Author: daniel.costa.ribeiro

Sandra Câmara Olim, a postdoctoral researcher at the Interactive Technologies Institute, has been awarded third place in the Intermediate Prototype Projects category at the Founding Inspiring Futures 2024 (FIF 2024). Her innovative project, “Periodic Fable,” was recognized for its innovative approach to teaching chemistry through augmented reality (AR).

The Founding Inspiring Futures 2024 Award, organized by the Department of Informatics Engineering of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), is part of the INSPIRA programme. This initiative promotes gender balance in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and is supported by the University of Coimbra and Feedzai. This national award celebrates and rewards projects led by women in ICT across both academic and business sectors in Portugal. This year, six projects were honoured at the award ceremony.

Periodic Fable: Chemistry in AR

Periodic Fable is an educational game designed to make learning chemistry fun and engaging for young students. This game uses augmented reality to teach fundamental chemistry concepts, aiming to change children’s perception of chemistry, often seen as a difficult and complex subject.

The game features several exploratory activities where children use smartphones to learn about various chemical elements. Students can view text, audio, tridimensional models or animations about each element’s properties. These tactile and interactive experiences were designed to make the learning process immersive and enjoyable. The project is part of Sandra Olim’s doctoral research supervised by Professor Valentina Nisi, Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico. 

The award ceremony took place on July 31^st  at the University of Coimbra where Sandra Olim presented “Periodic Fable” and received her award, celebrating the project’s potential to revolutionize chemistry education. The recognition from FIF 2024 highlights the impact of her work and its contribution to promoting gender balance in ICT.

The Interactive Technologies Institute participated in the 23rd annual ACM Interaction Design and Children (IDC) Conference, which took place from June 17-20, 2024, at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. As a premier global event, IDC 2024 provides a significant platform for researchers, educators, and practitioners to share groundbreaking research, innovative methodologies, and new technologies focused on inclusive child-centred design, learning, and interaction. The conference fosters a convergence of cutting-edge ideas and interdisciplinary collaboration.

ITI’s Contributions to IDC 2024

Workshop on Participatory Design with Young Children
One of the key highlights of ITI’s involvement is the workshop titled “Participatory Design with Young Children: Failures, Challenges, and Successes”. Organised by Katharina Buckmayer, Filipa Rocha, Elisa Rubegni, Reem Talhouk, Hugo Nicolau, and Ana Cristina Pires, this workshop aimed to delve into the intricacies of participatory design (PD) involving young children. The session explored the often-overlooked role of young children as co-designers and discussed the failures, challenges, and successes encountered in previous projects within the child-computer interaction (CCI) domain. By sharing experiences and lessons learned, the workshop aimed to enhance the understanding and methodologies of PD with young children, setting the stage for more effective future practices.

Demo: Periodic Fable in the Wild
In addition to the workshop, ITI members Sandra Câmara Olim, Pedro Campos, and Valentina Nisi presented an innovative demo titled “Periodic Fable in the Wild: Bringing Chemical Elements to Life and Making Them Relatable to Preteens”. This project offers a gamified learning experience that combines Augmented Reality, gamification, and real-world integration to teach preteens about the Periodic Table and organic chemistry. By allowing users to explore physical spaces, gather atoms, and create chemical compounds, the app aims to make learning more engaging and meaningful through a pedagogical situated learning approach.

Key Roles in the Organizational Committee
ITI’s involvement extends to the organizational committee of IDC 2024. Cristina Sylla, a researcher at ITI and Coordinator of the Mobeybou project, has served as a Technical Program Chair, ensuring the technical excellence and coherence of the conference program. Isabel Neto, another ITI researcher, has taken on the role of Research and Design Competition Chair, overseeing the competitive aspect of the conference and fostering innovation among participants.

The participation of ITI’s members underscores the institute’s commitment to advancing research and practice in the field of interactive technologies for children.

