Cultural heritage visits supported on visitors' preferences and mobile devices

Monuments, museums and cities are great places to feel and experience neat and interesting things. But cultural heritage is experienced differently by different visitors. The more erudite may know beforehand what they intend to explore, while the least literate usually know and are capable of expressing some of their preferences but do not exactly realize what to see and explore. This paper proposes the use of a mobile application to set an itinerary where you can move at your own pace and, at the same time, have all the complementary information you need about each of the points of interest. The application is designed in face of an adaptive user interface where the routing and augmented reality are connected to acknowledge the needs of different user categories, such as elders, kids, experts or general usersPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [UID/EEA/50009/2013, UID/SOC/04020/2013]CRESC ALGARVE 2020, PORTUGAL 2020 [3322]FEDER European Commissioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Smart augmented reality application for enhanced museum experience

Dissertação de mestrado, Engenharia Eléctrica e Electrónica, Instituto Superior de Engenharia, Universidade do Algarve, 2017Museums’ collections can be almost endless, with countless objects, making it challenging to choose which ones to visit and appreciate. When a user enters a museum he usually encounters a guide or a predefined route to aid him, which more often than not is not suitable for his necessities and preferences. This dissertation focus on developing a mobile augmented reality framework and intelligent multiplatform application, that can be used as a museum guide and navigation helper. The work was divided into 3 main modules: (a) an intelligent routing system, (b) an adaptive user interface, and (c) an image recognition and augmented reality framework. Also presented is the integration of the above modules in an application. The first module, (a) intelligent routing system module, poses a solution for a "typical" museum problem. Museums routes do not take into account the physical, moral or psychological limitations of a user and/or their preferences. It resembles the traveling salesman problem where a route is calculated, only visiting once each point of interest, diminishing as much as possible the "walking" time, and extending the time spent admiring the museum’s objects. An Ant Colony Optimization algorithm was used to handle the calculations and compute an optimal walk, rendering the user’s preferences and limitations. This problem was formulated as a multi-criteria optimization problem. Also focusing on adapting the application for the user, (b) an adaptive user interface was developed, which adapts the application’s user interface on-thefly, according to the user’s preferences and conditions. This module is built upon a modular card system which is divided into structure and contents. It relies on a modular system in the sense that a complex interface can be divided into simpler and more manageable sub-modules, which can be used in other parts of the application or even in a completely different one. On an ideal application, each user would have a distinct interface/structure and contents. Nonetheless, different users could share the same interface structure only modifying the contents. The adaptive user interface is capable of (as the name implies) adapting itself to the user, either by changing both its structure and contents or only the contents displayed to the user. Regarding the augmented reality module (c), a mobile image recognition and tracking framework (MIRAR) was developed. The purpose of this framework is to recognize and track the innumerous objects of the museum in a mobile device. This framework is a marker-based augmented reality framework and even though the recognition happens on the client (mobile device) a server is required to keep the packaged markers accessible for the clients. These markers are preprocessed in the server and grouped by section. As the user navigates through the museum, an indoor beacon location system calculates his current position that is transmitted to the server which, in turn, sends the correct markers for that section to the mobile device. Finally, the integration of the above modules is presented in an alpha version of a mobile application, as well as tests and results for each module.Os espólios dos museus contêm inúmeros objetos, tornando-se difícil escolher quais as obras a visitar e apreciar. Quando um utilizador entra num museu, geralmente depara-se com um guia e/ou rotas predefinidas, que frequentemente não são adequadas às suas necessidades e preferências. Esta dissertação foca o desenvolvimento de uma framework de realidade aumentada e de uma aplicação inteligente para multiplataforma, que pode ser usada como guia de museu e auxiliar de navegação. O trabalho foi dividido em 3 módulos principais: (a) um sistema de cálculo de rotas inteligentes, (b) uma interface adaptativa de utilizador e (c) uma framework de reconhecimento de imagens com realidade aumentada. Também é apresentada a integração dos módulos acima mencionados numa aplicação. O primeiro módulo, o (a) módulo do sistema de cálculo de rotas inteligentes, representa uma solução para um problema "comum" dos museus: as rotas existentes nos museus não tomam em consideração as limitações físicas, morais ou psicológicas do utilizador e/ou suas preferências. O problema em causa consiste em calcular uma rota, visitando uma e só uma vez cada ponto de interesse existente (mas não necessariamente todos os disponíveis no museu), percorrendo o menor caminho possível, e estendendo ao máximo o tempo de visita aos objetos do museu. Neste caso, foi usada uma adaptação de um algoritmo de Ant Colony Optimization para calcular o melhor caminho, considerando as preferências e limitações do utilizador. Este problema foi formulado como um problema de otimização multi-critério. Ainda nesta temática, (b) foi desenvolvida uma interface adaptativa de utilizador, que se ajusta de acordo com as preferências e condições deste. Este módulo é constituído por um sistema modular de cartões os quais são dividido em estrutura e conteúdos. Foi escolhido este sistema pois permite que uma interface complexa possa ser dividida em sub-módulos mais simples, que podem ser usados noutras partes da aplicação ou mesmo noutra aplicação completamente distinta. Idealmente, cada utilizador teria uma interface com estrutura e conteúdos distintos. No entanto, diferentes utilizadores podem partilhar a mesma estrutura/layout apenas modificando o conteúdo apresentado. Assim, este modulo permite criar facilmente diferentes interfaces para os diferentes utilizadores, quer modificando apenas os conteúdos apresentados ou também toda a sua estrutura. Relativamente ao módulo de realidade aumentada (c), foi desenvolvido uma framework de reconhecimento de imagens com realidade aumentada (MIRAR - Mobile Image Recognition and Augmented Reality) para dispositivos móveis. O objetivo deste módulo é reconhecer e fazer o restreamento dos objetos do museu recorrendo ao dispositivo móvel do utilizador. A framework desenvolvida é baseada no reconhecimento de marcadores e apesar deste acontecer no cliente (dispositivo móvel) é necessário um servidor para guardar os marcadores préprocessados. Estes são, posteriormente, acedidos pelos dispositivos móveis à medida que os utilizadores navegam pelo museu. A localização do utilizador dentro do é calculada através de um sistema de beacons bluetooth a qual é transmitida para o servidor, que, por sua vez, envia os marcadores correspondentes a essa localização para o dispositivo do utilizador. Finalmente, a integração dos módulos supra-mencionados é apresentada numa versão alfa da aplicação móvel, bem como testes e resultados para cada módulo

