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- Virtual sign : a real time bidirectional translator of portuguese sign languagePublication . Escudeiro, Paula; Escudeiro, Nuno; Reis, Rosa; Lopes, Jorge; Norberto, Marcelo; Baltazar, Ana Bela; Barbosa, Maciel; Bidarra, JoséPromoting equity, equal opportunities to all and social inclusion of people with disabilities is a concern of modern societies at large and a key topic in the agenda of European Higher Education. Despite all the progress, we cannot ignore the fact that the conditions provided by the society for the deaf are still far from being perfect. The communication with deaf by means of written text is not as efficient as it might seem at first. In fact, there is a very deep gap between sign language and spoken/written language. The vocabulary, the sentence construction and the grammatical rules are quite different among these two worlds. These facts bring significant difficulties in reading and understanding the meaning of text for deaf people and, on the other hand, make it quite difficult for people with no hearing disabilities to understand sign language. The deployment of tools to assist the daily communication, in schools, in public services, in museums and other, between deaf people and the rest may be a significant contribution to the social inclusion of the deaf community. The work described in this paper addresses the development of a bidirectional translator between Portuguese Sign Language and Portuguese text. The translator from sign language to text resorts to two devices, namely the Microsoft Kinect and 5DT Sensor Gloves in order to gather data about the motion and shape of the hands. The hands configurations are classified using Support Vector Machines. The classification of the movement and orientation of the hands are achieved through the use of Dynamic Time Warping algorithm. The translator exhibits a precision higher than 90%. In the other direction, the translation of Portuguese text to Portuguese Sign Language is supported by a 3D avatar which interprets the entered text and performs the corresponding animations.
- Game design and the gamification of content : assessing a project for learning sign languagePublication . Bidarra, José; Escudeiro, Paula; Escudeiro, Nuno; Reis, Rosa; Baltazar, Ana Bela; Rodrigues, Pedro; Lopes, Jorge; Norberto, Marcelo; Barbosa, MacielThis paper discusses the concepts of game design and gamification of content, based on the development of a serious game aimed at making the process of learning sign language enjoyable and interactive. In this game the player controls a character that interacts with various objects and non- player characters, with the aim of collecting several gestures from the Portuguese Sign Language corpus. The learning model used pushes forward the concept of gamification as a learning process valued by students and teachers alike, and illustrates how it may be used as a personalized device for amplifying learning. Our goal is to provide a new methodology to involve students and general public in learning specific subjects using a ludic, participatory and interactive approach supported by ICT- based tools. Thus, in this paper we argue that perhaps some education processes could be improved by adding the gaming factor through technologies that are able to involve students in a way that is more physical (e.g. using Kinect and sensor gloves), so learning becomes more intense and memorable.
- X-TEC: a new development model for educational softwarePublication . Escudeiro, Paula; Bidarra, JoséIn this paper we propose a new development model for Educational Software called X-TEC. It is based on the paradigms of software engineering applied to the construction of educational software. This model allows educational software developers to reduce the gap between instructional design and technical development. Our approach presents two overlapping extensions: the instructional model and the learning environment. The instructional model will be related to the instructor/educational software and the learning environment will be associated with the student/educational software. The X-TEC model promotes the interaction between these two extensions, allowing the deployment of a common development platform.
- A new development model for educational softwarePublication . Escudeiro, Paula; Bidarra, José
- Quantitative Evaluation Framework (QEF)Publication . Escudeiro, Paula; Bidarra, José
- QEF - Quantitative Evaluation Framework: evaluating educational softwarePublication . Escudeiro, Paula; Bidarra, JoséIn this paper we propose a Framework QEF (Quantitative Evaluation Framework) to evaluate educational software systems built with X-TEC (Techno-Didactical Extension for Instruction/Learning Based on Computer) model, in order to validate and strengthen the potential quality of eLearning systems. The Quantitative Evaluation Framework evaluates the Educational software quality on a three dimensional space. Each dimension aggregates a set of factors. A given factor is a component that represents the system performance from a particular point of view. The quality of a given system is defined in a tridimensional Cartesian quality space and measured, in percentage, relatively to a hypothetically ideal system, represented in our quality space.