Researchers from the Interactive Technologies Institute (ITI) are making a significant impact at the ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) 2024 conference, held at IT University, Copenhagen, from July 1st to 5th. The conference, known for its emphasis on the power and potential of design to address contemporary challenges, provides a platform for the ITI team to showcase their innovative work.

DIS 2024’s theme, “Why Design?”, delves into the role and impact of design in today’s uncertain times, questioning its capacity to contribute positively amidst geopolitical instability, climate change, and biodiversity crises. The conference invites participants to explore design’s ability to engage with and respond to these pressing issues through various lenses. Find below the participation of the ITI members.

My Sense of Morality Leads to My Suffering, Battling, and Arguing: The Role of Platform Designers in (Un)Deciding Gig Worker Issues, a paper by Shuhao Ma, John Zimmerman, Sarah E Fox, Valentina Nisi and Nuno Jardim Nunes about how platform designers navigate ethical dilemmas in gig economy platforms, highlighting the challenges they face in promoting worker well-being.

Towards Relatable Climate Change Data: Untangling Tensions in Engaging with a Hyperobject, a paper by Marta Galvão Ferreira, Valentina Nisi and Nuno Jardim Nunes about Finding Arcadia,” an interactive artifact designed to enhance engagement with climate data through storytelling and data humanism.

Dear Nature: Using data drawings to promote sensemaking in human-nature relations, a paper by Marta Galvão Ferreira and Sherri Hsi about how personal data drawings can foster a deeper connection between humans and nature, promoting sensemaking in the Anthropocene.

Dynamic Agent Affiliation: Who Should the AI Agent Work for in the Older Adult’s Care Network?, a paper by Mai Lee Chang, Alicia (Hyun Jin) Lee, Nara Han, Anna Huang, Hugo Simão, Samantha Reig, Abdullah Ubed Mohammad Ali, Rebekah Martinez, Neeta M Khanuja, John Zimmerman, Jodi Forlizzi and Aaron Steinfeld about explores older adults’ trust in AI agents, suggesting that dynamic agent affiliation can support cognitive decline management while easing caregiver burdens.

Fostering Feminist Community-Led Ethics: Building Tools and Connections, a workshop by Ana O Henriques, Hugo Nicolau, Anna R. L. Carter, Kyle Montague, Reem Talhouk, Angelika Strohmayer, Sarah Rüller, Cayley MacArthur, Shaowen Bardzell, Colin M. Gray and Eleonore Fournier-Tombs that aims to develop a community-led ethical toolkit for HCI research, grounded in feminist principles and digital civics.

Advancing HCI and Design Methods to Empower Gig Workers, a Doctoral Consortium by Shuhao Ma that focuses on enhancing HCI and design methods to address challenges faced by gig workers and influence platform design for better worker justice.

Hackeanos: A new collaborative event format for hacking the Ocean-humanity relationship, a poster by Valentina Demarchi, Valentina Nisi and Nuno Jardim Nunes that introduces “hackeanos,” a novel event format combining hacking with ocean literacy to promote sustainable outcomes and blue citizenship.

What Should Hackathons Do? Bringing Up the “Cyborgly” and “Political” in Interdisciplinary Hackathon Research, a poster by Valentina Demarchi, Valentina Nisi and Nuno Jardim Nunes that examines the evolving nature of hackathons, proposing a re-envisioned format that addresses both social and political dimensions.

Enhancing Cancer Care through Design: Understanding Multidisciplinary Teams, a poster by Soraia Paulo, Nuno Figueiredo, Daniel S Lopes and Hugo Nicolau about a study that investigates the dynamics of Multidisciplinary Team Meetings (MDTMs) in cancer care, aiming to inform the design of better collaborative systems.

The kNOwHATE project has recently launched the first episode of its Portuguese podcast ‘Cortar o mal pela raiz’ (Nip it in the bud). The podcast marks the end of the project’s research tasks that have been focused on understanding how online hate speech in Portuguese happens so that effective measures can be implemented to fight it. Cláudia Silva is the Interactive Technologies Institute’s PI at the kNOwHATE project.

