Papers by Fernando Antonio Mota Trinta
2017 IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games (CIG), 2017
Location-Based games (LBGs) are a subtype of digital games that uses the location of players as a... more Location-Based games (LBGs) are a subtype of digital games that uses the location of players as a key component for playability, including changes to the game state. However, a significant challenge that threatens the development and popularization of LBGs is the game balancing. Since LBGs rely on players' location, it is hard to manually design interactions, challenges, and game scenarios for each part of the world. Thus, the same LBG is likely to present varying difficulty levels depending on the player's location due to differences in terrain, distance, and transport availability. As a result, even modern LBGs show huge balancing differences between regions and they do not explore competition between players like other game genres. In this paper, we present measurements to estimate game balancing in modern LBGs and introduce a method that uses Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) to automatically edit instances of these games to minimize differences in game balancing. Addition...
Proceedings of the XV Brazilian Symposium on Multimedia and the Web
WebMedia is an annual event promoted by the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC), and it is the most ... more WebMedia is an annual event promoted by the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC), and it is the most important forum for researchers and professionals in Multimedia, Hypermedia and Web areas in Brazil. In its 15th edition WebMedia aims to join researchers, students and practitioners, from Brazil and abroad, for discussing problems related to the Symposium topics. This year WebMedia is held in Fortaleza, Ceara, from October 05 to 07. In this edition WebMedia 2009 is being organized together with three other relevant events: the XXIV Brazilian Symposium on Data Bases (SBBD), the XXIII Brazilian Symposium on software Engineering (SBES) and the VI Brazilian Symposium on Collaborative Systems (SBSC). The topics of interest intersection provided by those symposia is a great opportunity for interchange of ideas and work among researchers, practitioners and students.
Distributed Multiplayer Games have become widely popular in the last few years. Traditionally, th... more Distributed Multiplayer Games have become widely popular in the last few years. Traditionally, these applications have been designed for personal computers connected over wired networks. Recently, advances in mobile computing and wireless communication have pushed multiplayer games into mobile handheld devices. An even more recent concept is called pervasive gaming. A pervasive game is a game that is always present, available to the player through different devices and networks. Pervavise Games rise many questions related to their software design and infra-structure support to their development and deployment. This thesis addresses part of these problems, specially those related with the playability adaptation due to device heterogeneity. Scenarios are presented, where players are almost always connected to the virtual world. Players using different devices can be side by side inside the virtual world, competing or cooperating, according their objectives. These games also take advan...
In this paper, we present a study conducted to assess an Augmented Reality (AR) game called Aurag... more In this paper, we present a study conducted to assess an Augmented Reality (AR) game called Auragame, developed using an AR platform (Aurasma) without software coding. The game was created to demonstrate the potential of AR authoring tools in developing usable and entertaining applications. Auragame proposes players to solve a set of enigmas by gathering facts in the form of augmented reality objects, spread throughout the environment. Additionally, Auragame requires users to handle physical objects and explore the real world through a set of tasks and challenges, thus revealing the possibilities for expanding game design and interaction. By developing and assessing Auragame, we claim that a game framework developed for people with little or no programming knowledge can be used to create fun pervasive applications by using AR features. We implemented a usability evaluation of the game with 20 users. Results indicate Auragame was considered entertaining by players and its game flow w...
Cloud services change the economics of computing by enabling users to pay only for the capacity t... more Cloud services change the economics of computing by enabling users to pay only for the capacity that they actually use. In this context, cloud providers have their own accounting models including their billing mechanisms and pricing schemes to achieve this efficient pay-as-you-go model. Thus it is important to study this heterogeneity aiming to map out the existing accounting models to become possible new proposals or future standardizations. Therefore, this paper focuses on mapping accounting models for cloud computing, where a mapping study process was undertaken, and a total of 23 primary studies were considered, which evidenced 5 accounting models, 23 different pricing scheme types and 4 primary studies related to SLA (Service-Level Agreement) composition. Although the significant number of studies found address grid computing it was possible to identify one accounting model which was very complete from different points of view for cloud environments.
