A visual analytics approach for passing strateggies analysis in soccer using geometric features

Passing strategies analysis has always been of interest for soccer research. Since the beginning of soccer, managers have used scouting, video footage, training drills and data feeds to collect information about tactics and player performance. However, the dynamic nature of passing strategies is complex enough to reflect what is happening in the game and makes it hard to understand its dynamics. Furthermore, there exists a growing demand for pattern detection and passing sequence analysis popularized by FC Barcelona’s tiki-taka. We propose an approach to abstract passing strategies and group them based on the geometry of the ball trajectory. To analyse passing sequences, we introduce a interactive visualization scheme to explore the frequency of usage, spatial location and time occurrence of the sequences. The frequency stripes visualization provide, an overview of passing groups frequency on three pitch regions: defense, middle, attack. A trajectory heatmap coordinated with a passing timeline allow, for the exploration of most recurrent passing shapes in temporal and spatial domains. Results show eight common ball trajectories for three-long passing sequences which depend on players positioning and on the angle of the pass. We demonstrate the potential of our approach with data from the Brazilian league under several case studies, and report feedback from a soccer expert.As estrategias de passes têm sido sempre de interesse para a pesquisa de futebol. Desde os inícios do futebol, os técnicos tem usado olheiros, gravações de vídeo, exercícios de treinamento e feeds de dados para coletar informações sobre as táticas e desempenho dos jogadores. No entanto, a natureza dinâmica das estratégias de passes são bastante complexas para refletir o que está acontecendo dentro do campo e torna difícil o entendimento do jogo. Além disso, existe uma demanda crecente pela deteção de padrões e analise de estrategias de passes popularizado pelo tiki-taka utilizado pelo FC. Barcelona. Neste trabalho, propomos uma abordagem para abstrair as sequências de pases e agrupálas baseadas na geometria da trajetória da bola. Para analizar as estratégias de passes, apresentamos um esquema de visualização interátiva para explorar a frequência de uso, a localização espacial e ocorrência temporal das sequências. A visualização Frequency Stripes fornece uma visão geral da frequencia dos grupos achados em tres regiões do campo: defesa, meio e ataque. O heatmap de trajetórias coordenado com a timeline de passes permite a exploração das formas mais recorrentes no espaço e tempo. Os resultados demostram oito trajetórias comunes da bola para sequências de três pases as quais dependem da posição dos jogadores e os ângulos de passe. Demonstramos o potencial da nossa abordagem com utilizando dados de várias partidas do Campeonato Brasileiro sob diferentes casos de estudo, e reportamos os comentários de especialistas em futebol

Visualizing Historical Book Trade Data: An Iterative Design Study with Close Collaboration with Domain Experts

The circulation of historical books has always been an area of interest for historians. However, the data used to represent the journey of a book across different places and times can be difficult for domain experts to digest due to buried geographical and chronological features within text-based presentations. This situation provides an opportunity for collaboration between visualization researchers and historians. This paper describes a design study where a variant of the Nine-Stage Framework was employed to develop a Visual Analytics (VA) tool called DanteExploreVis. This tool was designed to aid domain experts in exploring, explaining, and presenting book trade data from multiple perspectives. We discuss the design choices made and how each panel in the interface meets the domain requirements. We also present the results of a qualitative evaluation conducted with domain experts. The main contributions of this paper include: 1) the development of a VA tool to support domain experts in exploring, explaining, and presenting book trade data; 2) a comprehensive documentation of the iterative design, development, and evaluation process following the variant Nine-Stage Framework; 3) a summary of the insights gained and lessons learned from this design study in the context of the humanities field; and 4) reflections on how our approach could be applied in a more generalizable way

