%T  National Conference on Human-Computer Interaction - RoCHI 2014
%C  Constanța
%D  4-5 September 2014
%G  ISSN 2344–1690
%E  Dorin Mircea Popovici
%E  Dragoș Daniel Iordache
%P  142
%W http://rochi2014.utcluj.ro

%T engage! and converse! - Designing Interactive Creative Spaces
%A Jens Gerken
%P 1-4
%X Looking at early examples of Human-Computer Interaction (e.g. Sutherland’s Sketchpad 1964 or Bolt’s Put-that-there 1980), we see a strong connection between technology and the support for creative practices. These examples contrasted absolutely with common computer use at that time, which required systematic development of programming solutions to well specified problems. However, the ongoing shift from desktop- to ubiquitous computing, has again put the focus on designing not just individual functions and features, but interactive creative spaces. 
At ICT AG, we are excelling in creating such spaces as brand experiences for companies such as Audi, Siemens, or Mercedes-Benz. Thereby, my talk about our work will give a brief glimpse into how the future of interactive creative spaces might develop and which challenges are still on our way.
%K interactive surfaces, interaction design, interactive collaborative environnements
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Gerken.pdf

%T On the Enhancement of Augmented Reality-based Tele-Collaboration with Affective Computing Technology
%A Dragoş Datcu
%P 5-14
%X This article refers to the problem of moving in virtual reality using natural movement motion to increase immersion when using head mounted displays. It analyzes different hardware and software solutions using some proposed criteria and offers a new solution that tries to minimize the drawbacks the come with a system that relies heavily on the user’s motion, while maintaining a high level of immersion.
%K affective computing, tele-collaboration, augmented reality
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Datcu.pdf

%T Increasing immersion in virtual reality through natural movement, using body tracking equipment
%A Valentin Dobre
%A Alin Moldoveanu
%A Victor Asavei
%P 15-18
%X This article refers to the problem of moving in virtual reality using natural movement motion to increase immersion when using head mounted displays. It analyzes different hardware and software solutions using some proposed criteria and offers a new solution that tries to minimize the drawbacks the come with a system that relies heavily on the user’s motion, while maintaining a high level of immersion.
%K natural movement, movement in virtual reality, immersion, virtual reality, human-computer interaction, tracking
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Dobre.pdf

%T Finger tracking based on Computer Vision for use in Human-Computer Interaction
%A Rareş Bradi
%A Dorian Gorgan
%P 19-24
%X The task of hand gesture recognition is actively researched and challenging because of complex backgrounds, different lighting environments and unpredictable hand movements. This paper presents an analysis along with an implementation of a system that can recognize the hand center, the fingers and the hand wrist. Hand center recognition is done by finding the minimum inscribed circle in the hand contour. Fingers are detected using the k-curvature algorithm. The hand’s positions along a trajectory are analyzed and based on those a general direction is inferred. Tracking of the features is performed using Kalman filtering in order to achieve stability and robustness. The hand gestures are composed based on a desired direction and a certain positioning of the fingers. An evaluation is performed with the purpose of: quantifying the robustness of the system, to determine the error rate and the processing rate
%K computer vision, Human-Computer Interaction, gesture recognition, hand tracking
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Rares.pdf

%T Natural user interface applied in computer aided design
%A Florin Gîrbacia
%A Teodora Gîrbacia
%P 25-28
%X Natural User Interfaces (NUI) is a relatively new area of research that aims to develop human-computer interfaces, natural and intuitive, using voice commands, hand movements and gesture recognition, ways that coincide with the way a person communicates his ideas to another person. In this paper is presented a VRAD interface for direct modeling CAD using natural interface technologies (Microsoft Kinect sensor and autostereoscopic 3D visualisation system). From the conducted experiments is established that NUI technologies provide an intuitive tool for editing CAD models, even by users with no experience in CAD modeling.
%K virtual reality, natural user interface, Computer Aided Design
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Girbacia.pdf

