10.2017:

This study is focused on an experimental study that has been carried out by COPELABS in cooperation with CIS-IUL and with Escola EB2,3, Pedro D’Orey da Cunha. This is an interdisciplinary study developed in the context of the COPELABS Proxemics Data Lab project, FCT reference number UID/MULTI/04111/2016, and involved an interdisciplinary team composed of computer scientists, and social psychologists, the school, as well as 80-140 students (10 to 14 year old) from different classes. Aiming at analyzing social interaction patterns of children in regards to different aspects such as contact theory and well-being and spaces, this study contemplated an interdisciplinary methodology where data obtained via surveys has been crossed with data obtained via a non-intrusive publicly available software that senses roaming patterns, PerSense Mobile Light (PML). Specific aspects being analyzed are: I) inter-prejudice reduction based on contact between members of different groups; ii) clustering aspects and mobility patterns to better perceive aspects such as inter-personal interaction; iii) relation of mobility towards spaces and well-being.

Authors: Mauro Bianchi, Anna Pegna, Rute Carvalho Sofia, Igor dos Santos, Ana Loureiro, Joana Santos, Ricardo Rodrigues (IUL).

01.2018:

Students' Topics and Grants 2017/2018, SITI R&D team at COPELABS, University Lusofona:
http://copelabs.ulusofona.pt/index.php/others/open-positions

07.2017:Check out the demos of Oi! and Now@ in Ciencia 2017!

Miguel Tavares (SITI) speaking in Ciencia 2017 about NSense and the UMOBILE Now@ demos!

10.2017:

Within the European project H2020 UMOBILE the research group SITI (Informatics Systems and Technologies) of the R&D lab COPELABS, University Lusófona,  is investigating the usage of NDN- Named Data Networking to extend data-centric communications into more dynamic wireless scenarios, such as emergency situations, or accessible communications.

With this propose, COPELABS is devising an NDN Android implementation for opportunistic networks, called NDN-OPP, and two applications: a content sharing application called Now@; a short messaging application, called Oi!.

Based on NDN-OPP, both Now@ and Oi! applications are able to exchange data and send short messages, respectively, directly between neighbor devices, via Wi-Fi direct, of via an access network, via Wi-Fi.

Still within the UMOBILE project, SITI/COPELABS is creating a local testbed, encompassing SAMSUNG smartphones, Wi-Fi access points and one NDN router, which provides access to the NDN Global test bed.

04.2016:

COPELABS is developing, in the context of the H2020 UMOBILE project, a set of applications that does not require Internet access for users to exchange information. Such opportunistic transmission applications rely on social interaction between devices to better propagate (route) information.

Oi! is one of such tools. Under development with the purpose of allowing message exchange without Internet access, Oi! considers the SOCIO framework to better select nodes to propagate the messages to.

Interested? http://goo.gl/NG8f3R

07.2016:

 In July 2016, COPELABS has been awarded additional funding by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) in the context of its research unit Funding Support Programme 2016. This additional funding award amounts to 20 300 Euros for the period of 2016-2018, and refers to the Proxemics Data Lab project that has been established in June 2016 by COPELABS. In 2015, COPELABS had been awarded with a grade of "Good" and a core funding of 30 000 Euros funding by FCT in the category of small unit (less than 40 researchers holding a PhD) with high laboratorial intensity, based on its proposed strategic planning for 2015-2020.

REHAB 2016: 4th Workshop on ICTs for improving Patients Rehabilitation Research Techniques . This workshop invites authors to submit contributions on concepts Virtual Rehabilitation Discussion, applications, techniques or environments where interaction design play a central role by improving the rehabilitation process at all levels. http://www.rehab-workshop.org/2016/

COPELABS, OPIN Clinic, Municipality of Caldas da Rainha: 07.04.2016 workshop, social technology for well-being. http://goo.gl/NlVefh

NSENSE:  Data concerning social interaction and propinquity based on wireless  and bluetooth, contributed by S. Firdose, L. Lopes, W. Moreira, R. Sofia, P. Mendes.  This data set comprises experiments carried out considering Android devices carried by people around. http://www.crawdad.org/copelabs/usense/

Together with its spin-off Senception and with MainSide SGPS, COPELABS is organizing a pilot of the DDicas project to occur in Lisbon, LxFactory OpenDay in May 2016. The pilot allows visitors to get real-time information concerning available activities and events to occur on May 2016. Download the DDicasM application at http://www.ddicas.pt! and enjoy announces in advance about activities to occur!

The NSENSE beta version is out! NSENSE aims at better understanding the physical and social context of the users. In the beta version application provides some context data in non-intrusive way, and the data(not personal) are stored only on the device, not being sent to the Cloud.  This application is a product of the CitySense project which exploits its capabilities to stimulate social behaviour, encourage cooperation among users and provide trustable means for user interaction.

PhD programme New Media and Pervasive Systems - NEMPS - applications are open for 2016/2017!

 Society has been having a predominant role due to the fact that citizens use the Internet not only to participate in provided services, but also by providing new services. The impact of this active participation is the consequence of two fundamental principles of Informatics Sciences: i) a fast-paced evolution of Internet services and architectures; ii) a wider interaction and immersion of the Internet user, as integrating part of these services, and technologies.

It is within this context that the NEMPS doctoral programme has been developed. NEMPS has as main goal to train individuals within the context of Informatics Sciences, but with specific expertise that can assist in solving and deriving innovation adequate to the Internet paradigms that are being raised due to the empowerment of the Internet user. Such expertise is derived from two main informatics sciences sub-areas: New Media and Pervasive Systems.

New COPELABS publication in Infocom 2016: Oi! - Opportunistic Data Transmission Based on Wi-Fi Direct, by L. Lopes, R. Sofia, P. Mendes, W. Moreira Jr. Oi! is a simple and opportunistic application that allows exchange of data even in the verge of no Internet access, by relying on opportunistic communication approaches. Developed in the context of the H2020 UMOBILE project, Oi! is open-source.

Contact COPELABS for further details!

IMMERSIVE LIVES is a spin-off project from COPELABS that was born from the consolidated experience of over of 10 years in designing, developing and validating immersive worlds. These worlds were devised to simulate critical situations where humans have difficulties in finding an easy get-out strategy.

At IMMERSIVE LIVES we believe that immersive worlds are the solution every time humans have to perform challenging conditions that are difficult to operate in real-life contexts.

 09.2016:

NSense: A People-centric, non-intrusive Opportunistic Sensing Tool for Contextualizing Social Interaction

The scientific paper NSense (Rute C. Sofia, Saeik Firdose, Luis Amaral Lopes, Waldir Moreira and Paulo Mendes) has been accepted in IEEE Healthcom 2016 (September 14th-18th, Munich). NSense is a software tool developed by COPELABS that tracks and infers social interaction aspects in the form of computational utility functions that aim at describing two indicators of interaction: propinquity, and social interaction level.

Ddicashas been presented in Mobicom2016, Mobile application contest, on October 4th 2016, NY,USA. Ddicas is a tool that relies on Wi-Fi fencing to perform user recommendations concerning local events or activities.

DDicas has the following advantages: low-cost; no need to have constant Internet access; no need to have constant GPS access (works indoors and outdoors); advertisement provided based on interests, and not based on geo-fencing.