A review of multi-car elevator system

This paper presents a review of a new generation of elevator system, the Multi-Car Elevator System. It is an elevator system which contains more than one elevator car in the elevator shaft. In the introduction, it explains why the Multi-Car Elevator System is a new trend elevator system based on its structural design, cost saving and efficiency in elevator system. Different types of Multi-Car Elevator System such as circulation or loop-type, non-circulation and bifurcate circulation are described in section 2. In section 3, researches on dispatch strategies, control strategies and avoidance of car collision strategies of Multi-Car Elevator System since 2002 are reviewed. In the discussion section, it reveals some drawbacks of the Multi-Car Elevator System in transport capability and the risk of car collision. There are recommendations to the future work as well

IoT and UAV Integration in 5G Hybrid Terrestrial-Satellite Networks

The Fifth Generation of Mobile Communications (5G) will lead to the growth of use cases demanding higher capacity and a enhanced data rate, a lower latency, and a more flexible and scalable network able to offer better user Quality of Experience (QoE). The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of these use cases. It has been spreading in the recent past few years, and it covers a wider range of possible application scenarios, such as smart city, smart factory, and smart agriculture, among many others. However, the limitations of the terrestrial network hinder the deployment of IoT devices and services. Besides, the existence of a plethora of different solutions (short vs. long range, commercialized vs. standardized, etc.), each of them based on different communication protocols and, in some cases, on different access infrastructures, makes the integration among them and with the upcoming 5G infrastructure more difficult. This paper discusses the huge set of IoT solutions available or still under standardization that will need to be integrated in the 5G framework. UAVs and satellites will be proposed as possible solutions to ease this integration, overcoming the limitations of the terrestrial infrastructure, such as the limited covered areas and the densification of the number of IoT devices per square kilometer

Towards the internet of smart clothing: a review on IoT wearables and garments for creating intelligent connected e-textiles

[Abstract] Technology has become ubiquitous, it is all around us and is becoming part of us. Togetherwith the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm and enabling technologies (e.g., Augmented Reality (AR), Cyber-Physical Systems, Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain or edge computing), smart wearables and IoT-based garments can potentially have a lot of influence by harmonizing functionality and the delight created by fashion. Thus, smart clothes look for a balance among fashion, engineering, interaction, user experience, cybersecurity, design and science to reinvent technologies that can anticipate needs and desires. Nowadays, the rapid convergence of textile and electronics is enabling the seamless and massive integration of sensors into textiles and the development of conductive yarn. The potential of smart fabrics, which can communicate with smartphones to process biometric information such as heart rate, temperature, breathing, stress, movement, acceleration, or even hormone levels, promises a new era for retail. This article reviews the main requirements for developing smart IoT-enabled garments and shows smart clothing potential impact on business models in the medium-term. Specifically, a global IoT architecture is proposed, the main types and components of smart IoT wearables and garments are presented, their main requirements are analyzed and some of the most recent smart clothing applications are studied. In this way, this article reviews the past and present of smart garments in order to provide guidelines for the future developers of a network where garments will be connected like other IoT objects: the Internet of Smart Clothing.Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2016-045Xunta de Galicia; ED341D R2016/012Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/01Agencia Estatal de Investigación de España; TEC2013-47141-C4-1-RAgencia Estatal de Investigación de España; TEC2016-75067-C4-1-RAgencia Estatal de Investigación de España; TEC2015-69648-RED

Online home appliance control using EEG-Based brain-computer interfaces

Brain???computer interfaces (BCIs) allow patients with paralysis to control external devices by mental commands. Recent advances in home automation and the Internet of things may extend the horizon of BCI applications into daily living environments at home. In this study, we developed an online BCI based on scalp electroencephalography (EEG) to control home appliances. The BCI users controlled TV channels, a digital door-lock system, and an electric light system in an unshielded environment. The BCI was designed to harness P300 andN200 components of event-related potentials (ERPs). On average, the BCI users could control TV channels with an accuracy of 83.0% ?? 17.9%, the digital door-lock with 78.7% ?? 16.2% accuracy, and the light with 80.0% ?? 15.6% accuracy, respectively. Our study demonstrates a feasibility to control multiple home appliances using EEG-based BCIs

