Arquitetura para aplicações interativas imersivas de televisão digital

In this work, we propose a new approach to Interactive Digital Television (IDTV), aimed to explore the concepts of immersivity. Several architectures have been proposed to IDTV, but they did not explore coherently questions related to immersion. The goal of this thesis consists in defining formally what is immersion and interactivity for digital TV and how they may be used to improve user experience in this new televisive model. The approach raises questions such as the appropriate choice of equipment to assist in the sense of immersion, which forms of interaction between users can be exploited in the interaction-immersion context, if the environment where an immersive and interactive application is used can influence the user experience, and which new forms of interactivity between users, and interactivity among users and interactive applications can be explored with the use of immersion. As one of the goals of this proposal, we point out new solutions to these issues that require further studies. We intend to formalize the concepts that embrace interactivity in the brazilian system of digital TV. In an initial study, this definition is organized into categories or levels of interactivity. From this point are made analisis and specifications to achieve immersion using DTV. We pretend to make some case studies of immersive interactive applications for digital television in order to validate the proposed architecture. We also approach the use of remote devices anda proposal of middleware architecture that allows its use in conjunction with immersive interactive applications

Utilizando a televisão digital como um meio de comunicação para ambientes interativos reais

This Dissertation aims to provide a communication mechanism between Digital TV viewers and interaction devices, such as robots, for example, placed on the environment from which a TV program is being live broadcasted. Such communication mechanism has the objective to allow viewers controll the Interaction Devices through their TV devices, using the broadcast channel present in Interactive Digital TV systems, and receive data from the devices by the broadcast channel. This system was projected as a middlewaer system where the Interaction Devices in the TV program set are interconnected, creating a Interactive Device Network. With this approach, the system is capable of manage the devices on the network, controlling the flow of coming and leaving elements, in a transparent way for the viewers. The system yet allows the Interaction Devices communicate each other, with a integrated communication channel with no worries about the physical communication layer

Trendtv : uma arquitetura para mudança automática de canais de TV baseada em redes sociais virtuais com graus de amizade e suporte a múltiplos dispositivos no cenário da TV digital brasileira

Due to the large amount of television content, which emerged from the Digital TV, viewers are facing a new challenge, how to find interesting content intuitively and efficiently. The Personalized Electronic Programming Guides (pEPG) arise as an answer to this complex challenge. We propose TrendTV a layered architecture that allows the formation of social networks among viewers of Interactive Digital TV based on online microblogging. Associated with a pEPG, this social network allows the viewer to perform content filtering on a particular subject from the indications made by other viewers of his network. Allowing the viewer to create his own indications for a particular content when it is displayed, or to analyze the importance of a particular program online, based on these indications. This allows any user to perform filtering on content and generate or exchange information with other users in a flexible and transparent way, using several different devices (TVs, Smartphones, Tablets or PCs). Moreover, this architecture defines a mechanism to perform the automatic exchange of channels based on the best program that is showing at the moment, suggesting new components to be added to the middleware of the Brazilian Digital TV System (Ginga). The result is a constructed and dynamic database containing the classification of several TV programs as well as an application to automatically switch to the best channel of the moment

Uma solução para geração automática de trilhas em língua brasileira de sinais em conteúdos multimídia

Deaf people have serious difficulties to access information. The support for sign languages is rarely addressed in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Furthermore, in scientific literature, there is a lack of works related to machine translation for sign languages in real-time and open-domain scenarios, such as TV. To minimize these problems, in this work, we propose a solution for automatic generation of Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) video tracks into captioned digital multimedia contents. These tracks are generated from a real-time machine translation strategy, which performs the translation from a Brazilian Portuguese subtitle stream (e.g., a movie subtitle or a closed caption stream). Furthermore, the proposed solution is open-domain and has a set of mechanisms that exploit human computation to generate and maintain their linguistic constructions. Some implementations of the proposed solution were developed for digital TV, Web and Digital Cinema platforms, and a set of experiments with deaf users was developed to evaluate the main aspects of the solution. The results showed that the proposed solution is efficient and able to generate and embed LIBRAS tracks in real-time scenarios and is a practical and feasible alternative to reduce barriers of deaf to access information, especially when human interpreters are not available

H-N2N : uma arquitetura hierárquica escalável para ambientes de realidade mista de grande porte

