Mara Dionisio

Biography

Mara Dionisio is Assistant Professor at University of Madeira and currently she is teaching Interactive Narratives, Interactive Media Design and Software Processes as part of the Masters on Informatics Engineering and Interactive Media Design. She graduated from her PhD in Digital Media at the Faculty of Science and Technology, New University of Lisbon (FCT-UNL) and holds a Master in Informatics Engineering from the University of Madeira and a Master in Entertainment Technology from Carnegie Mellon University.

Mara’s research interests at ITI intersect the fields of Human-Computer Interaction, Storytelling, and Entertainment.
She continues to work in her PhD topic, understanding how to best leverage on mobile transmedia entertainment to raise awareness towards local cultural and natural heritage, but is also advising master thesis on educational games for children, combining citizen science with gamification approaches and raising awareness towards marine biodiversity.

Publications

2022

Rodrigues, Louis Michael Sousa; Freitas, João; Dionísio, Mara; Badia, Sergi Bermúdez

Lucky Hero's Legacy: An Interactive Game that Explores the Potential of 3D Scenarios to Engage Teenagers in Cultural Heritage Inproceedings

In: HCI (23), pp. 246–261, Springer, 2022.

BibTeX

Andrade, Ana; Dionisio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina

SeaStory: An interactive narrative using collaborative features Inproceedings

In: IDC, pp. 633–636, ACM, 2022.

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2021

Dionisio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina

Leveraging Transmedia storytelling to engage tourists in the understanding of the destination’s local heritage Journal Article

In: Multimedia Tools and Applications, 2021.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Bala, Paulo; Nisi, Valentina; Dionisio, Mara; Nunes, Nuno Jardim; James, Stuart

Square Peg, Round Hole: A Case Study on Using Visual Question & Answering in Games Inproceedings

In: Extended Abstracts of the 2021 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, pp. 133–139, Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 2021, ISBN: 9781450383561.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Dionísio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Xin, Jin; Bala, Paulo; James, Stuart; Nunes, Nuno Jardim

Amnesia in the Atlantic: An AI Driven Serious Game on Marine Biodiversity Inproceedings

In: Hauge, Jannicke Baalsrud; Cardoso, Jorge C. S.; Roque, Licínio; Gonzalez-Calero, Pedro A. (Ed.): Entertainment Computing -- ICEC 2021, pp. 427–432, Springer International Publishing, Cham, 2021, ISBN: 978-3-030-89394-1.

Abstract | BibTeX

2020

Dionisio, Mara; Bala, Paulo; Oliveira, Sarah; Nisi, Valentina

Tale of T(r)ails: The Design of an AR Comic Book for an Animal Welfare Transmedia Inproceedings

In: ICIDS, pp. 281–284, Springer, 2020.

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Bala, Paulo; Dionisio, Mara; Andrade, Tânia; Nisi, Valentina

Tell a Tail 360textdollar^textbackslashcirc textdollar: Immersive Storytelling on Animal Welfare Inproceedings

In: ICIDS, pp. 357–360, Springer, 2020.

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Bala, Paulo; Dionisio, Mara; Oliveira, Sarah; Andrade, Tânia; Nisi, Valentina

Tell a Tail: Leveraging XR for a Transmedia on Animal Welfare Inproceedings

In: ICEC, pp. 223–239, Springer, 2020.

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2019

Nisi, Valentina; Dionísio, Mara; Silva, Cláudia; Nunes, Nuno Jardim

A participatory platform supporting awareness and empathy building between tourists and locals: the Há-Vita case study Inproceedings

In: CHItaly, pp. 16:1–16:10, ACM, 2019.

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Dionisio, Mara; Silva, Cláudia; Nisi, Valentina

Fostering Interaction Between Locals and Visitors by Designing a Community-Based Tourism Platform on a Touristic Island Inproceedings

In: INTERACT (2), pp. 768–787, Springer, 2019.

BibTeX

Nisi, Valentina; Dionisio, Mara Sofia; Bala, Paulo; Gross, Tom; Up, Time's; Nunes, Nuno Jardim

Lucid Peninsula, a Physical Narrative Art Installation Comprising Interactive 360textdegree Virtual Reality Components Journal Article

In: Int. J. Creative Interfaces Comput. Graph., vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 1–15, 2019.

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2018

Nisi, Valentina; Dionisio, Mara; Barreto, Mary; Nunes, Nuno

A Mixed Reality neighborhood tour: Understanding visitor experience and perceptions Journal Article

In: Entertain. Comput., vol. 27, pp. 89–100, 2018.

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2017

Nisi, Valentina; Dionisio, Mara; Bala, Paulo; Gross, Tom; Nunes, Nuno

DreamScope: Evaluating Interactive 360 Degree Virtual Reality in a Physical Narrative Art Installation Conference

Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Digital Arts - ARTECH 2017, 2017.

