Gade4all: Developing Multi-platform Videogames based on Domain Specific Languages and Model Driven Engineering

The development of applications for mobile devices is a constantly growing market which and more and more enterprises support the development of applications for this kind of devices. In that sense, videogames for mobile devices have become very popular worldwide and are now part of highly profitable and competitive industry. Due to the diversity of platforms and mobile devices and the complexity of this kind of applications, the development time and the number of errors within that development process have increased. The productivity of the developers has also decreased due to the necessity of using many programming languages in the development process. One of the most popular strategies is to employ specialized people to perform the development tasks more efficiently, but this involves an increase of the costs, which makes some applications economically unviable. In this article we present the Gade4all Project, consisting in a new platform that aims to facilitate the development of videogames and entertainment software through the use of Domain Specific Languages and Model Driven Engineering. This tool makes possible for users without previous knowledge in the field of software development to create 2D videogames for multiplatform mobile devices in a simple and innovative way

Learning Opportunities and Challenges of Sensor-enabled Intelligent Tutoring Systems on Mobile Platforms: Benchmarking the Reliability of Mobile Sensors to Track Human Physiological Signals and Behaviors to Enhance Tablet-Based Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Desktop-based intelligent tutoring systems have existed for many decades, but the advancement of mobile computing technologies has sparked interest in developing mobile intelligent tutoring systems (mITS). Personalized mITS are applicable to not only stand-alone and client-server systems but also cloud systems possibly leveraging big data. Device-based sensors enable even greater personalization through capture of physiological signals during periods of student study. However, personalizing mITS to individual students faces challenges. The Achilles heel of personalization is the feasibility and reliability of these sensors to accurately capture physiological signals and behavior measures. This research reviews feasibility and benchmarks reliability of basic mobile platform sensors in various student postures. The research software and methodology are generalizable to a range of platforms and sensors. Incorporating the tile-based puzzle game 2048 as a substitute for a knowledge domain also enables a broad spectrum of test populations. Baseline sensors include the on-board camera to detect eyes/faces and the Bluetooth Empatica E4 wristband to capture heart rate, electrodermal activity (EDA), and skin temperature. The test population involved 100 collegiate students randomly assigned to one of three different ergonomic positions in a classroom: sitting at a table, standing at a counter, or reclining on a sofa. Well received by the students, EDA proved to be more reliable than heart rate or face detection in the three different ergonomic positions. Additional insights are provided on advancing learning personalization through future sensor feasibility and reliability studies

Metaverse: A Vision, Architectural Elements, and Future Directions for Scalable and Realtime Virtual Worlds

With the emergence of Cloud computing, Internet of Things-enabled Human-Computer Interfaces, Generative Artificial Intelligence, and high-accurate Machine and Deep-learning recognition and predictive models, along with the Post Covid-19 proliferation of social networking, and remote communications, the Metaverse gained a lot of popularity. Metaverse has the prospective to extend the physical world using virtual and augmented reality so the users can interact seamlessly with the real and virtual worlds using avatars and holograms. It has the potential to impact people in the way they interact on social media, collaborate in their work, perform marketing and business, teach, learn, and even access personalized healthcare. Several works in the literature examine Metaverse in terms of hardware wearable devices, and virtual reality gaming applications. However, the requirements of realizing the Metaverse in realtime and at a large-scale need yet to be examined for the technology to be usable. To address this limitation, this paper presents the temporal evolution of Metaverse definitions and captures its evolving requirements. Consequently, we provide insights into Metaverse requirements. In addition to enabling technologies, we lay out architectural elements for scalable, reliable, and efficient Metaverse systems, and a classification of existing Metaverse applications along with proposing required future research directions

Augmented Reality Mobile App for Children Learning on Colour

This document describes the process developing an Augmented Reality (AR) of mobile application on colour by using storybook. By using camera on the smartphone or tablet, the user or the child could view the superimposed virtual three dimensional (3D) objects and images in a fun and interactive manner using the marker-less physical colour book as the interaction tool. Learning colour since young age helps children to distinguish colours and they can choose their favourite colours. In addition, it helps them to express themselves, build the confident and more easy-going by choosing the desired colours. Otherwise, they will be tend to have difficulties in making choices in their future life. Many researchers and journalists have done their research on the topic and emphasized on the importance colour for children in the early age is beneficial for their successful in future