The podcast aims to give voice to diverse perspectives and experiences about online hate speech in Portuguese. The first of four episodes was launched on June 18th, International Day for Countering Hate Speech. Hosted by Cláudia Semedo, the first episode titled “Fronteias da Expressão” also had the participation of Rita Guerra (Researcher at CIS – Centre for Social Research and Intervention – Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon, Coordinator of the kNOwHATE project), Péricles Pina (Lawyer, Former Coordinator of the Support Office for the Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination) and
Paula Cardoso (Journalist, Founder of Afrolink).

The MODINA project, in which the Interactive Technologies Institute is a partner, has recently opened a call for artist residencies for multidisciplinary duos with dance and technology competencies, particularly in computational creativity and audience interaction. A duo consisting of a dancer/choreographer and a creative technologist would be an example of the profiles the project is looking for.

MODINA is organising five residencies for 8 weeks between January and May 2025 across five cities: Bucharest, Budapest, Düsseldorf, Ljubljana, and Tallinn. Successful applicants can expect to receive support to develop innovative dance work involving computational creativity and audience interaction, gain further skills and knowledge in integrating technology in dance, network with like-minded artists, and share their work with audiences in five countries and through the MODINA network.
Get exposure to your work through MODINA promotion channels.

The deadline for applications is August 4th 2024.

More information and applications are available at https://modina.eu/news/call-residencies-2025/

The Interactive Technologies Institute is pleased to announce its organisation of two groundbreaking workshops at the upcoming DIS 2024 conference. These workshops aim to foster innovative approaches in their respective fields, promoting collaborative research and transdisciplinary education.

Fostering Feminist Community-Led Ethics

The first workshop, titled Fostering Feminist Community-Led Ethics, will delve into the intersection of community-led ethics, feminist Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and digital civics. This workshop is designed to foster collaborative research practices deeply rooted in ethical principles. Participants will engage in dynamic discussions, interactive activities, and hands-on ideation sessions aimed at developing a comprehensive meta-toolkit for community-led feminist ethics applicable to HCI projects.

To participate, attendees must submit a 1-2 page experience report in PDF format or a 2-minute video recording in MP4 format. These submissions should describe their relevant personal, professional, or research experiences and include a reflection on what community-led ethics means to them. Creative and alternative formats are welcomed, encouraging participants to express their insights in diverse ways.

Green-think Beyond the Screen

The second workshop, Green-think Beyond the Screen, aims to convene a transdisciplinary group of experts in interaction design, computer science, informatics, product design, design engineering, and experience design within an educational context. This workshop will explore the evolution of Sustainable Interaction Design (SID) from a focus on environmental sustainability to a broader, more inclusive perspective that emphasizes innovative teaching methods and transdisciplinary collaboration.

Participants will engage in a critical debate and work towards developing an agenda-setting manifesto for SID in interaction design programs. This one-day, in-person workshop is tailored to meet the pedagogical needs of interaction design educators and a diverse group of academics. The workshop’s goals include promoting critical discussions, shaping future educational agendas for SID, and focusing on transdisciplinary design practices, pluralistic contextual understanding, and community building in education. A key outcome will be the creation of a data visualization map to foster a shared vision for SID education.

The Interactive Technologies Institute participated in the CHI 2024 Conference, the premier international event on Human-Computer Interaction, organized by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). This year’s conference, themed “Surfing the World,” took place in Hawaiʻi, from May 11-16. The Interactive Technologies Institute is excited to contribute to this wave of technological advancement with three groundbreaking studies.