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Dionisio, Mara; Paulino, Teresa; Suri, Trisha; Autzen, Nicolas; Schöning, Johannes

"In search of light": enhancing touristic recommender services with local weather data Inproceedings

In: MobileHCI, pp. 97:1–97:8, ACM, 2017.

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Nisi, Valentina; Costanza, Enrico; Dionisio, Mara

Placing Location-Based Narratives in Context Through a Narrator and Visual Markers Journal Article

In: Interact. Comput., vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 287–305, 2017.

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Dionísio, Mara; Bala, Paulo; Nisi, Valentina; Oakley, Ian; Nunes, Nuno

Step by Step: Evaluating Navigation Styles in Mixed Reality Entertainment Experience Inproceedings

In: ACE, pp. 32–45, Springer, 2017.

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Silva, Cláudia; Bettencourt, Ana; Dionisio, Mara; Castro, Deborah; Dionisio, Dina; Teixeira, Duarte; Nisi, Valentina

Há-Vita: A transmedia platform about Madeira's nature and culture Inproceedings

In: SustainIT, pp. 118–119, IEEE Computer Society, 2017.

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Dionisio, Mara; Bala, Paulo; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno

Fragments of laura: incorporating mobile virtual reality in location aware mobile storytelling experiences Inproceedings

In: MUM, pp. 165–176, ACM, 2017.

BibTeX

Bala, Paulo; Dionisio, Mara; Trindade, Rui; Olim, Sandra Câmara; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno

Evaluating the influence of location and medium applied to mobile VR storytelling Inproceedings

In: MUM, pp. 371–378, ACM, 2017.

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2016

Bala, P.; Dionisio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno

IVRUX: A Tool for Analyzing Immersive Narratives in Virtual Reality Conference

Interactive Storytelling: 9th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, ICIDS 2016, Los Angeles, CA, USA, November 15–18, 2016, Proceedings, Springer International Publishing Springer International Publishing, 2016, ISBN: 978-3-319-48279-8.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Dionísio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno; Bala, Paulo

Transmedia Storytelling for Exposing Natural Capital and Promoting Ecotourism Conference

Interactive Storytelling: 9th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, ICIDS 2016, Los Angeles, CA, USA, November 15–18, 2016, Proceedings, Springer International Publishing Springer International Publishing, 2016, ISBN: 978-3-319-48279-8.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Nisi, Valentina; Dionísio, Mara; Silva, Cláudia; Castro, Deborah; Dionísio, Dina; Radeta, Marko; Bala, Paulo; Nunes, Nuno

“Echoes of Nature”: a transmedia project to foster dialogue about the natural capital of Madeira island Conference

Workshop on Exploring New Approaches to Narrative Modeling and Authoring, ICIDS 2016, Los Angeles, CA, USA, November 15–18, 2016, Proceedings, Springer International Publishing Springer International Publishing, 2016.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Bala, Paulo; Dionisio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno Jardim

IVRUX: A Tool for Analyzing Immersive Narratives in Virtual Reality Inproceedings

In: ICIDS, pp. 3–11, 2016.

BibTeX

Dionisio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno Jardim; Bala, Paulo

Transmedia Storytelling for Exposing Natural Capital and Promoting Ecotourism Inproceedings

In: ICIDS, pp. 351–362, 2016.

BibTeX

2015

Dionisio, Mara; Bala, P.; Trindade, R.; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno

DreamScope Catcher: A Touch Sensitive Interface to Catch Dreams Conference

Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Interactive Tabletops & Surfaces, ITS textquoteright15 ACM ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2015, ISBN: 978-1-4503-3899-8.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX

Dionisio, Mara; Gujaran, Aditya; Pinto, Miguel; Esteves, Augusto

Fall of Humans: Interactive Tabletop Games and Transmedia Storytelling Inproceedings

In: ITS, pp. 401–404, ACM, 2015.

BibTeX

Dionisio, Mara; Bala, Paulo; Trindade, Rui; Nisi, Valentina; Hanna, Julian; Up, Time's

Lucid Peninsula: DreamScope - An Interactive Physical Installation Inproceedings

In: Creativity & Cognition, pp. 377–378, ACM, 2015.

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Dionisio, Mara; Barreto, Mary; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno Jardim; Hanna, Julian; Herlo, Bianca; Schubert, Jennifer

Evaluation of Yasmine's Adventures: Exploring the Socio-Cultural Potential of Location Aware Multimedia Stories Inproceedings

In: ICIDS, pp. 251–258, Springer, 2015.