Distributed Co-authoring of Courses on the Internet
Nowadays, Web-based Distance Learning Applications constitute an important research area for educ... more Nowadays, Web-based Distance Learning Applications constitute an important research area for educators. This paper presents the major requirements for the support of Web-based coauthoring of classes for distance learning. Those requirements involve a high degree of complexity and the distributed processing of information, which lead to the search for solutions using the Distributed Object Paradigm. This approach is encouraged by the natural distribution of the Internet, as well as of Distance Learning Applications, associated with the lack of an appropriate support to develop distributed applications on the Web.
The world is facing a complicated moment in which social isolation is necessary. Therefore, to mi... more The world is facing a complicated moment in which social isolation is necessary. Therefore, to minimize the problems of companies, remote work is being widely adopted, which is only possible because of existing technologies, including cloud computing. Choosing the providers to host the business applications is a complex task, as there are many providers and most of them offer various services with the same functionality and different capabilities. Thus, in this paper, we propose an approach, called P UM 2 Q, for selecting providers to host a distributed application based on microservices that have little communication between them. P UM 2 Q is a provider selection approach based on multi-criteria, and it copes with the needs of microservices individually and in parallel. The proposed approach extends our previous one, UM 2 Q, and should be incorporated by PacificClouds. Besides, we carry out a performance evaluation by varying the number of requirements, microservices, and providers. We also compare P UM 2 Q and UM 2 Q. The results presented by P UM 2 Q are better than those given by UM 2 Q, showing not only its viability but also expanding the number of approaches adopted by PacificClouds. As a result, P UM 2 Q making the tasks of the software architect, who is the user of PacificClouds, more flexible.
Using Mobile Cloud Computing for Developing Context-Aware Multimedia Applications
Special Topics in Multimedia, IoT and Web Technologies
Mobile cloud computing (MCC) and context-aware computing are research topics with growing evidenc... more Mobile cloud computing (MCC) and context-aware computing are research topics with growing evidence. The former seeks to leverage cloud computing features to improve the performance of mobile applications and reduce the energy consumption of mobile devices, while the latter seeks effective ways to build applications that react to changes in its context environment. This chapter aims at presenting main concepts, solutions, and technologies related to the integration of MCC and context-aware applications. We will also introduce CAOS, an android-based framework to build context-aware apps using MCC concepts. We present an application built with CAOS to illustrate how context-aware apps may be enhanced with data and computing offloading features. In addition, we will highlight research challenges and opportunities that come with such integration.
Proceedings of the 11th ACM Symposium on Design and Analysis of Intelligent Vehicular Networks and Applications
Computational offloading is a technique commonly indicated to mitigate computational and energy c... more Computational offloading is a technique commonly indicated to mitigate computational and energy constraints on mobile devices. However, this procedure occurs over a wireless network, an insecure environment, and susceptible to attacks. Currently, one of the main problems related to offloading is how to perform it safely. By acting in conjunction with the TLS protocol, secure gRPC connections ensure the authenticity and integrity of the data transmitted through a network, which provides greater security for distributed applications. In this work, we conducted experiments that evaluated the performance of secure gRPC connections during the computational offloading procedures in a Mobile Cloud Computing scenario. The tests adopted an Android image manipulation application that performs the offloading into a Go or Java process using the multilanguage framework gRPC. The results indicated that the adoption of secure gRPC connections saved up to 9 times the processing time and up to 88% of the mobile device's energy consumption compared to local processing. CCS CONCEPTS • Security and privacy → Mobile and wireless security.