Enhancing the museum experience with a sustainable solution based on contextual information obtained from an on-line analysis of users’ behaviour

Human computer interaction has evolved in the last years in order to enhance users’ experiences and provide more intuitive and usable systems. A major leap through in this scenario is obtained by embedding, in the physical environment, sensors capable of detecting and processing users’ context (position, pose, gaze, ...). Feeded by the so collected information flows, user interface paradigms may shift from stereotyped gestures on physical devices, to more direct and intuitive ones that reduce the semantic gap between the action and the corresponding system reaction or even anticipate the user’s needs, thus limiting the overall learning effort and increasing user satisfaction. In order to make this process effective, the context of the user (i.e. where s/he is, what is s/he doing, who s/he is, what are her/his preferences and also actual perception and needs) must be properly understood. While collecting data on some aspects can be easy, interpreting them all in a meaningful way in order to improve the overall user experience is much harder. This is more evident when we consider informal learning environments like museums, i.e. places that are designed to elicit visitor response towards the artifacts on display and the cultural themes proposed. In such a situation, in fact, the system should adapt to the attention paid by the user choosing the appropriate content for the user’s purposes, presenting an intuitive interface to navigate it. My research goal is focused on collecting, in a simple,unobtrusive, and sustainable way, contextual information about the visitors with the purpose of creating more engaging and personalized experiences

Sustainable Mobility for Island Destinations

This open access book presents the findings of the CIVITAS DESTINATIONS project regarding the link between mobility and tourism in urban areas and the complications tourist destinations face in becoming more sustainable. It integrates the tourist mobility needs and the associated fluctuation impacts in the design of mobility solutions in order to enforce the accessibility, attractiveness, efficiency and sustainability of transport services and infrastructure for both residents and tourists in island cities such as Rethymno, Crete, and Valetta, Malta. Sustainable Mobility for Island Destinations contains contributions from highly experienced academics, engineers, and planners in the area of sustainable tourism, mobility services, and smart solutions design companies assisting: the change of the mind set in insular and tourism areas; the adoption of green mobility systems and services; and monitoring the environmental benefits to assist towards the Climate Change. It explores the challenges tourist islands face, such as the seasonal fluxes in transport usage, the pressures of tourism to provide aesthetic green spaces, and the space issues of being an island in relation to economic potential and infrastructure construction. The book suggests areas for future research, and implementation of innovative systems and policies. It will be of interest to academics, planners, decision makers, and environmentalists

