indeed may have shifted shopping behavior from utilitarian towards rather recreational attributes. Discussions also revealed high customer expectations towards visited shopping websites and prevailing deficits. Thus, harnessing the concept of experiential flow is crucial. Compelling experiences are required to increase the duration of stay and consequently the likelihood of increased purchases.

Improved polymeric medical devices for active substances delivery

The work presented in this thesis was developed in collaboration with a Portuguese company, BeyonDevices, devoted to pharmaceutical packaging, medical technology and device industry. Specifically, the composition impact and surface modification of two polymeric medical devices from the company were studied: inhalers and vaginal applicators. The polyethylene-based vaginal applicator was modified using supercritical fluid technology to acquire self-cleaning properties and prevent the transport of bacteria and yeasts to vaginal flora. For that, in-situ polymerization of 2-substituted oxazolines was performed within the polyethylene matrix using supercritical carbon dioxide. The cationic ring-opening polymerization process was followed by end-capping with N,N-dimethyldodecylamine. Furthermore, for the same propose, the polyethylene matrix was impregnated with lavender oil in supercritical medium. The obtained materials were characterized physical and morphologically and the antimicrobial activity against bacteria and yeasts was accessed. Materials modified using 2-substituted oxazolines showed an effective killing ability for all the tested microorganisms, while the materials modified with lavender oil did not show antimicrobial activity. Only materials modified with oligo(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) maintain the activity during the long term stability. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of the materials was tested, confirming their biocompatibilty. Regarding the inhaler, its surface was modified in order to improve powder flowability and consequently, to reduce powder retention in the inhaler´s nozzle. New dry powder inhalers (DPIs), with different needle’s diameters, were evaluated in terms of internal resistance and uniformity of the emitted dose. It was observed that they present a mean resistance of 0.06 cmH2O0.5/(L/min) and the maximum emitted dose obtained was 68.9% for the inhaler with higher needle´s diameter (2 mm). Thus, this inhaler was used as a test and modified by the coating with a commonly-used force control agent, magnesium stearate, dried with supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) and the uniformity of delivered dose tests were repeated. The modified inhaler showed an increase in emitted dose from 68.9% to 71.3% for lactose and from 30.0% to 33.7% for Foradil.

Benefits & drawbacks of different means of interaction for placing objects above a video footage

Public Display Systems (PDS) increasingly have a greater presence in our cities. These systems provide information and advertising specifically tailored to audiences in spaces such as airports, train stations, and shopping centers. A large number of public displays are also being deployed for entertainment reasons. Sometimes designing and prototyping PDS come to be a laborious, complex and a costly task. This dissertation focuses on the design and evaluation of PDS at early development phases with the aim of facilitating low-effort, rapid design and the evaluation of interactive PDS. This study focuses on the IPED Toolkit. This tool proposes the design, prototype, and evaluation of public display systems, replicating real-world scenes in the lab. This research aims at identifying benefits and drawbacks on the use of different means to place overlays/virtual displays above a panoramic video footage, recorded at real-world locations. The means of interaction studied in this work are on the one hand the keyboard and mouse, and on the other hand the tablet with two different techniques of use. To carry out this study, an android application has been developed whose function is to allow users to interact with the IPED Toolkit using the tablet. Additionally, the toolkit has been modified and adapted to tablets by using different web technologies. Finally the users study makes a comparison about the different means of interaction.