Changing environmental behaviors through smartphone-based augmented experiences

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestrado em Engenharia de InformáticaThe use of persuasive technologies can induce changes in attitudes or behaviours, even in individuals that other strategies of persuasion can not reach effectively. In addition, this type of technology can be applied in numerous areas such as health, education, finance, e-business, among others. Although persuasion can be seen as something negative, being used to serve the interests of the persuader rather than the interests of the persuaded, this work aims to achieve a common and shared goal: to change people's behaviour towards the environment. A significant part of the population is still not aware of the sustainability problems that our planet is facing, so it is important to inform people about the theme while persuading them to change their behaviour and acquire proenvironmental attitudes. In this dissertation, work was conducted to alert citizens to this issue in a fun and immersive way using mobile devices, more specifically smartphones, and augmented reality technology that was used to create an environmental scanner. This scanner provided the user with informative insight about the surrounding environment, while highlighting the environmental threats. In addition to augmented reality, pro-environmental actions were positively reinforced using a reward system and a virtual character that interacted and motivated the user. A form of rapid spread through social networks was also created, allowing the persuasive effect to quickly reach a large number of users. Finally was performed a study to assess the success of the work done in changing behaviour towards environmental issues, and to study the influence of augmented reality and positive reinforcement in the changing of behaviours and acquisition of pro-environmental attitudes

A framework for developing motion-based games

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia InformáticaNowadays, whenever one intents to develop an application that allows interaction through the use of more or less complex gestures, it is necessary to go through a long process. In this process, the gesture recognition system may not obtain high accuracy results, particularly among different users. Since the total number of applications for mobile systems, like Android and iOS, is close to a million and a half and is still increasing, it appears essential the development of a platform that abstracts developers from all the low-level gesture gathering and that streamlines the process of developing applications that make use of this kind of interaction, in a standardize way. In this case such was developed for the iOS system. At the present time, given the existing environment issues, it is ideal to attract the attention, motivate and influence the greatest number of people into having more proenvironmental behaviors. Thus, as a proof of concept for the developed framework, an educational game was created, using persuasive technology, to influence players’s behaviors and attitudes in a pro-environmental way. Therefore, having this idea as a basis, it was also developed a game that is presented in a public ambient display and can be played by any participant close to the displaywho has a device with iOS mobile system

Improving public engagement with air pollution: exploring two-way communication formats, public perception, and the voices of women.

Cities worldwide are experiencing high levels of air pollution, with severe consequences to human health, the economy, and the natural environment. Greater Manchester (GM), a conurbation in the United Kingdom, has declared an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) as air pollution levels are sometimes above or close to limits set by the European Union. Transport is one of the main contributing sectors, and rapid policy and lifestyle changes are needed when it comes to public transportation, walking, or cycling. Public engagement is central to this aim, but one-way provision of information is not effective in encouraging the needed behavioural changes. Through a systematic review (n=50), this thesis provides a comparison of how five different two-way communication formats (i.e. social media, educational programmes, serious games, citizen science, and forums) have been employed worldwide to create dialogues between experts and the public in relation to air pollution. A one-size-fits-all communication strategy is not sufficient in engaging the public in socially diverse cities where the environment and sustainable lifestyles are conceptualised in a myriad of ways. Through a questionnaire study (n=365), this thesis explores how the public in GM perceives air pollution and accesses environmental information, as well as how this varies with gender, educational level, age, postcode district, and income. Through qualitative interviews (n=30), this thesis also provides an in-depth exploration of the experiences of one particular group in society that has traditionally been underserved: women. The focus on women is necessary because a greater responsibility for unpaid work, economic inequality, longer life expectancy, and greater fear of crime shape how women travel and access the city, and consequently, their experiences of air pollution. The fact that these findings are specific to women, however, does not make them less valid in relation to society at large. A transportation system that is environmentally sustainable as well as safe, economical, and that facilitates combining paid and unpaid work, is beneficial to all. These findings advance knowledge in the field of public engagement with air pollution, and provide recommendations for policymakers or charity organizations. These include communication of air pollution as something physical, moving away from the invisible adjective that encourages people to avoid the problem altogether; and the further exploration of the health and wellbeing frame, as it can be effective in motivating active forms of transport

Mobile learning e educação em saúde: estudo de caso no ensino superior de práticas laboratoriais

O mobile learning continua a ser uma área emergente na educação a distância e elearning, em que se tira partido, por exemplo, do poder ubíquo dos dispositivos móveis. Assim, importa perceber de que modo podem ser integrados no processo de ensino e aprendizagem. Em particular, e com este estudo, pretendeu-se perceber de que modo o m-learning e a utilização de dispositivos móveis potencia a educação em saúde, nomeadamente em aulas de hematologia laboratorial. Metodologicamente, optou-se pelo estudo de caso, tendo-se implementado inquéritos por questionário e realizado observação participante. Os dados recolhidos foram analisados com recurso à análise estatística e à análise de conteúdo. Dos resultados obtidos, é possível concluir que com a utilização dos dispositivos móveis a abordagem e resolução de problemas foi facilitada em Hematologia. Mais especificamente, a utilização de apps, como o CellAtlas e o Moxtra, permitiu superar dificuldades na execução de técnicas laboratoriais. Além destes aspetos, foram evidenciados outros, entre os quais uma maior estabilidade emocional em provas de avaliação e a subsequente melhoria nas respetivas classificações. Em síntese, considera-se que a introdução de atividades e estratégias mobile learning na Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa é uma realidade que se prevê irreversível, até por já não estar circunscrita à unidade curricular do Curso de Ciências Biomédicas Laboratoriais que despoletou esta abordagem pedagógica inovadora.Mobile learning is presently an emergent area in distance education and elearning that takes advantage of the ubiquitous and widespread use of mobile devices. Thus, the understanding of the potential associated with the integration in teaching and learning processes is crucial and foremost important. This study aims to understand how mobile learning and the use of mobile devices can improve health education, particularly in the context of hematology laboratory lessons. Methodologically, we opted for a case study, implementing surveys and conducting participant observation. The collected data was analyzed through statistical analysis and content analysis methods. The results obtained show that the use of mobile devices enables problem-solving capacities in hematology. Specifically, the use of apps, such as CellAtlas and Moxtra, allowed to overcome difficulties regarding the implementation of laboratory techniques. Our results also evidenced the enhancement of emotional stability in evaluation moments and the improvement of students’ ratings. Overall, we consider that the introduction of mobile learning strategies and activities at the Lisbon School of Health Technology is irreversible, and not limited to the curricular unit of the Biomedical Laboratory Science course, which was the promoter of this innovative pedagogical approach