2017 16th Brazilian Symposium on Computer Games and Digital Entertainment (SBGames)
Location-Based Games (LBGs) are a subclass of pervasive games that make use of location technolog... more Location-Based Games (LBGs) are a subclass of pervasive games that make use of location technologies to consider the players' geographic position in the game rules and mechanics. This research presents a model to describe and represent LBGs. The proposed model decouples location, mechanics, and game content from their implementation. We aim at allowing LBGs to be edited quickly and deployed on many platforms. The core model component is LEGaL, a language derived from NCL (Nested Context Language) to model and represented the game structure and its multimedia contents (e.g., video, audio, 3D objects, etc.). It allows the modelling of mission-based games by supporting spatial and temporal relationships between game elements and multimedia documents. We validated our approach by implementing a LEGaL interpreter, which was coupled to an LBG authoring tool and a Game Server. These tools enabled us to reimplement a real LBG using the proposed model to attest its utility. We also edited the original game by using an external tool to showcase how simple is to transpose an LBG using the concepts introduced in this work. Results indicate both the model and LEGaL can be used to foster the design of LBGs.
A Load Balancing Technique for Heterogeneous Distributed Networks
Pdpta, 2000
Informatics in Education
Mark Weiser coined the term Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp) describing a future in which everyday ... more Mark Weiser coined the term Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp) describing a future in which everyday life-objects would have embedded computers providing services anytime and anywhere. This paradigm is theme recurrent in many graduate courses of Computer Science around the world. To better understand the challenge of teaching Ubiquitous Computing (Ubi-Comp), we surveyed 15 professors and 60 graduate and undergraduate students from 16 universities. According to this survey, the two most challenging Ubicomp concepts to explain in a lecture are context-awareness and middleware platforms. Results also showed professors' difficulty in finding tools to assist the practical teaching of UbiComp's concepts. Current UbiComp tools require high programming skills or they are not designed for educational purposes. Therefore, this work presents the design, development, and evaluation of LUCy (Learning Ubiquitous Computing Easily), a Virtual Learning Environment which aids UbiComp practical classes. LUCy has two main elements: a Web tool and an Android mobile app. The former provides UbiComp theory materials, videos, practices, and simulations. The latter uses smartphones features and sensors to run simulations of UbiComp concepts. We evaluated LUCy during Context-Awareness classes in UbiComp courses, at the same university, along with three distinct semesters. In different three sessions, we gathered information about LUCy's pedagogical and usability issues. Then, we performed a quasi-experiment using a pretest and posttest design methodology with twentyseven students. Results showed LUCy practices significantly improves students reasoning about Context-Aware concepts.
Anais Estendidos do XXIV Simpósio Brasileiro de Sistemas Multimídia e Web
The development of Location Based Mobile Games (LBMG) is a complex task. To overcome this problem... more The development of Location Based Mobile Games (LBMG) is a complex task. To overcome this problem, authoring tools have been proposed aimint at reducing the time and eff ort required to create these applications. One of these tools is LAGARTo, a web authoring application to help non-programmers users to create multiplayer LBMGs with augmented reality features. The first version of LAGARTo presented a usability level below end-users expectations. Therefore, this research proposes a new usability project for the LAGARTo editor to address its current problems. This document presents the results already obtained from a work in progress, with promising results of improvement in the usability of LAGARTo.
Anais Estendidos do XXIV Simpósio Brasileiro de Sistemas Multimídia e Web
Professional sports are increasingly dependents of technological resources given the remarkable l... more Professional sports are increasingly dependents of technological resources given the remarkable level of competitiveness faced by high performance athletes. With such resources, it is possible to analyze matches, avoid mistakes that may be committed by the referee or even to analyze the athletes’ performance. One of these sports is beach volleyball, one of most popular sports in Brazil. In the past 12 years, the Brazilian volleyball teams has been always among the best teams in the world. The athletes’ performance during the jump movement is one of the main factors that one team needs to improve to be successful because it is the movement that is most performed during a volleyball match. There are some approaches that study the jump movement in order to calculate its height and give evidences to improve it. Nevertheless, these solutions are expensive and are not viable to athletes with no sponsorship. Having this in mind, this works presents VolleyJump, an application created to ana...
