An important part of our information-gathering behavior has always been to find out what other people think. People now actively use information technologies to seek out and understand the opinions of others. This is due to the availability and popularity of opinion-rich resources such as online review sites and personal blogs. The accommodation sector is one of those where the guest opinion dictates its future. This sector needs to adapt and update the services they offer to their guests in order to stay competitive.In this paper we outline the potential use of tree oriented visual techniques to map 1500 online reviews collected from 50 small and medium hotels (SMH). Our goal is to deliver visually the results of these reviews as straightforward and intuitively as possible to the accommodation managers, enabling them use it to support their decision making.

Tele-media-art is a web-based asynchronous e-learning platform, enabling blind students to have dance and theatre classes remotely, using low-cost motion tracking technology feasible for home use. Teachers and students submit dance recordings augmented with sound synthesis of their motions. Sound synthesis is generated by processing Kinect motion capture data, enabling blind students to compare the audio feedback of their motions with the audio generated by the teacher's motions. To study the feasibility of this approach, the authors present data on early testing of the prototype, performed with blindfolded users.

O ensino e aprendizagem da programação de computadores em ambiente e-learning constitui uma área que tem vindo a atrair um interesse crescente tanto por parte das universidades de ensino em rede como pelos investigadores do e-learning. Aprender a programar computadores requer o desenvolvimento de raciocínio lógico da parte do estudante, enquanto aprende a dominar as potencialidades de uma determinada linguagem de programação, a construir estruturas de dados e a desenvolver uma estratégia de resolução de problemas pela sua divisão e modularização em problemas mais simples de mais fácil conquista. Adicionalmente importa que o estudante desenvolva competências de trabalho em grupo, de estudo individual com elevados níveis de concentração para realizar trabalho de revisão e depuração de código fonte. O ensino on-line de programação de computadores é constituído por estes aspetos, exigindo um elevado grau de interação entre estudantes e destes com o professor. Neste artigo, apresentamos um conjunto de reflexões e propostas concretas de estratégias de implementação do ensino e aprendizagem da programação de computadores, de nível universitário, explorando o método de “design” de instruções como uma abordagem do diálogo, uma adaptação da taxonomia de Bloom, com base na experiência e no modelo pedagógico virtual da Universidade Aberta de Portugal.

This paper describes an interactive data visualization application that aims to show how the Portuguese people spent culturally their leisure time between 1994 and 2009. The leisure trend is displayed to the end-user through the use of different visualization techniques and visual cues. The authors developed the visual representations based on the use of simple and regular visual shapes that could be easily combined, interpreted, memorized and used. To better evaluate their results, the authors tested their prototype against a preselected group of subjects.

Objective The main goal of the CHUB (cartographic human body) model is to introduce a cartographic approach that can assist the analysis, visualization and diagnosis of medical images and related data. Method A cartographic model is proposed as a reference framework for the development of computer systems and applications. This model accommodates subtle spatial features of these data that may facilitate diagnosis. Medical images and related data are structured into different "human-referenced" information layers. Algebraic map operations are used to combine these layers and achieve greater insights into the information content. Results Two case studies were considered to evaluate and validate the model: hydrokinetic therapy and the diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis. A prototype based on the CHUB model was implemented and two different approaches were performed to test and evaluate it. Full acceptance of the model was achieved by clinicians who used the CHUB system. Conclusion A cartographic model provides a feasible means for analyzing and visualizing medical image and related data. CHUB is a suitable model that may be used as a common framework for systems, applications and/or support tools that analyze and visualize medical images and related data (for example, in disease diagnosis).