Prompt-Gaming: A Pilot Study on LLM-Evaluating Agent in a Meaningful Energy Game

Authors: Andrés Isaza-Giraldo, Paulo Bala, Pedro F. Campos, Lucas Pereira

Building on previous work integrating large language models (LLMs) in gaming, this study explores the potential of using LLMs as evaluating agents in serious games. The focus is on a sustainability game prototype that uses a natural language prompt about energy communities. The game was tested with 13 participants using ChatGPT-3.5. Before playing, only two participants were aware of energy communities, but by the end, eight of the remaining 11 had gained valuable knowledge on the topic. ChatGPT-3.5’s evaluations of player interactions were compared to expert assessments, and it correctly evaluated 81% of the players’ answers. These results highlight the potential of LLMs in mediating educational experiences and simplifying game prototyping through natural language prompts.

Conveying Emotions through Shape-changing to Children with and without Visual Impairment

Authors: Isabel Neto, Yuhan Hu, Filipa Correia, Filipa Rocha, Guy Hoffman, Hugo Nicolau, Ana Paiva

This study investigates the use of shape-changing skin as a modality to convey emotions to children, both with and without visual impairments. The softness and flexibility of shape-changing skin make it an adaptable and engaging medium for interactive devices. A user study involving 50 children (26 with visual impairments) was conducted to explore their emotional associations with various skin shapes and movement conditions. Findings reveal that shape-emotional mappings differ based on visual abilities, emphasizing the influence of visual experiences on tactile vocabulary and emotional interpretation. The study concludes with recommendations for inclusive design in shape-changing devices to better cater to children with diverse visual abilities.

Bias by Default.: Neocolonial Visual Vocabularies in AI Image Generating Design Practices

Authors: Fábio Almeida, Sónia Rafael

This study explores the impact of AI image generators on co-creation and image-making, focusing on the representational harms they can cause. By analysing images produced from the prompt “imagine a religious person,” the study reveals that these AI models predominantly reflect the Christian patriarchal culture of the West. When the prompt is applied across various countries, the resulting images show intensified biases and cultural amalgamations. The research employs the concept of data colonialism to examine how social hierarchies and linguistic ideologies influence the default visual outputs of these models. The study advocates for a decolonial approach in design to address and mitigate biases, enriching discussions on the role of generative models in diverse social contexts and offering fresh perspectives for design practices.

DCitizens Roles Unveiled: SIG Navigating Identities in Digital Civics and the Spectrum of Societal Impact

Authors: Anna R. L. Carter, Kyle Montague, Reem Talhouk, Shaun Lawson, Hugo Nicolau, Ana Cristina Pires, Markus Rohde, Alessio Del Bue, Tiffany Knearem

Additionally, the DCitizens project hosted a Special Interest Group (SIG) aiming to navigate ethical dimensions in forthcoming Digital Civics projects, ensuring enduring benefits and community resilience. Additionally, it seemed to shape the future landscape of digital civics for ethical and sustainable interventions.

The participation of ITI researchers at CHI 2024 underscores our commitment to advancing the field of human-computer interaction through innovative and inclusive research. By exploring the potential of LLMs in educational games and the emotional impact of shape-changing interfaces, our studies contribute valuable insights and pave the way for future technological developments.

The Bauhaus of the Seas Sails project has opened a call for applications for three multidisciplinary artistic residencies, a process implemented by the project’s cultural partner, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Centro de Arte Moderna). The calls are open until May 14th, 2024.

The ‘A Call to the Sea’ residency programme supports collaborative art and sciences projects and takes place in Vasco da Gama Aquarium, focusing on themes of more-than-human geographies. The project seeks proposals that stimulate critical thinking about zoologic museum collections, delve into collaboration and communication with non-human species, reweave multispecies histories, address more-than-anthropocentric problems, and bring forth the less visible water narratives and intelligence beyond human perception.

The ‘Eating Between Tides’ residency programme supports collaborative art and food projects. The Bauhaus of the Seas Sails is looking for individuals and collectives, preferably from diverse career and disciplinary backgrounds, who are critically exploring and researching new, sustainable, and flexible ways of eating in response to climate change and global pollution, towards a regenerative approach to feeding in urban environments – with a specific focus on the bioregion Mar da Palha (Tagus River) in Lisbon.