Anais do Simpósio Brasileiro de Computação Ubíqua e Pervasiva (SBCUP)
Pesquisadores de Jogos Ubíquos buscam descobrir como dispositivos de computação e sensores podem ... more Pesquisadores de Jogos Ubíquos buscam descobrir como dispositivos de computação e sensores podem promover entretenimento. Eles tentam estender a experiência do jogo para além do mundo virtual extrapolando seus limites para o mundo físico. Esses jogos herdam desafios tradicionais de ambos os domínios (i.e., desenvolvimento de jogos e sistemas ubíquos), como heterogeneidade, descoberta de recursos, comunicação, e limitação de recursos. Neste artigo, é proposto e avaliado um framework de jogos de cartas ubíquos, chamado Tardigrade. O framework minimiza os desafios de implementar este tipo de jogo. Por fim, o artigo apresenta uma avaliação com oito desenvolvedores de dispositivos móveis e discute os resultados alcançados.
Anais do XXIX Simpósio Brasileiro de Informática na Educação (SBIE 2018)
Proceedings of the 22nd Brazilian Symposium on Multimedia and the Web - Webmedia '16, 2016
Mobile and context-aware applications are now a reality thanks to the increased capabilities of m... more Mobile and context-aware applications are now a reality thanks to the increased capabilities of mobile devices. In the last twenty years, researchers had proposed several software infrastructures to help the development of context-aware applications. We verified that most of them do not store contextual data history and that few of these infrastructures take into account the privacy of contextual data. This article presents a service named COP (Contextual data Offloading service with Privacy support) to mitigate these problems. Its foundations are: (i) a context model; (ii) a privacy policies; and (iii) a list of synchronization policies. The COP aims at storing and processing the contextual data generated from several mobile devices, using the computational power of the cloud. We have implemented one experiment evaluated the impact of contextual filter processing in the mobile device and the remote environment. In this experiment, we measured the processing time and the energy consumption of COP approach. The analysis detected that the migration of data from mobile device to a remote environment is advantageous.
Ubiquitous healthcare environments introduce technological facilities that give users new possibi... more Ubiquitous healthcare environments introduce technological facilities that give users new possibilities of access and interaction, as for example, the access to patients' information by using a portable device. These environments need to offer support for the professionals' mobility, since mobility is an inherent characteristic of physicians' job. In addition, it is important to consider that a physician activity is frequently interrupted during its execution because physicians do not spend a lot of time in the same place doing an activity. A middleware based service infrastructure, named UbiDoctor, was developed to support ubiquitous healthcare applications providing session management and content adaptation. This paper presents the first results for the test evaluation realized with UbiDoctor, which show that UbiDoctor can improve the physician productivity.
Revista Brasileira De Informatica Na Educacao, 2000
Atualmente, aplicações da Web para fins de Educação a Distância constituem um dos campos de maior... more Atualmente, aplicações da Web para fins de Educação a Distância constituem um dos campos de maior pesquisa para educadores. Este artigo apresenta os principais requisitos para suporte a co-autoria de aulas na Web. Esses requisitos envolvem um alto grau de complexidade e o processamento distribuído de informações, levando a busca de soluções através do paradigma de objetos distribuídos. Esta abordagem se dá pela própria natureza distribuída que a Internet, bem como aplicações de educação a distância possuem, associada a falta de um suporte apropriado para a criação de aplicações distribuídas na Web.
Proceedings of the 12th Brazilian Symposium on Multimedia and the Web, Nov 19, 2006
This work in progress paper presents a particular view for future Networked Multiplayer Games. In... more This work in progress paper presents a particular view for future Networked Multiplayer Games. In our point of view, these applications will include features from pervasive computing, allowing players to enjoy them using different devices, such as PDAs and Mobile Phones, almost anywhere, anytime. These games demand that the way each player interacts with the game must be adapted according their context information, such as players location and device. In this document, we call these applications Pervasive Multiplayer Multiplatform Games (PM2G). We present scenarios that show intended characteristics for these games. Based on requirements extracted from our scenarios, we also propose six services that aims at allowing PM2G's development and deployment.
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Papers by Fernando Antonio Mota Trinta