Support tools for 3D game creation

Nowadays, tools for developing videogames are a very important part of the development process in the game industry. Such tools are used to assist game developers in their tasks, allowing them to create functional games while writing a few lines of code. For example, these tools allow the users to import the content for the game, set the game logic, or produce the source code and compile it. There are several tasks and components regarding the development of videogames that may become unproductive, therefore, it’s necessary to automate and/or optimize such tasks. For example, the programming of events or dialogs can be a task that consumes too much time in the development cycle, and a tedious and repetitive task for the programmer. For this reason, the use of tools to support these tasks can be very important to increase productivity and help on the maintenance of the various processes that involve the development of videogames. This dissertation aims to demonstrate the advantages of the use of these kind of tools during the development of videogames, presenting a case study involving the development of a Serious Game entitled Clean World.Atualmente, as ferramentas para o desenvolvimento de jogos são uma parte bastante importante de todo o processo de desenvolvimento. Estas ferramentas servem para assistir os criadores de jogos nas tarefas que realizam, permitindo-lhes a criação de jogos funcionais escrevendo poucas linhas de código. Desenvolver um videojogo sem a utilização de ferramentas especializadas é um processo complexo e que consome bastante tempo, daí a existência de ferramentas que permitem ao utilizador importar os conteúdos para o jogo, definir a lógica de jogo, produzir o código fonte e compilá-lo. Este tipo de software é normalmente utilizado por quem se dedica à criação de jogos como hobby, ou por profissionais que procuram otimizar o processo de desenvolvimento de jogos. Existem várias componentes ao nível do desenvolvimento de videojogos que se tornam pouco produtivas, se não forem automatizados e/ou otimizadas. Por exemplo, a programação de eventos ou de diálogos pode ser uma tarefa que consome demasiado tempo no ciclo de desenvolvimento, para além de ser uma tarefa entediante e repetitiva no ponto de vista do programador. Por este motivo, a utilização de ferramentas pode ser muito importante no que diz respeito ao aumento da produtividade e manutenção dos vários processos que envolvem o desenvolvimento de videojogos. Nesta dissertação pretendemos demonstrar as vantagens da utilização dessas mesmas ferramentas durante o desenvolvimento de videojogos, através da apresentação de um caso de estudo que envolve o desenvolvimento de um Serious Game intitulado Clean World. Em Clean World, foram identificadas determinadas tarefas que se mostraram demasiado repetitivas e entediantes quando programadas por inteiro, como é o caso da adição, modificação ou remoção de componentes como diálogos, quest ou items. Tendo em conta este problema concreto, foram criadas algumas ferramentas de forma a aumentar a produtividade no desenvolvimento do jogo, tornando tarefas repetitivas e entediantes em processos simples e intuitivos. O conjunto de ferramentas é constituído por: Item Manager, Quest Manager, Dialog Manager e Terrain Creator

ARK: augmented reality kiosk

This paper aims at presenting a very first prototype of an Augmented Reality (AR) system that as been developed in recent months at our research group. The prototype adopts a kiosk format and allows users to directly interact with an AR environment using a conventional data glove. The most relevant feature of this environment is the use of a common monitor to display AR images, instead of employing specific Head-Mounted Displays. By integrating a half-silvered mirror and a black virtual hand, our solution solves the occlusion problem that normally occurs when a user interacts with a virtual environment displayed by a monitor or other projection system

Social Impact Bonds: a Review of their Strengths and Weaknesses.

This article analyses social impact bonds as an innovative instrument to finance projects in the social or environmental fields. These are instruments that require the collaboration of different stakeholders (multi-stakeholder approach), which may generate a new approach to social or environmental problems. When successful, they could save resources for States. They attract private capital to finance societal projects, allowing them, simultaneously, competitive remuneration and an effective impact. Since their remuneration/reimbursement is based on outcomes, there is a risk transfer (at least partially) from the public sector to the private sector. However, difficulties in articulation between the different participants and in the correct measurement of results/outcomes may limit the scope (size and timeframe) of the projects involved, as well as distract NGOs from their mission. Due to the growing importance of Social and Sustainable Finance in financial markets and public policies, the detailed study of these new instruments is highly recommended

ARK multi-user

This paper presents a monitor-based prototype for the visualisation and interaction of an Augmented Reality (AR) system, which recently developed at CCG and demonstrated during the SIACG2002 conference held in Guimarães, Portugal. ARK – Augmented Reality Kiosk - is a set-up based on the prototypes developed in the European Virtual Showcases project to which direct interaction has been added. A normal monitor and a half-silvered mirror constitute the usual set-up for the kiosk. By integrating a half-silvered mirror and a black virtual hand, the CCG solution solves the occlusion problem that normally occurs when a user interacts with a virtual environment displayed by a monitor or other projection system. Conceived with limited monetary resources this portable solution can be deployed in different application contexts as, for instance, culture heritage. This paper presents an extension of the solution to a multi-user platform for a Portuguese museum

Selective Coordination of Cu2+ and Subsequent Anion Detection Based on a Naphthalimide-Triazine-(DPA)2 Chemosensor