Smartphone Apps for Food Purchase Choices: Scoping Review of Designs, Opportunities, and Challenges

Background: Smartphone apps can aid consumers in making healthier and more sustainable food purchases. However, there is still a limited understanding of the different app design approaches and their impact on food purchase choices. An overview of existing food purchase choice apps and an understanding of common challenges can help speed up effective future developments.Objective: We examined the academic literature on food purchase choice apps and provided an overview of the design characteristics, opportunities, and challenges for effective implementation. Thus, we contribute to an understanding of how technologies can effectively improve food purchase choice behavior and provide recommendations for future design efforts.Methods: Following the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines, we considered peer-reviewed literature on food purchase choice apps within IEEE Xplore, PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect. We inductively coded and summarized design characteristics. Opportunities and challenges were addressed from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. From the quantitative perspective, we coded and summarized outcomes of comparative evaluation trials. From the qualitative perspective, we performed a qualitative content analysis of commonly discussed opportunities and challenges.Results: We retrieved 55 articles, identified 46 unique apps, and grouped them into 5 distinct app types. Each app type supports a specific purchase choice stage and shares a common functional design. Most apps support the product selection stage (selection apps; 27/46, 59%), commonly by scanning the barcode and displaying a nutritional rating. In total, 73% (8/11) of the evaluation trials reported significant findings and indicated the potential of food purchase choice apps to support behavior change. However, relatively few evaluations covered the selection app type, and these studies showed mixed results. We found a common opportunity in apps contributing to learning (knowledge gain), whereas infrequent engagement presents a common challenge. The latter was associated with perceived burden of use, trust, and performance as well as with learning. In addition, there were technical challenges in establishing comprehensive product information databases or achieving performance accuracy with advanced identification methods such as image recognition.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that designs of food purchase choice apps do not encourage repeated use or long-term adoption, compromising the effectiveness of behavior change through nudging. However, we found that smartphone apps can enhance learning, which plays an important role in behavior change. Compared with nudging as a mechanism for behavior change, this mechanism is less dependent on continued use. We argue that designs that optimize for learning within each interaction have a better chance of achieving behavior change. This review concludes with design recommendations, suggesting that food purchase choice app designers anticipate the possibility of early abandonment as part of their design process and design apps that optimize the learning experience

Role of Blockchain Technology in Combating COVID‐19 Crisis

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Augmented reality selection through smart glasses

O mercado de óculos inteligentes está em crescimento. Este crescimento abre a possibilidade de um dia os óculos inteligentes assumirem um papel mais ativo tal como os smartphones já têm na vida quotidiana das pessoas. Vários métodos de interação com esta tecnologia têm sido estudados, mas ainda não é claro qual o método que poderá ser o melhor para interagir com objetos virtuais. Neste trabalho são mencionados diversos estudos que se focam nos diferentes métodos de interação para aplicações de realidade aumentada. É dado destaque às técnicas de interação para óculos inteligentes tal como às suas vantagens e desvantagens. No contexto deste trabalho foi desenvolvido um protótipo de Realidade Aumentada para locais fechados, implementando três métodos de interação diferentes. Foram também estudadas as preferências do utilizador e sua vontade de executar o método de interação em público. Além disso, é extraído o tempo de reação que é o tempo entre a deteção de uma marca e o utilizador interagir com ela. Um protótipo de Realidade Aumentada ao ar livre foi desenvolvido a fim compreender os desafios diferentes entre uma aplicação de Realidade Aumentada para ambientes interiores e exteriores. Na discussão é possível entender que os utilizadores se sentem mais confortáveis usando um método de interação semelhante ao que eles já usam. No entanto, a solução com dois métodos de interação, função de toque nos óculos inteligentes e movimento da cabeça, permitem obter resultados próximos aos resultados do controlador. É importante destacar que os utilizadores não passaram por uma fase de aprendizagem os resultados apresentados nos testes referem-se sempre à primeira e única vez com o método de interação. O que leva a crer que o futuro de interação com óculos inteligentes possa ser uma fusão de diferentes técnicas de interação.The smart glasses’ market continues growing. It enables the possibility of someday smart glasses to have a presence as smartphones have already nowadays in people's daily life. Several interaction methods for smart glasses have been studied, but it is not clear which method could be the best to interact with virtual objects. In this research, it is covered studies that focus on the different interaction methods for reality augmented applications. It is highlighted the interaction methods for smart glasses and the advantages and disadvantages of each interaction method. In this work, an Augmented Reality prototype for indoor was developed, implementing three different interaction methods. It was studied the users’ preferences and their willingness to perform the interaction method in public. Besides that, it is extracted the reaction time which is the time between the detection of a marker and the user interact with it. An outdoor Augmented Reality application was developed to understand the different challenges between indoor and outdoor Augmented Reality applications. In the discussion, it is possible to understand that users feel more comfortable using an interaction method similar to what they already use. However, the solution with two interaction methods, smart glass’s tap function, and head movement allows getting results close to the results of the controller. It is important to highlight that was always the first time of the users, so there was no learning before testing. This leads to believe that the future of smart glasses interaction can be the merge of different interaction methods