A Framework for Energy-efficient Mobile Cloud Offloading

Esilekerkivad nutitelefonide tehnoloogiad on kogenud geomeetrilist kasvu ja on praegu veel tõusuteel. Inimesed kasutavad nutitelefone oma igapäevastes tegevustes nagu e-maili saatmine, fotode ja videode jagamine läbi erinevate peer-to-peersotsiaalvõrgustiku jaoturite ja nii edasi. Viimastel aastatel on nutitelefonid kogenud suuri tehnoloogilisi edusamme ja innovatsiooni seoses töötlusvõimekusega ja saab nüüd kasutada keerukate ja ressursimahukate ülesannete täitmiseks rakendustes, näiteks videode monteerimine ja töötlemine ning objekti äratundmine. Kuigi enamus nutitelefone on oluliselt täiustatud, et hakkama saada suurendatud rakendustega, millel on keerukad arvutusvajadused, piiravad neid ikkagi nende energiavarud, näiteks aku kestvus. Akutehnoloogia ei ole arenenud nii kiirelt kui teised nutitelefoni valdkonnad ja seega arvutusintensiivsete ülesannete läbiviimine põhjustaks selle kiire kahanemise; tõestuseks vajadus pidevalt laadida seadme akut. Mitmeid meetodeid on pakutud välja energiasäästu maksimeerimiseks mobiilsetel seadmetel. Mõned neist aeglustavad keskprotsessor või lülitavad ekraani välja, kui on tegevusetud. Nende hulgast kõige märkimisväärsem tehnika nutitelefoni energia säästmiseks on arvutusvõimsuse koormuse jaotamine. See hõlmab teatud ülesannete töötluse üleviimist piiratud ressurssidega nutitelefonist kaugesse ressursirikkasse seadmesse hõlbustades seega nutitelefoni energia tarbimist. See on küllaltki lai uurimisvaldkond ja on hulganisti panustatud selle ala arendamiseks. Sellele vaatamata on veel palju tööd vaja teha seoses energia säästmisega läbi arvutusvõimsuse koormuse jaotamise korduva ressursimahuka töötlemise ajal. Selles teadusuuringus on me eesmärk vähendada energia tarbimist korduva energiamahuka töötlemise ajal. Me arvestame konteksti teadlikkust pakkudes välja plaanuri mudelit, mis saaks vähendada mobiilse seadme energia kiiret vähenemist seega saavutades meie eesmärgi. Pakume teenusele orienteeritud raamistikku eesmärgiga võimaldada energiatõhusa ülesande täitmist mobiilsel seadmel plaanuri käitumisalgoritmi abil. Me arendame kontseptsiooni tõestuse prototüüpi Android seadmel, et demonstreerida ja hinnata raamistiku energiasäästu võimekust.Emerging smartphone technologies has experienced a geometric increase and is currently still on the rise. People use the smartphone for their day-to-day activities such as sending emails, sharing photos and videos through various peer-to-peer social network hubs and so on. In the last few years, the smartphone has experienced massive technological advancements and innovation with respect to its processing capabilities and can now be used to perform complex, resource-intensive tasks in advanced applications like video editing and processing, and object recognition. Although most smartphones have been greatly augmented to handle advanced applications with complex computational needs, they are still limited in terms of their energy resources i.e. battery life. Battery technology has not evolved as rapidly as other areas of the smartphone and so the execution of computational-intensive tasks would cause its rapid depletion; evidenced by the need to constantly charge the device battery. Many techniques have been proffered to maximize energy conservation on mobile devices. Some of which are slowing down the CPU, or shutting off the screen when idle. Among these, the most notable technique for conserving smartphone energy is computation offloading. This basically involves the transfer of the processing of certain tasks from a resource-constrained smartphone to a remote, resource-rich device thereby facilitating energy conservation on the smartphone. This is a fairly large research area and numerous contributions have been made towards advancement in this field. However, much work is yet to be done with regards to energy conservation through offloading during recurrent resource-intensive processing. In this research study we aim to reduce energy consumption during continuous, energy-intensive processing. We consider context-awareness in proposing a scheduling model that could potentially minimize the speedy depletion of mobile device energy thus achieving our aim. We propose a service-oriented framework towards enabling energy-optimal task execution through a task scheduling offload algorithm. We develop a proof-of-concept prototype on an Android device to demonstrate and evaluate the framework’s energy conserving capabilities

Fostering innovation: Factors that attract and retain third party developers in mobile ecosystems

The popularity of smartphones and the related growth of mobile application markets created a need for mobile platform owners to open their software platforms up to third party developers in order to meet user demand for mobile applications. This external innovation provides a tremendous opportunity for mobile platform owners to develop a volume and diversity of products they could not develop in-house, but it also presents challenges in attracting a sufficient number of developers and users in order to harness the two-sided and same-sided network effects required to successfully cultivate a robust mobile ecosystem. The main objective of this study is to investigate the factors which attract and retain third party developers in mobile ecosystems, a topic about which limited study has been conducted to date. To achieve this goal we developed a research framework based on theoretical and industry literature related to the mobile industry. Using this as a basis for our research we interviewed developers for the iOS, Android and Windows Phone platforms as well as an independent expert specialising in research of the telecommunications industry. These interviews provide a list of factors relating to what motivates third party developers to select a particular ecosystem. Factors are presented in terms of economic considerations, the boundary resources within the mobile platforms, the related development community and the reach the ecosystem provides. These factors are detailed and compared concluding that monetary reward, user engagement and market share are the most dominant factors influencing developer choice. This research complements and extends existing research on third party developer motivation in competitive open innovation communities as well as providing insights into the industry for prospective mobile developers

ePhysio: A Wearables-Enabled Platform for the Remote Management of Musculoskeletal Diseases

