Emerging technologies for learning (volume 1)

Collection of 5 articles on emerging technologies and trend

A framework for distributed interaction in intelligent environments

Ubiquitous computing is extending its applications to an increasing number of domains. "Monolithic" approaches use centralised systems, controlling devices and users' requests. A different solution can be found in works proposing "distributed" intelligent devices that communicate, without a central reasoner, creating little communities to support the user. If the former approach uses all the available sensors being more easily context-aware, the latter is scalable and naturally supports multiple users. In this work we introduce a model for a distributed network of entities in Intelligent Environments. Each node satisfies users' requests through Natural User Interfaces. If a node cannot produce the expected output, it communicates with others in the network, generating paths where the final target is undetermined and intermediate nodes do not understand the request; this is the focus of our work. The system learns parameters and connections in the initial topology. We tested the system in two scenarios. Our approach finds paths close to the optimum with reasonable connections

Integration of Multisensorial Stimuli and Multimodal Interaction in a Hybrid 3DTV System

This article proposes the integration of multisensorial stimuli and multimodal interaction components into a sports multimedia asset under two dimensions: immersion and interaction. The first dimension comprises a binaural audio system and a set of sensory effects synchronized with the audiovisual content, whereas the second explores interaction through the insertion of interactive 3D objects into the main screen and on-demand presentation of additional information in a second touchscreen. We present an end-to-end solution integrating these components into a hybrid (internet-broadcast) television system using current 3DTV standards. Results from an experimental study analyzing the perceived quality of these stimuli and their influence on the Quality of Experience are presented