UIDB/50006/2020 SFRH/BD/120985/2016 Project LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-007660 PPBI-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122 DL 57-021/DL/2018 ROTEIRO/0031/2013-PINFRA/22161/2016A new fluorescent chemosensor for copper (II) and subsequent anion sensing was designed and fully characterized. The sensor consisted of a 1,8-naphthalimide core, bearing two terminal dipicolylamine (DPA) receptor units for binding metal cations, and an ethoxyethanol moiety for enhanced water solubility. The DPA units are connected to position 4 of the fluorophore via a triazine-ethylenediamine spacer. Fluorescence titration studies of the chemosensor revealed a high selectivity for Cu2+ over other divalent ions, the emissions were strongly quenched upon binding, and a stability constant of 5.52 log units was obtained. Given the distance from DPA chelating units and the fluorophore, quenching from the Cu2+ complexation suggests an electron transfer or an electronic energy transfer mechanism. Furthermore, the Cu2+-sensor complex proved to be capable of sensing anionic phosphate derivatives through the displacement of the Cu2+ cation, which translated into a full recovery of the luminescence from the naphthalimide. Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy studies performed in HeLa cells showed there was a high intracellular uptake of the chemosensor. Incubation in Cu2+ spiked media revealed a strong fluorescent signal from mitochondria and cell membranes, which is consistent with a high concentration of ATP at these intracellular sites.publishersversionpublishe

O modelo animentar de subjetivação: uma analítica do episódio da multiplicação dos peixes

Em momentos seminais do pensamento ocidental em torno da relação e limites entre animais humanos e animais não-humanos um certo aparato alimentar é, continuamente, trazido à frente, lançado sobre o próprio pensamento. Este movimento, numa tradição filosófica mais marcada, faz-se para que tanto o próprio alimento se distancie do que nos caracteriza como para que o animal, caminhando a par com o alimento, nos possibilite emancipar uma singularidade humana. Se o verdadeiro filósofo se distancia do alimento, como nos mostrou Sócrates, o que será pensar o próprio caminho do pensamento sem ter que retrair imediatamente o que o alimento traz consigo na sua tão ubíqua e efémera aparição? Esta dissertação tentará explorar a abertura executada por determinadas metáforas, práticas e narrativas alimentares no que diz respeito ao que estas dispõem como o específico campo para as relações entre animais humanos e animais não-humanos. Assim não terá apenas nestes momentos um foco que permite demarcar uma divisão, antes, simultaneamente, explicitará a ambiguidade e mutualidade destes espaços limítrofes. A palavra animento surge aqui como um operador que tanto nos permite descaracterizar a monstruosidade da categoria animal, quanto nos colocará, em termos da análise da relação humano-animal, sobre algo que terá vindo, historicamente, a ser recoberto por outros vetores: a questão alimentar

Soft and transferable skills acquisition through organizing a doctoral conference

UIDB/00066/2020.This article presents a 10-year experience of soft and transferable skills acquisition through the involvement of PhD students in the organization of an international conference. Soft and transferable skills acquisition is currently perceived as a core component of doctoral studies. Examples include writing and communication, teamwork, time management, leadership, resource management, negotiation, problem solving, listening, planning, entrepreneurial spirit, mastering ethics awareness, etc. The need for such skills is due to the leading role that doctoral students are expected to play in society. As such, various organizations have issued recommendations for doctoral programs to include a formal component of soft skills training. In this article, an effective way of introducing soft and transferable skills acquisition in doctoral engineering education is introduced. Namely, a form of collaborative project-based learning is designed as a compulsory course. This includes a set of base lectures, a long period of parallel working groups focusing on the various aspects of organizing an international conference, running the actual conference, and performing a post-conference assessment. Results and lessons learned demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed approach.publishersversionpublishe

Monitoring for a decidable fragment of MTL-∫

Temporal logics targeting real-time systems are traditionally undecidable. Based on a restricted fragment of MTL-R, we propose a new approach for the runtime verification of hard real-time systems. The novelty of our technique is that it is based on incremental evaluation, allowing us to e↵ectively treat duration properties (which play a crucial role in real-time systems). We describe the two levels of operation of our approach: offline simplification by quantifier removal techniques; and online evaluation of a three-valued interpretation for formulas of our fragment. Our experiments show the applicability of this mechanism as well as the validity of the provided complexity results

Early or Middle Stone Age? The lithic assemblage of Capangombe – Santo António, Namibe Province (Angola)

Capangombe – Santo António is an open-air site located 596 m a.s.l. at the foothill of Morro Santo António, Namibe Province (southwest Angola). The inselberg of Santo António is associated to the Chela escarpment developing from the Marginal Mountain range parallel to the Atlantic Ocean, separating the Angolan inland plateau from the coastal semi-arid to arid plain. A dissected valley formed by the Leba-Capangombe stream exposed a conglomerate with abundant stone tools assigned to the Early Stone Age (ESA). The site was discovered in 1966 by Miguel Ramos, who collected a total of 1776 lithic artifacts, and further published a small report about the assemblage in 1971. In this preliminary analysis, Ramos focused on cleavers using the “French school” typology for the “hachereaux” in Northern Africa and concluded that there are several morphotypes identified in Capangombe-Santo António with specific features, suggesting the occurrence of a local tradition for the Late ESA/Middle Stone Age (MSA). The study presented here is a new analysis of the lithic assemblage curated at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. A sample of 1017 artefacts was analyzed for this project applying an extended descriptive methodology to characterize lithic raw material procurement, reduction sequences and typological classes. The chrono-cultural model initially proposed for the site is revised thanks to recent advances in Stone Age studies