In this work, we propose a solution to solve the scalability problem found in collaborative, virtual and mixed reality environments of large scale, that use the hierarchical client-server model. Basically, we use a hierarchy of servers. When the capacity of a server is reached, a new server is created as a sun of the first one, and the system load is distributed between them (father and sun). We propose efficient tools and techniques for solving problems inherent to client-server model, as the definition of clusters of users, distribution and redistribution of users through the servers, and some mixing and filtering operations, that are necessary to reduce flow between servers. The new model was tested, in simulation, emulation and in interactive applications that were implemented. The results of these experimentations show enhancements in the traditional, previous models indicating the usability of the proposed in problems of all-to-all communications. This is the case of interactive games and other applications devoted to Internet (including multi-user environments) and interactive applications of the Brazilian Digital Television System, to be developed by the research group. Keywords: large scale virtual environments, interactive digital tv, distributed

Otimização de modelos de predição da perda de propagação aplicáveis em 3,5GHZ utilizando algoritmos genéticos

The telecommunications industry has experienced recent changes, due to increasing quest for access to digital services for data, video and multimedia, especially using the mobile phone networks. Recently in Brazil, mobile operators are upgrading their networks to third generations systems (3G) providing to users broadband services such as video conferencing, Internet, digital TV and more. These new networks that provides mobility and high data rates has allowed the development of new market concepts. Currently the market is focused on the expansion of WiMAX technology, which is gaining increasingly the market for mobile voice and data. In Brazil, the commercial interest for this technology appears to the first award of licenses in the 3.5 GHz band. In February 2003 ANATEL held the 003/2002/SPV-ANATEL bidding, where it offered blocks of frequencies in the range of 3.5 GHz. The enterprises who purchased blocks of frequency were: Embratel, Brazil Telecom (Vant), Grupo Sinos, Neovia and WKVE, each one with operations spread in some regions of Brazil. For this and other wireless communications systems are implemented effectively, many efforts have been invested in attempts to developing simulation methods for coverage prediction that is close to reality as much as possible so that they may become believers and indispensable tools to design wireless communications systems. In this work wasm developed a genetic algorithm (GA's) that is able to optimize the models for predicting propagation loss at applicable frequency range of 3.5 GHz, thus enabling an estimate of the signal closer to reality to avoid significant errors in planning and implementation a system of wireless communication

Uma estratégia dirigida a modelos e baseada em linguagem de descrição arquitetural para linhas de produtos de software

Model-oriented strategies have been used to facilitate products customization in the software products lines (SPL) context and to generate the source code of these derived products through variability management. Most of these strategies use an UML (Unified Modeling Language)-based model specification. Despite its wide application, the UML-based model specification has some limitations such as the fact that it is essentially graphic, presents deficiencies regarding the precise description of the system architecture semantic representation, and generates a large model, thus hampering the visualization and comprehension of the system elements. In contrast, architecture description languages (ADLs) provide graphic and textual support for the structural representation of architectural elements, their constraints and interactions. This thesis introduces ArchSPL-MDD, a model-driven strategy in which models are specified and configured by using the LightPL-ACME ADL. Such strategy is associated to a generic process with systematic activities that enable to automatically generate customized source code from the product model. ArchSPLMDD strategy integrates aspect-oriented software development (AOSD), modeldriven development (MDD) and SPL, thus enabling the explicit modeling as well as the modularization of variabilities and crosscutting concerns. The process is instantiated by the ArchSPL-MDD tool, which supports the specification of domain models (the focus of the development) in LightPL-ACME. The ArchSPL-MDD uses the Ginga Digital TV middleware as case study. In order to evaluate the efficiency, applicability, expressiveness, and complexity of the ArchSPL-MDD strategy, a controlled experiment was carried out in order to evaluate and compare the ArchSPL-MDD tool with the GingaForAll tool, which instantiates the process that is part of the GingaForAll UML-based strategy. Both tools were used for configuring the products of Ginga SPL and generating the product source code

MoSAC: um módulo para seleção de configurações arquiteturais baseado em critérios de QoS no contexto de sistema distribuídos autoadaptativos

The process for choosing the best components to build systems has become increasingly complex. It becomes more critical if it was need to consider many combinations of components in the context of an architectural configuration. These circumstances occur, mainly, when we have to deal with systems involving critical requirements, such as the timing constraints in distributed multimedia systems, the network bandwidth in mobile applications or even the reliability in real-time systems. This work proposes a process of dynamic selection of architectural configurations based on non-functional requirements criteria of the system, which can be used during a dynamic adaptation. This proposal uses the MAUT theory (Multi-Attribute Utility Theory) for decision making from a finite set of possibilities, which involve multiple criteria to be analyzed. Additionally, it was proposed a metamodel which can be used to describe the application s requirements in terms of the non-functional requirements criteria and their expected values, to express them in order to make the selection of the desired configuration. As a proof of concept, it was implemented a module that performs the dynamic choice of configurations, the MoSAC. This module was implemented using a component-based development approach (CBD), performing a selection of architectural configurations based on the proposed selection process involving multiple criteria. This work also presents a case study where an application was developed in the context of Digital TV to evaluate the time spent on the module to return a valid configuration to be used in a middleware with autoadaptative features, the middleware AdaptTV

