Percorrer por autor "Marcelino, Luis"
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- Database synchronization model for mobile devicesPublication . Domingos, João; Simões, Nuno; Pereira, Paulo; Silva, Catarina; Marcelino, LuisWith the increasing number of mobile devices it is necessary to create adapted solutions for this type of devices that respect their limited processing capacities, memory and bandwidth. We propose a synchronization model based on message digests to synchronize relational databases between mobile devices and a server, in order to minimize the data transferred between the device and the server and to minimize the processing done by the mobile device. The approach consists in a synchronization model where the amount of data to be exchanged has been reduced to the minimum. In order to achieve the model above a registry is done in the device with the new, the modified or removed content, which purpose is to send only the essential data for synchronization from the device to the server. Regarding the synchronization from the server to the device, the modifications are calculated and sent to the device. This model is independent of proprietary solutions and can be adapted to any system or platform, often involving software development to the mobile application and the application server. The results of testing the model show that the proposed model can achieve better synchronization times than the competitor models, while always fulfilling the set objectives.
- Decision support system using mobile app statisticsPublication . Constante, Fabian; Guevara, Juan; Silva, Catarina; Gonçalves, Dulce; Marcelino, LuisNowadays to make the right decision about where and how to request or buy a service, a user is often supported by a mobile device that offers more than simple descriptive data. Nevertheless, not all information on services is fully accessible. The difficulty in keeping track of changes in services’ costs causes delays and can result in waste of time and money. In fact, the decision of which service to use usually involves some level of uncertainty and risk. Hence, the user should have access to some form of decision support system that could be easily available through mobile applications. The power of these devices allows to apply knowledge areas already developed, carrying statistics with dynamic and interactive graphics, thus allowing for a more systematic control of services and corresponding expenses. In this work we analyze the existing related work on mobile decision support systems and propose an architecture of a decision support system using Mobile App Statistics. Tests were carried out with a car fuel app to support the decision of choosing the gas station at each point. Results show that using the additional statistical information provided users can take better decisions during the request of a service.
- Energy consumption behaviour characterization with mobile gamificationPublication . Toasa, Renato; Silva, Carlos; Silva, Catarina; Gonçalves, Dulce; Neves, Luis; Marcelino, LuisExcessive electric energy consumption results in high costs for consumers, and often on using non-renewable resources. Additionally, in many cases, it is difficult for the consumer or for the energy provider to determine if one or more equipment is being used efficiently. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to promote awareness about energy consumption. For that purpose, a mobile application with a gamification approach was designed to identify users’ behaviors towards the use of energy and, based on the user’s answers, offer advices to save energy and promote ecological awareness. The outcome of using gamification on a mobile application with such goals results in a streamlined data collection application that combines information and entertainment. The collected information is being gathered to potentially create consumer profiles that better reflect the user’s energy consumption.
- Gamification as a way to involve young adults in energy efficiency and sufficiency – a case studyPublication . Sousa, João Miguel C.; Neves, Luís Miguel P.; Lopes, Marta Alexandra; Reis, Inês F.; Coelho, Dulce Helena C.; Antunes, Carlos Henggeler; Dionissa, Rodrigo; Silva, Alexandre Gomes da; Sousa, José Luís; Costa, Dulce Helena P.; Henriques, Carla Oliveira; Silva, Catarina; Marcelino, Luis; Correia, Diogo; Gonçalves, Válter; Pereira, Rúben F.; Cabral Júnior, Jorge; Vieira, André Filipe; Moreira, LicinioSocial, economic and environmental concerns regarding en ergy use have fostered energy efficiency programs as effective tools to improve the rational use of energy in all activity sectors, i.e. for residential, industry and services consumers. Behav ioural change interventions play a key role to achieve energy efficiency. This paper discusses gamification as a tool to foster energy behaviour changes in young adults (higher education students) towards energy efficiency. The work was carried out as part of a research project (with the name Learn2Behave) aim ing to characterize residential energy consumption behaviours, seeking to contribute to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy bills. The project uses a mobile application (app), called “Minha Energia” (My energy, in Portuguese), as an inquiry tool to characterize consumers’ behaviours, giving suggestions and advices to participants as a reward. The development stage in volves students and researchers from three higher education institutions in Portugal, a research institute and three energy agencies. The application was made available not only to the target participants, but also to the general population, aiming to help the development of energy efficiency programs devoted to promoting more energy efficient behaviours while consider ing energy sufficiency. The data gathering has just started and is foreseen to last long enough to contribute to a more detailed knowledge of energy use in the residential sector. The use of mobile apps as an inquiry and dissemination tool of best prac tices, through gamification, allied to the involvement of circa 200 students, has the potential to change younger generations’ behaviours in the use of energy
- Location Privacy Concerns in Mobile ApplicationsPublication . Marcelino, Luis; Silva, CatarinaPrivacy is a ubiquitous topic in research nowadays, specially in mobile application scenarios. Users are seldom aware of the privacy hazards they are under when using mobile applications. In this paper we compare two privacy studies and present development strategies that can be employed to favour the awareness of privacy and security issues with a strong focus on location data. Results show that developers should play an increasingly important role in the assurance of privacy since users of mobile apps, although concerned with privacy issues, are not fully prepared for making the right decisions in every situation as a rerun of an old study shows.