Using a Research Domain Ontology as a driver for Technology Commercialization

O conceito Operator 4.0 desempenha um papel fundamental no tipo de indústria em que nos encontramos hoje, a Indústria 4.0. Durante a revisão da literatura, tornou-se evidente que não existia um modelo de referência para apoiar o desenvolvimento de conceitos inovadores para o Operador 4.0. Por conseguinte, esta investigação centrar-se-á no seu desenvolvimento, em parceria com o Fraunhofer Portugal Research Center for Assistive Information and Communication Solutions - Fraunhofer AICOS. Como resultado, foi criada uma ontologia, e utilizada a abordagem de Design Science Approach para auxiliar no seu desenvolvimento, seguida de uma primeira validação por especialistas da Fraunhofer Portugal. Posteriormente, foi realizada uma sessão de Focus Group, também com especialistas da Fraunhofer Portugal, que participaram numa segunda e última validação da ontologia, bem como na avaliação das questões de competência. Este estudo contribuiu para uma melhor compreensão de como a organização do conhecimento (Frishammar, Lichtenthaler, & Rundquist, 2012) num determinado domínio tecnológico pode ajudar na tomada de decisões quando é proposto um novo projeto de investigação que pode resultar em propriedade intelectual futura. Esta propriedade intelectual seria licenciada ou explorada de alguma forma no futuro. Após a validação da ontologia, foi realizado um workshop para demonstrar a segunda contribuição desta dissertação, uma proposta sobre como utilizar a ontologia como motor para iniciar o processo tecnológico no contexto da identificação de oportunidades de comercialização futura da tecnologia. No final, este estudo respondeu à pergunta de investigação colocada e às questões de competência relacionadas. Consequentemente, pode-se dizer que com esta investigação, foi eficazmente desenvolvido um modelo de referência para apoiar a construção de soluções Operador 4.0 para a indústria.The Operator 4.0 concept plays a key role in the kind of industry we find ourselves in today, Industry 4.0. In the course of the literature review, it became evident that there was an absence of a reference model to support the development of innovative concepts for Operator 4.0. Therefore, this research will focus on its development, in partnership with Fraunhofer Portugal Research Center for Assistive Information and Communication Solutions - Fraunhofer AICOS. As a result, an ontology was created, and Design Science Approach used to help its development, followed by a first validation by Fraunhofer Portugal experts. A Focus Group session was held with experts from Fraunhofer Portugal, who participated in the validation of the ontology as well as the evaluation of the competence questions, as a final validation. This study contributed to a better understanding of how knowledge organization (Frishammar, Lichtenthaler, & Rundquist, 2012) in a given technological domain might assist in decision making when a new research project is proposed that may result in future intellectual property. This intellectual property would be licensed or exploited in some way in the future. Following the ontology validation, a workshop was held to demonstrate the second contribution of this dissertation, a proposal on how to use the ontology as a driver to start the technology process in the context of identifying opportunities for future commercialization of the technology. In the end, this study answered the research question and related competence questions. Therefore, it can be said that with this research, a reference model has been effectively developed to support the construction of Operator 4.0 solutions for industry

Big data analytics for time critical maritime and aerial mobility forecasting

The correlated exploitation of heterogeneous data sources offering very large archival and streaming data is important to increase the accuracy of computations when analysing and predicting future states of moving entities. Aiming to significantly advance the capacities of systems to improve safety and effectiveness of critical operations involving a large number of moving entities in large geographical areas, this paper describes progress achieved towards time critical big data analytics solutions to user-defined challenges in the air-traffic management and maritime domains. Besides, this paper presents further research challenges concerning data integration and management, predictive analytics for trajectory and events forecasting, and visual analytics

A Pattern Approach to Examine the Design Space of Spatiotemporal Visualization

Pattern language has been widely used in the development of visualization systems. This dissertation applies a pattern language approach to explore the design space of spatiotemporal visualization. The study provides a framework for both designers and novices to communicate, develop, evaluate, and share spatiotemporal visualization design on an abstract level. The touchstone of the work is a pattern language consisting of fifteen design patterns and four categories. In order to validate the design patterns, the researcher created two visualization systems with this framework in mind. The first system displayed the daily routine of human beings via a polygon-based visualization. The second system showed the spatiotemporal patterns of co-occurring hashtags with a spiral map, sunburst diagram, and small multiples. The evaluation results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed design patterns to guide design thinking and create novel visualization practices

A Telerehabilitation System for the Selection, Evaluation and Remote Management of Therapies

Telerehabilitation systems that support physical therapy sessions anywhere can help save healthcare costs while also improving the quality of life of the users that need rehabilitation. The main contribution of this paper is to present, as a whole, all the features supported by the innovative Kinect-based Telerehabilitation System (KiReS). In addition to the functionalities provided by current systems, it handles two new ones that could be incorporated into them, in order to give a step forward towards a new generation of telerehabilitation systems. The knowledge extraction functionality handles knowledge about the physical therapy record of patients and treatment protocols described in an ontology, named TRHONT, to select the adequate exercises for the rehabilitation of patients. The teleimmersion functionality provides a convenient, effective and user-friendly experience when performing the telerehabilitation, through a two-way real-time multimedia communication. The ontology contains about 2300 classes and 100 properties, and the system allows a reliable transmission of Kinect video depth, audio and skeleton data, being able to adapt to various network conditions. Moreover, the system has been tested with patients who suffered from shoulder disorders or total hip replacement.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness grant number FEDER/TIN2016-78011-C4-2R