MyPersonal-EPG: um EPG personalizável e com suportes a recomendações para o SBTVD

In this work we present the architecture and implementation of MyPersonal-EPG, a personal EPG with support to recommendations, built on top of the Ginga middleware, that fulfill the following requirements: (i) to allow users to build their own personal programming grids, based on programming guides from several broadcasters; (ii) to offer a mechanism to tune the desired channels on the moment the selected programs are about to begin; (iii) to allow users to select the desired programs categories; (iv) to offer programs recommendations, in both synchronous and asynchronous way, based on the categories previously selected by users; (v) to allow users to modify the current configuration options; (vi) to allow the creation of several users accounts, so that each user can store its own information. The application‟s usability test is also presented and its results are discussed and analyzed

GingaForAll: linha de Produtos do Middleware Ginga

Many challenges have been imposed on the middleware to support applications for digital TV because of the heterogeneity and resource constraints of execution platforms. In this scenario, the middleware must be highly configurable so that it can be customized to meet the requirements of applications and underlying platforms. This work aims to present the GingaForAll, a software product line developed for the Ginga - the middleware of the Brazilian Digital TV (SBTVD). GingaForAll adds the concepts of software product line, aspect orientation and model-driven development to allow: (i) the specification of the common characteristics and variables of the middleware, (ii) the modularization of crosscutting concerns - both mandatory and concepts variables - through aspects, (iii) the expression of concepts as a set of models that increase the level of abstraction and enables management of various software artifacts in terms of configurable models. This work presents the architecture of the software product line that implements such a tool and architecture that supports automatic customization of middleware. The work also presents a tool that implements the process of generating products GingaForAll

Avaliação do Uso de Smartphones na Interação com as Aplicações da Televisão Digital Brasileira

Brazil is going through the process from analogical transmission to digital transmission. This new technology, in addition to providing a high quality audio and video, also allows applications to execute on television. Equipment called Set-Top Box are needed to allow the reception of this new signal and create the appropriate environment necessary to execute applications. At first, the only way to interact with these applications is given by remote control. However, the remote control has serious usability problems when used to interact with some types of applications. This research suggests a software resources implementation capable to create a environment that allows a smartphone to interact with applications. Besides this implementation, is performed a comparative study between use remote controle and smartphones to interact with applications of digital television, taking into account parameters related to usability. After analysis of data collected by the comparative study is possible to identify which device provides an interactive experience more interesting for users

A experiência do usuário idoso no design de jogo digital para a reabilitação neural de pacientes com quadro de acidente vascular cerebral (AVC)

Stroke is nowadays one of the main causes of death in Brazil and worldwide. During the rehabilitation process, patients undergo physioterapic exercises based on repetition, which may cause them to feel little progress is being made. Focusing on themes from the areas of Human-Computer Interaction and Motor Imagery, the present work describes the development of a digital game concept aimed at motor rehabilitation to the neural rehabilitation of patients who have suffered a stroke in a playful and engaging way. The research hypothesizes that an interactive digital game based on Motor Imagery contributes to patients' raised commitment in the stroke sequel rehabilitation process. The research process entailed the investigation of 10 subjects who live with sequels caused by stroke - it was further established that subjects were over 60 years old. Using as foundation an initial survey regarding target-users' specificities, where an investigation on subjectrelated aspects was carried out through Focus Group (n=9) and Contextual Analysis (n=3), having as subjects elderly individuals, a list with the necessary requirements for the conceptualization of a digital game was fleshed out. The initial survey also enabled the establishment of preliminary interactions for the formulation of game prototypes. At first, low-resolution prototypes were used, with two distinct interaction models for the game - one with a direct approach to the Motor Imagery concept, and another using a narrative with characters and scene settings. The goal was to verify participants' receptivity regarding the addition of playful activities into game dynamics. Prototypes were analyzed while being used by five patients, through the Cooperative Evaluation technique. The tests indicated a preference for option with elements in a playful narrative. Based on these results high fidelity prototypes were created, where concepts close to the game's final version were elaborated. The High Fidelity prototype was also evaluated with four patients through the Cooperative Evaluation technique. It was concluded that elderly individuals and patients were receptive to the idea of a digital game for the rehabilitation from sequels caused by stroke; that, for the success of devices aimed at these cohorts, their contexts, needs and expectations must be respected above all; and that user-centered design is an essential approach in that regard.