Visualization and Interaction
Virtual environments and mixed reality, in their various flavours and enabled by a multitude of devices, are very effective forms of communication, interactive experiences, learning and entertainment, leaving strong and lasting cognitive and emotional traces. This research and technological-oriented area, focuses on the development of user-centred, affective interfaces and user experiences, in the context of virtual worlds, virtual, augmented and mixed reality, adopting multimodal human-computer interaction approaches (using speech, silent speech, gesture, touch). This area is also active in 3D scene reconstruction and understanding, object recognition and classification, user modelling, affective computing, simulation, visualisation and human-robot interaction, with a focus on solutions for the following main domains: ambient assisted living, architecture, engineering and construction industries, digital heritage, computer games, scientific data visualisation, digital training and learning environments. Within this area ISTAR promotes the development of scientific exhibitions, like the ones for the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, where mixed realities are explored in the architectural design processes. In association with external stakeholders, we develop visualization and interaction solutions for several design problems, particularly when dealing with participatory design processes.