BibTeX

Nisi, Valentina; Dionisio, Mara; Hanna, Julian; Ferreira, Luis; Nunes, Nuno Jardim

Yasmine's Adventures: An Interactive Urban Experience Exploring the Sociocultural Potential of Digital Entertainment Inproceedings

In: ICEC, pp. 343–356, Springer, 2015.

BibTeX

Dionisio, Mara; Bala, Paulo; Trindade, Rui; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno Jardim; Up, Time's

DreamScope Catcher: A Touch Sensitive Interface to Catch Dreams Inproceedings

In: ITS, pp. 417–420, ACM, 2015.

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2014

Hanna, Julian; Dionisio, Mara

Possible Pasts, Possible Futures: Exploring Past and Future Scenarios Through Context-Aware Transmedia Stories Conference

Data Ecologies, Linz, Austria, 2014.

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2013

Dionisio, Mara; Teixeira, D; Shen, P-A; Chen, MC; Nunes, Nuno; Nisi, Valentina; Dinis, Mario; Paiva, J

Eat and Travel: A New Immersive Dining Experience for Restaurants Conference

10th International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology, ACM ACM, Twente, Netherlands, 2013.

BibTeX

Dionisio, Mara; Teixeira, Duarte; Shen, Poan; Dinis, Mario; Chen, Monchu; Nunes, Nuno Jardim; Nisi, Valentina; Paiva, José

Eat&Travel: A New Immersive Dining Experience for Restaurants Inproceedings

In: Advances in Computer Entertainment, pp. 532–535, Springer, 2013.

BibTeX

2011

Dionisio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Leeuwen, Jos P.

iLand: A Tangible Location Aware Narrative Experience Conference

TEI 2011: Proceedings of the fifth International Conference on Tangible Embedded and Embodied Interaction, [Acceptance Rate: 30%], SIGCHI SIGCHI, 2011, ISBN: 978-1-4503-0628-7, (<p>5th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction, Madeira, PORTUGAL, JAN 23-26, 2011</p>).

BibTeX

Dionisio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Leeuwen, Jos P

iLand: A Tangible Location Aware Narrative Experience Conference

TEI 2011: Proceedings of the fifth International Conference on Tangible Embedded and Embodied Interaction, [Acceptance Rate: 30%], SIGCHI SIGCHI, 2011, ISBN: 978-1-4503-0628-7, (<p>5th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction, Madeira, PORTUGAL, JAN 23-26, 2011</p>).

BibTeX

Dionisio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Leeuwen, Jos P.

iLand: a tangible location aware narrative experience Inproceedings

In: TEI, pp. 407–408, ACM, 2011.

BibTeX

2010

Dionisio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Leeuwen, Jos P

The iLand of Madeira Location Aware Multimedia Stories Conference

Interactive Storytelling, vol. 6432, Lecture Notes in Computer Science Scottish Informat & Comp Sci Alliance; EPSRC, Artificial Intelligence & Games Res Network Scottish Informat & Comp Sci Alliance; EPSRC, Artificial Intelligence & Games Res Network, 2010, ISBN: 978-3-642-16637-2, (<p>3rd Joint Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, Edinburgh, SCOTLAND, NOV 01-03, 2010</p>).

BibTeX

Dionisio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Leeuwen, Jos P.

The iLand of Madeira Location Aware Multimedia Stories Conference

Interactive Storytelling, vol. 6432, Lecture Notes in Computer Science Scottish Informat & Comp Sci Alliance; EPSRC, Artificial Intelligence & Games Res Network Scottish Informat & Comp Sci Alliance; EPSRC, Artificial Intelligence & Games Res Network, 2010, ISBN: 978-3-642-16637-2, (<p>3rd Joint Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, Edinburgh, SCOTLAND, NOV 01-03, 2010</p>).

BibTeX

Dionisio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Leeuwen, Jos P.

The iLand of Madeira Location Aware Multimedia Stories Inproceedings

In: ICIDS, pp. 147–152, Springer, 2010.

BibTeX

2008

Rodrigues, Nuno; Dionísio, Mara; Gonçalves, Alexandrino; Magalhães, Luís Gonzaga; Moura, João-Paulo; Chalmers, Alan

Incorporating legal rules on procedural house generation Inproceedings

In: SCCG, pp. 59–66, ACM, 2008.

BibTeX

0000

Dionisio, Mara; Bala, P.; Trindade, R.; Nisi, Valentina; Hanna, Julian

Lucid Peninsula: DreamScope an Interactive Physical Installation Proceeding

ACM, Glasgow, UK, 0000.

BibTeX

Dionisio, Mara; Bala, P; Trindade, R; Nisi, Valentina; Hanna, Julian

Lucid Peninsula: DreamScope an Interactive Physical Installation Proceeding

ACM, Glasgow, UK, 0000.

BibTeX