Cláudia Ortet, Francisco Regalado and Tânia Ribeiro, PhD students from DigiMedia (Information and Communication in Digital Platforms), recently presented their research at the 26th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII2024). The conference took place in Washington D.C. from June 29 to July 4, 2024.

During the session on “Digital Empowerment of Senior Citizens to Promote an Active and Healthy Ageing,” chaired by Professor Ana Isabel Veloso, Francisco Regalado (in-person) presented two papers, and Cláudia Ortet (online) another one, respectively:

• ⁠Game-Based Solutions for Impacting Digital Competences in Aged Populations: Insights from an Empathetic Workshop. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61543-6_19 
• ⁠Benchmarking the User Experience and Usability of Online Social Networks: Proposal of an Evaluation Framework. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61543-6_29 
• ⁠Towards a New (Old) Generation of Cyclotourists: Implementing an Improved Concept of Jizo Brand. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61546-7_15

In a complementary session on “New Media Use in the Everyday Life of Older People – I,” chaired by Professor Eugène Loos, Francisco (in-person) presented a third paper:

• ⁠Navigating Paris Digitally: An Exploratory Research of 360º Immersive Videos with Portuguese Participants. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61546-7_17 

Tânia Ribeiro (in-person) presented her research during the session on “Playful Experiences: Design and Impact,” chaired by Professor Daniel Říha. Her presentations included:

• Exploring the Variables of Empathy in Gamers: A Comprehensive Survey. https://10.1007/978-3-031-60692-2_8 
• ⁠Empathic Characters for Digital Games: A Prototype Proposal. https://10.1007/978-3-031-60695-3_17 

It is worth noting that the Papers@USA FLAD Scholarship made the in-person participation of Francisco and Tânia possible. 

HCII 2024 is a premier venue for disseminating and exchanging cutting-edge scientific knowledge in both theoretical and practical aspects of Human-Computer Interaction. The conference proceedings are available at https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs .

The members of the DigiMedia Scientific Committee met for one day, to participate in different teambuilding activities. 23 members of the Scientific Committee met at PCI – Creative Science Park, in Ílhavo, on July 5, 2024. This was an opportunity to rethink the future of our Research Unit, bringing up new ideas of possible projects and networks.

Tânia Ribeiro, a PhD student from the Doctoral Program in Information and Communication in Digital Platforms at the University of Aveiro (UA), has received the SILVER Award at the 2024 “HCI Student Design Competition” with the project “Creating Empathic Characters: A Method”. This brainstorming tool, which is an outcome of her PhD research, is designed to help creating characters that effectively communicate empathy in digital games, a project under the supervision of Professor Ana Isabel Veloso (UA) and Peter Brinson, Professor of Practice from the University of Southern California.

The selection process was overseen by a distinguished seven-member international jury composed of experts from various academic institutions, ensuring a rigorous and impartial evaluation. The award was presented during the Opening Plenary Session of the HCI International 2024 conference, on Monday, 01 July 2024, from 18:30 to 20:00 EDT in Washington, DC, USA (HCI International).

This recognition highlights DigiMedia’s ongoing research and development in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) while emphasizing the importance of empathy in digital game character design, enhancing user experience in digital platforms, and contributing to the broader field of HCI.