Lastly, the ‘Radical Waters – Concrete Matters’ residency programme grants support for collaborative art and science projects. The project is looking for prototype research projects spanning disciplines such as design, textiles, architecture, aquaculture, and more. These projects should foster innovative approaches that blur the lines between marine resources and urban design while promoting ecological awareness and locally grounded creative solutions, also focusing on the bioregion Mar da Palha.

Additional information and application procedures can be found at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

The latest instalment of ITI Talks, held on April 12th, delved into the evolving landscape of energy communities, featuring speaker Diana Neves. Hosted by the Interactive Technologies Institute, this hybrid event brought together audiences both in-person and remotely, fostering dialogue and insights into the forefront of sustainable energy systems.

Diana Neves, an Assistant Researcher at the Centre for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research (IN+), led the session with her presentation titled “Energy Communities R&D and Future Trends.” Diana Neves started by contextualizing the emergence of energy communities, emphasizing their role as essential instruments for decarbonization and user empowerment. While acknowledging the predominant focus on economic implications, she underscored the need to broaden perspectives to encompass environmental and social dimensions.

Our guest highlighted the exploration of energy community design and the influence of technological integration and outlined the imperative for research and development efforts to address multifaceted challenges, paving the way for inclusive and sustainable energy transitions.

Diana Neves’ academic background includes a PhD in Sustainable Energy Systems from the MIT-Portugal Program and extensive research experience. Her expertise spans energy systems modelling, decentralized solar energy, and local energy markets, with a particular focus on urban energy transitions and user-centric methodologies.

By examining future trends and research directions, the session facilitated a deeper understanding of the complexities inherent in clean energy transitions.

On April 22nd, the Interactive Technologies Institute hosted a guest talk by Dr Evangelos Karapanos, an esteemed Associate Professor from the Cyprus University of Technology. Dr Karapanos, renowned for his expertise in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and experience-centred design, delivered an enlightening presentation titled “Towards Theoretically and Empirically Grounded Design of Behavior Change Technologies.”

In his talk, Dr. Karapanos delved into the realm of Behavior Change Technologies (BCTs), a burgeoning field within HCI with immense potential to address pressing societal issues. From climate change to healthcare challenges and the complexities of the digital age, human behaviour lies at the core of many contemporary problems. For instance, non-communicable diseases like heart disease and diabetes, whose prevalence is attributed mainly to behavioural factors such as smoking and physical inactivity, present significant public health concerns globally.

Central to Dr. Karapanos’s discussion was the critical examination of physical activity trackers, a prevalent form of BCTs designed to promote healthier lifestyles. Despite their widespread adoption, recent studies have raised doubts about their effectiveness and highlighted high attrition rates among users. One key issue identified is the lack of theoretical grounding in many activity trackers, undermining their efficacy in facilitating behaviour change.

Dr. Karapanos advocated for a shift towards theoretically and empirically grounded design in developing BCTs. Drawing from his extensive research, he emphasized the importance of integrating behavioural theory into design processes to enhance the effectiveness of technological interventions. By making behavioural theory accessible to design teams, Dr Karapanos proposed a systematic approach to designing BCTs that align with evidence-based practices.

Throughout the talk, Dr. Karapanos showcased several recent projects where theoretical frameworks were applied to inform the design of BCTs. These projects not only demonstrated the feasibility of integrating theory into practice but also underscored the need for empirical validation of BCTs to ensure their real-world impact on individuals’ behaviours.

Dr. Evangelos Karapanos’s expertise in HCI and persuasive technologies, coupled with his passion for advancing the field through interdisciplinary research, resonated strongly with the audience. His insightful talk provided valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities in designing effective behaviour change technologies.