Bibliographical review on cyber attacks from a control oriented perspective

This paper presents a bibliographical review of definitions, classifications and applications concerning cyber attacks in networked control systems (NCSs) and cyber-physical systems (CPSs). This review tackles the topic from a control-oriented perspective, which is complementary to information or communication ones. After motivating the importance of developing new methods for attack detection and secure control, this review presents security objectives, attack modeling, and a characterization of considered attacks and threats presenting the detection mechanisms and remedial actions. In order to show the properties of each attack, as well as to provide some deeper insight into possible defense mechanisms, examples available in the literature are discussed. Finally, open research issues and paths are presented.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Cognivitra, a digital solution to support dual-task rehabilitation training

This article focuses on an eHealth application, CogniViTra, to support cognitive and physical training (i.e., dual-task training), which can be done at home with supervision of a health care provider. CogniViTra was designed and implemented to take advantage of an existing Platform of Services supporting a Cognitive Health Ecosystem and comprises several components, including the CogniViTra Box (i.e., the patient terminal equipment), the Virtual Coach to provide assistance, the Game Presentation for the rehabilitation exercises, and the Pose and Gesture Recognition to quantify responses during dual-task training. In terms of validation, a functional prototype was exposed in a highly specialized event related to healthy and active ageing, and key stakeholders were invited to test it and share their insights. Fifty-seven specialists in information-technology-based applications to support healthy and active ageing were involved and the results and indicated that the functional prototype presents good performance in recognizing poses and gestures such as moving the trunk to the left or to the right, and that most of the participants would use or suggest the utilization of CogniViTra. In general, participants considered that CogniViTra is a useful tool and may represent an added value for remote dual-task training.This study has received funding from the European Union under the AAL programme through project CogniViTra (Grant No. AAL-2018-5-115-CP), with national funding support from FCT, ISCIII, and FNR. This presentation reflects the authors’ views, and neither AAL nor the National Funding Agencies are responsible for any use that may be made of the information

Cryptocurrencies: characteristics and behaviours from The investors

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Statistics and Information Management, specialization in Risk Analysis and ManagementOver the past few years, cryptocurrencies have been increasingly spoken and have become a global phenomenon known to most people. Nowadays, banks, governments and many companies are aware of its importance. Their high volatility and lack of regulation makes these investments very risky, and even though these coins are often associated with criminal activities, an increase on the number of investors is visible every day. The blockchain technology, which serves as the basis for this type of coin, has also dismissed much curiosity from various technological giants and financial companies. Almost all major banks, big accounting firms, prominent software companies or governments already did a research related to cryptocurrencies or published a paper about it. Most of the published studies explain the technology behind cryptocurrencies, others calculate their volatility and the remaining ones list their main advantages and disadvantages. However, there was no published study that aims to understand what kind of profile these investors have and what are their motivations and expectations for the future. With the help of a questionnaire presented to the investors, this study concluded that there are two separate investor profiles and also understood what are their motivations and expectations for the future. On the other hand, through interviews with financial institutions, it was possible to see what vision regulators, private equities and corporate banking have for this new type of currency and if they consider them as a valid mean of payment