Technology advancements in wireless communication and embedded computing are fostering their evolution from standalone elements to smart objects seamlessly integrated in the broader context of the Internet of Things. In this context, wearable sensors represent the building block for new cyber-physical social systems, which aim at improving the well-being of people by monitoring and measuring their activities and provide an immediate feedback to the users. In this paper, we introduce ePhysio, a large-scale and flexible platform for sensor-assisted physiotherapy and remote management of musculoskeletal diseases. The system leverages networking and computing tools to provide real-time and ubiquitous monitoring of patients. We propose three use cases which differ in scale and context and are characterized by different human interactions: single-user therapy, indoor group therapy, and on-field therapy. For each use case, we identify the social interactions, e.g., between the patient and the physician and between different users and the performance requirements in terms of monitoring frequency, communication, and computation. We then propose three related deployments, highlighting the technologies that can be applied in a real system. Finally, we describe a proof-of-concept implementation, which demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed solution

Comparison Of Apple\u27s Ios 5 And Android For Mobile Applications Development: A Developer\u27s Perspective

Body composition, or the proportion of fat, muscle, and bone of an individual\u27s body, is an important indication of health status. Numerous techniques can be used to assess body composition, producing varied results and measurements. For individuals with insufficient or excessive amounts of body fat, accurate assessment of body composition is crucial. Two commonly used techniques for measuring body composition are air displacement plethysmography (adp) and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (dxa). Past research has been conducted, comparing adp and dxa, but the results are inconsistent. The majority of past studies found that, when compared to dxa, adp underestimated body fat percentage, but a few studies found that adp overestimated body fat percentage. Additionally, majority of the past studies have focused on ideal weight, overweight, and obese adults, with little research on body composition of athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether body fat percentages obtained by adp and dxa statistically differ from one another, specifically in a lean population. Ninety-three collegiate student athletes participating in Division I NCAA sports participated in the study. Subjects underwent a bod pod and dxa scan, measuring their body composition. Body fat measures were then analyzed using spss. Paired-sample t-tests were conducted, comparing body fat percentage estimates from adp and dxa. Box plots and bland-altman plots were also created to display data. Results shothat body fat percentages obtained by adp were significantly lower than body fat percentages obtained by dxa, with the difference being greater in leaner individuals. These results are consistent with the majority of past research, which states that adp underestimates body fat percentage when compared to dxa. Clinicians should consider this discrepancy between adp and dxa for deciding which equipment to use when making clinical decions regarding student athletes\u27 health or participation status

Essays on Business Value Creation in Digital Platform Ecosystems

Digital platforms and the surrounding ecosystems have garnered great interest from researchers and practitioners. Notwithstanding this attention, it remains unclear how and when digital platforms create business value for platform owners and complementors. This three-essay dissertation focuses on understanding business value creation in digital platform ecosystems. The first essay reviews and synthesizes literature across disciplines and offers an integrative framework of digital platform business value. Advised by the findings from the review, the second and third essays focus on the value creation for platform complementors. The second essay examines how IT startups entering a platform ecosystem at different times can strategically design their products (i.e., product diversification across platform architectural layers and product differentiation) to gain competitive advantages. Longitudinal evidence from the Hadoop ecosystem demonstrates that product diversification has an inverted U-shaped relationship with complementors success, and such an effect is more salient for earlier entrants than later entrants. Earlier entrants should develop products that are similar to other ecosystem competitors to reduce uncertainty whereas later entrants are advised to explore market niche and differentiate their products.The third essay investigates how platform complementors strategies and products co-evolve over time in the co-created ecosystem network environment. Our longitudinal analysis of the Hadoop ecosystem indicates that complementors technological architecture coverage and alliance exploration strategies increase their product evolution rate. In turn, complementors with faster product evolution are more likely to explore new partners but less likely to cover a wider range of the focal platforms technological layers in subsequent periods. Network density, co-created by all platform complementors, weakens the effects of complementors strategies on their product evolution but amplifies the effects of past product evolutions on strategies.This three-essay dissertation uncovers various understudied competitive strategies in the digital platform context and enriches our understanding of business value creation in digital platform ecosystems