- On privacy in user tracking mobile applicationsPublication . Gasparovic, Marko; Nicolau, Pedro; Marques, Ana; Silva, Catarina; Marcelino, LuisIn mobile applications, user tracking with Global Positioning System (GPS) can be very beneficial, making life easier for the user, by e.g. finding points of interest nearby, such as gas stations, super markets, restaurants etc. Nevertheless, the location of the user can be misused and hence privacy issues can become a relevant problem in mobile application development. Technically, location is determined either internally by the device or externally by interacting systems and networks. The resultant location information may be stored and used under various conditions and applications can track the position of the user without his/her consent and eventually misuse it for instance with the intent of sending redirected publicity or even getting logs of the user's location. However, the user's location may not always be obtained using the most precise location function available. In this work we discuss and propose different options for the accuracy geo localization in an application can be and uphold that it is up to the developer to decide which method is appropriate or that the the user should have the freedom to define his/her privacy thresholds. These thresholds can be extremely variable both between users and scenarios, and we present a survey to approach this issue. Results show that users are concerned with privacy issues, but they are not necessarily acting accordingly to keep their privacy at a high level of protection. Finally, we point out that developers shouldn't misuse possibilities of tracking and users should be more cautious with application permissions as will be shown in a real case study.
- Patinhas Serviços de localização para animais desaparecidosPublication . Guerra, André; Tereso, Bruno; Brites, José; Silva, Catarina; Marcelino, LuisResumo — Todos os dias e por todo o lado existem animais que se perdem ou que são encontrados. Para grande parte destes casos existe uma dificuldade acrescida, não só em encontrar o dono do animal, mas também em reunir os esforços de inúmeros voluntários que, de uma forma ou outra, pretendem ajudar. De forma facilitar a procura de animais perdidos, foi proposto disponibilizar uma aplicação móvel em iOS, que permite a um utilizador colocar anúncios sobre animais perdidos e/ou encontrados, com base na localização onde foram vistos pela última vez. A aplicação serve igualmente de apoio à busca do animal. Sendo este um serviço que foca principalmente o senso comum e o espírito de entreajuda, torna-se importante notificar o utilizador no seu dia a dia, em situações em que ele pode ser verdadeiramente útil sem prejudicar, por exemplo, o seu itinerário. Por isso, foi criado um sistema de alertas que avisa o utilizador, ao passar numa determinada rua, quais os anúncios atuais na sua proximidade.
- Profile-based system for nutritional information managementPublication . Costa, Rui; Marcelino, Luis; Silva, CatarinaNowadays health concerns are effectively becoming ubiquitous. Most people have the need to effectively control their nutritional consumptions, mostly due to health issues. Personal computational devices may assist this control with a solution that allows an efficient management of each individual nutritional profile. In this work we propose a mobile service architecture that allows users to manage their nutritional information, using a profile-based system and build shopping lists based on the user’s profiles. This application may contribute to the improvement of the lifestyle of the population through the recommendation of food and drinks that fit their profile of restrictions and/or nutritional options (for instance, due to hypertension or obesity, among others). The person’s profile can be accessed and configured on a mobile device. A set of predefined templates provides the initial rules that may be customized to represent specific individual nutrition rules. The rules defined in the profile can later be used to filter the food presented to each user. The paper includes preliminary usability results from experiments using real data to validate the approach. These results suggest it could be used in real scenarios, although it may require more than simply filtering results.
- @Sensor - Mobile application to monitor a WSNPublication . Moreira, Nuno; Venda, Marco; Silva, Catarina; Marcelino, Luis; Pereira, AntónioDue to the growth of potential of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), now becomes possible to use this technology in various new generation services such as monitor environment characteristics like temperature, humidity, among others. WSNs are emerging as a new paradigm, gathering information in a collaborative way, where independent sensor nodes collect and share information. In the last few years ubiquitous computing popularity has grown considerably, ambient intelligence and home automation systems are having a good public acceptance. In this context, we developed a mobile application to remotely monitor one WSN, installed at a customer's home. The application's main goal is to interact with a WSN, allowing a user to consult sensor states and receive sensor alerts. Sensor alerts will be received, in case a sensor's threshold value, exceeds the limit. Therefore the user will be notified whenever there are changes in the WSN. Apart the WSN, a base station is also needed for keeping the state of the WSN, store sensor's information and enable communication between the WSN and the developed mobile application via Web Services. This way and having a network connection, the user can check the state of any WSN component, anytime, anywhere. The Android platform was chosen to implement our application, since it is having a great acceptance and continued growth in the mobile market.