Tiago Cardoso

Electronic procurement of partners is an important functionality during the life cycle of a virtual enterprise. A prototype implementation, featuring selection based on both internal or Internet-based suppliers’ directories, is discussed. The generation of call for tenders and support for management of received bids is introduced and directions for contract negotiation and decision support system are discussed.

Serious games are usually applied to cognitive learning. However, the development of recent Natural User Interfaces (NUI) enables us to use serious games for a more holistic training. This project proposes to implement an educative game that teaches medical students how to carry out a neurological examination. The purpose is to improve not only the cognitive knowledge of the young physicians but also their sensorimotor skills. The game takes place in a virtual doctor office, which is modelled in 3D. Many possible clinical cases related to different neurologic diseases are simulated. The users are tested at two skill levels. First of all, they have to choose the right exam according to the patient’s symptoms. This initial stage is used to assess the theoretical expertise of the students. If the choice is correct, the physical examination begins. In order to evaluate the motor performance, a Kinect NUI is used. Such a device allows for the natural and intuitive control of the doctor’s avatar because there is a direct link between the individual’s and the avatar’s joints. Due to the fact that the real movements of the student are recorded with some accuracy, it is possible to gauge whether or not the medical gesture is properly applied to the virtual patient. In particular, the force and the precision of the movements are measured and compared to reference values. After each examination immediate feedback is given, so that the learners may rectify their choices and improve the quality of their motor skills at the next training session. Overall, the objective of this software is to enable the future physicians to practice a basic medical exam on a wide scope of neurologic disorders, without any risk for the patients and through an enjoyable approach.

The practical implantation of the concept of dynamic virtual enterprise is still far from expectations due to a number of factors such as the lack of appropriate interoperable infrastructures and tools, lack of common ontology, and the socio-organizational difficulties. However, the creation of industry clusters supported by advanced information and communication tools can meanwhile provide a basis for the rapid creation of dynamic virtual enterprises in response to the market opportunities. A federated service management approach is introduced in this context and its application to the tourism industry is discussed. Finally, the support for the aggregation of simpler services into value-added services, implemented by distributed business processes within different organizations, is presented.

There are several research initiatives that tackle gesture recognition. Nevertheless the interaction between the input devices and an application level is still a hard task that has to be accomplished each time a new system is being developed. The objective of this research work is to facilitate that endeavor by introducing a new generic software layer between the gesture capture device and the application level. This layer will provide the introduction of a gesture library and a set of functionalities both to feed this library and pursue gesture recognition afterwards. The objective is to hinder lower-level software/hardware details from a developer towards letting him or her to focus directly at the Application Level. This article presents the created architecture for this new layer. The validation was made using the Leap Motion, at the Sensor Level, and creating a Serious Game devoted to Sign Language exercising, at the Application Level.

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