- A kinect game in the VirtualSign project: training and learning with gesturesPublication . Escudeiro, Paula; Escudeiro, Nuno; Reis, Rosa; Baltazar, Ana Bela; Rodrigues, Pedro; Lopes, Jorge; Norberto, Marcelo; Barbosa, Maciel; Bidarra, JoséThis paper presents the development of a game aimed at making the process of learning sign language enjoyable and interactive, using the VirtualSign Translator. In this game the player controls a character that interacts with various objects and non-player characters with the aim of collecting several gestures from the Portuguese Sign Language. Through the connection with VirtualSign Translator the data gloves and Kinect support this interaction and the character can then represent the gestures. This allows for the user to visualize and learn or train the various existing configurations of gestures. To improve the interactivity and to make the game more interesting and motivating, several checkpoints were placed along game levels. This provides the players with a chance to test the knowledge they have acquired so far on the checkpoints, after performing the signs using Kinect. A High Scores system was also created, as well as a History option, to ensure that the game is a continuous and motivating learning process.
- Educational software engineering models: evaluating educational softwarePublication . Escudeiro, Paula; Bidarra, JoséThis paper presents the overall evaluation of the Quantitative Evaluation Framework (QEF) approach which has been applied in an operational teaching environment for the last six years. During this period we have evaluated the difference between educational software systems that were developed using the Techno Didactical Extension for Instruction/Learning Based on Computer (X-TEC) model and educational software systems using other models. The X-TEC model is used in the development of educational software in order to strengthen the potential quality of e-Learning systems. We selected the QEF approach for this evaluation to highlight the strengths and limitations of the X-TEC model. We adapted the approach in a way that the essential criteria are assessed in a pre-evaluation phase which will cover the general usage requirements. In this research project we conduct experiments with groups of students and teachers in Multimedia Information Systems classes of Oporto Polytechnic, to examine the influence of training in an instructional system design approach on their attitude to re-use this approach, and on their performances in design, using this approach.
- Evaluating educational softwarePublication . Escudeiro, Paula; Bidarra, José; Escudeiro, NunoThis paper presents the overall evaluation of the Quantitative Evaluation Framework (QEF) approach which has been applied in an operational teaching environment for the last six years. During this period we have evaluated the difference between educational software systems that were developed using the Techno-Didactical Extension for Instruction/Learning Based on Computer (X-TEC) model and educational software systems using other models. The X-TEC model is used in the development of educational software in order to strengthen the potential quality of e-Learning systems. We selected the QEF approach for this evaluation to highlight the strengths and limitations of the X-TEC model. We adapted the approach in a way where the essential criteria are assessed in a pre-evaluation phase which will cover the general usage requirements. In this research project we conduct experiments with groups of students and teachers in Multimedia Information Systems classes of Oporto Polytechnic, to examine the influence of training in an instructional system design approach on their attitude to re-use this approach and on their performances in design, using this approach.
- Using games to make the process of learning sign language enjoyable and interactivePublication . Escudeiro, Paula; Escudeiro, Nuno; Reis, Rosa; Baltazar, Ana Bela; Rodrigues, Pedro; Lopes, Jorge; Norberto, Marcelo; Bidarra, JoséThe work presented in this paper consists in the development of a game to make the process of learning sign language enjoyable and interactive. In this game the player controls a character that interacts with various objects and non-player characters with the aim of collecting several gestures from the Portuguese Sign Language. This interaction is supported by data gloves and Kinect. These gestures can then be represented by the character. This allows the user to visualize and learn or train the various existing gestures. To improve the interactivity and to make the game more interesting and motivating, several checkpoints were placed along game levels. This will provide the players a chance to test the knowledge they have acquired so far on the checkpoints by performing the signs using Kinect. A High Scores system was also created as well as a history to ensure that the game is a continuous motivating process as well as a learning process.
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