30th International Conference on Information Modelling and Knowledge Bases

Information modelling is becoming more and more important topic for researchers, designers, and users of information systems. The amount and complexity of information itself, the number of abstraction levels of information, and the size of databases and knowledge bases are continuously growing. Conceptual modelling is one of the sub-areas of information modelling. The aim of this conference is to bring together experts from different areas of computer science and other disciplines, who have a common interest in understanding and solving problems on information modelling and knowledge bases, as well as applying the results of research to practice. We also aim to recognize and study new areas on modelling and knowledge bases to which more attention should be paid. Therefore philosophy and logic, cognitive science, knowledge management, linguistics and management science are relevant areas, too. In the conference, there will be three categories of presentations, i.e. full papers, short papers and position papers

Gali’s Prize: A Treasure Hunt Game for the Textile Museum of Canada

Gali’s Prize is an experimental treasure-hunting game that integrates tangible and multi-screen interactions. The game has been designed for the Textile Museum of Canada (TMC) to replace the old quiz-style scavenger hunt with paper and pen. Its goal is to provide an entertaining, educational experience for children on school trips. The learning journey begins with an initial engagement at the starting spot and continues by approaching and connecting with a couple of specific artifacts in the exhibition space. The whole experience blends self- directed curation with an augmented reality (AR) treasure-hunting experience. During their participation, children will learn the stories behind the artifacts they encounter and gain lasting memories of their visit. The investigation stands at the intersection of museum business, children’s learning experience, and digital technology, and explores the opportunities and challenges involved in using mixed technologies in museums and galleries during the near future. At the same time, this examination studies the engagements and interactions of visitors on site. These explorations can potentially create benefits for both museums and visitors. The prototype of Gali’s Prize was inspired by theoretical conclusions in existing literature, personal experiences in museums and galleries, and some studies of particular cases. It helps a specialized museum, the TMC, to experiment with a new solution that may solve their current issues. This paper explains the relevant critical thinking, documents the development process of Gali’s Prize, and provides discussion and reflection about the work

Training of Crisis Mappers and Map Production from Multi-sensor Data: Vernazza Case Study (Cinque Terre National Park, Italy)

This aim of paper is to presents the development of a multidisciplinary project carried out by the cooperation between Politecnico di Torino and ITHACA (Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action). The goal of the project was the training in geospatial data acquiring and processing for students attending Architecture and Engineering Courses, in order to start up a team of "volunteer mappers". Indeed, the project is aimed to document the environmental and built heritage subject to disaster; the purpose is to improve the capabilities of the actors involved in the activities connected in geospatial data collection, integration and sharing. The proposed area for testing the training activities is the Cinque Terre National Park, registered in the World Heritage List since 1997. The area was affected by flood on the 25th of October 2011. According to other international experiences, the group is expected to be active after emergencies in order to upgrade maps, using data acquired by typical geomatic methods and techniques such as terrestrial and aerial Lidar, close-range and aerial photogrammetry, topographic and GNSS instruments etc.; or by non conventional systems and instruments such us UAV, mobile mapping etc. The ultimate goal is to implement a WebGIS platform to share all the data collected with local authorities and the Civil Protectio

Sustainable Mobility for Island Destinations

This open access book presents the findings of the CIVITAS DESTINATIONS project regarding the link between mobility and tourism in urban areas and the complications tourist destinations face in becoming more sustainable. It integrates the tourist mobility needs and the associated fluctuation impacts in the design of mobility solutions in order to enforce the accessibility, attractiveness, efficiency and sustainability of transport services and infrastructure for both residents and tourists in island cities such as Rethymno, Crete, and Valetta, Malta. Sustainable Mobility for Island Destinations contains contributions from highly experienced academics, engineers, and planners in the area of sustainable tourism, mobility services, and smart solutions design companies assisting: the change of the mind set in insular and tourism areas; the adoption of green mobility systems and services; and monitoring the environmental benefits to assist towards the Climate Change. It explores the challenges tourist islands face, such as the seasonal fluxes in transport usage, the pressures of tourism to provide aesthetic green spaces, and the space issues of being an island in relation to economic potential and infrastructure construction. The book suggests areas for future research, and implementation of innovative systems and policies. It will be of interest to academics, planners, decision makers, and environmentalists