%T Comparative study of the main Virtual Dressing Room applications
%A Oana Bălan
%A Alin Moldoveanu
%A Florica Moldoveanu
%P 29-34
%X A virtual dressing room (also generally known as a “virtual fitting room” or “virtual changing room”) stands for a virtual reality based software application that allows users to try on clothes and see how they actually fit, without taking the effort of changing them physically. Virtual dressing room applications give information about the size, fit, texture and styling of a certain garment. The technologies have quickly advanced since the year 2005. According to their methodological approach, they can be classified into solutions which involve motion capture, body scan, 3D reconstruction and modeling or augmented reality techniques. From the shoppers’ point of view, the aim of virtual dressing room systems is to help them make quicker buying decisions regarding the fit and styling of the clothes they intend to buy. On the other hand, retailers can benefit from this new technological advancement by decreasing the level of garment returns, reducing the refunds and improving their brand image. This paper presents a state of the art of the actual fitting room systems available on the market, taking into account their technological approach, usability, design of the virtual avatar, simulation and accuracy of presentation.
%K virtual dressing room, virtual reality, augmented reality, virtual environment, simulation
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Balan.pdf

%T Chronotopic Analysis of Discourse in Texts and Conversations
%A Ștefan Trăușan-Matu
%P 35-40
%X This paper analyses the spatial and temporal dimensions of discourse in texts and dialogs (conversations). It also considers chronotopes, their integrated perspective. Different types of chronotopes are analyzed and a modality of its analysis is presented.
%K natural langugae processing, discourse, chronotope, time, space, polyphony
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Trausan-Matu.pdf

%T RoboBraille – transform documents în accessible for users who have visual impaired and learning disabilities
%A Lars Ballieu Christensen
%A Marian Pădure
%P 41-44
%X In many cases, users with different disabilities have difficulties in accessing information online and offline. Often, development of formats accessible to vulnerable groups require additional costs, time, knowledge. Need for additional services to create as many accessible formats is required and myriad standard formats disclosure. RoboBraille is an online service for converting documents into alternative formats: audio, DAISY text and / or audio, e-book or Braille. The interaction of users with the RoboBraille services is easy by using an available web interface and converted documents by e-mail directly from the RoboBraille server.
%K accesibility, documents transformation, RoboBraille, visual impaired users, learning disabilities users
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Christensen.pdf

%T CSCL chats Analysis using R package
%A Iulia Badea
%A Ștefan Trăușan-Matu
%P 45-50
%X This paper presents an approach to text analysis using time series and text mining, in order to extract knowledge from texts in order to analyze the types of texts that are closely related to the time factor, texts whose content can be represented on a temporal axis, such as logs chats. These techniques applied to the document type chat for determining correlations between words that occur most frequently in dialogs, and due to high frequency of occurrence are topics of discussion in the chat, and determine correlations between intervention participants in the dialogue. They can be represented using time series model, the coordinate time is the time of writing reply, and the value at that point is to replicate itself. Based on this representation, can be easily calculated correlations between rhythmic interventions with high occurrence. Research use R package that provides facilities for statistical processing.
%K time series, CSCL (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning), polyphony, conversation rhythm, chat interactions
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Badea.pdf

%T Applications for dynamic language identification
%A Paul Fogarassy-Neszly
%A Vasile Gherhes
%P 51-54
%X This paper presents two different applications implementing two different methods for automatic language identification with the purpose of speech synthesis. Implemented algorithms are described, as well as specific working conditions of such applications and applications’ user interfaces are described. While the language identification based on character Unicode encoding detection need few system resources and is very fast, the statistical analysis based algorithms require more resources and are slower. Finding an optimal compromise is both a challenge for developers as for the user, who should decide at runtime the optimal application configuration for real working conditions. At the end of the paper several considerations are presented, concerning the indispensable inertia in language switching if the application is used for differentiated speech synthesis.
%K language identification, speech synthesis, accessibility, assistive technologies
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Fogarassy-Neszly.pdf

%T Automatic Textual Complexity Analysis of French Textbooks
%A Mihai  Dascălu
%A Larise Lucia Stavarache
%A Ștefan Trăușan-Matu
%A Philippe Dessus
%A Maryse Bianco
%P 55-60
%X Research efforts in terms of automatic textual complexity assessment focus mainly on English, as currently there are only a few adaptations for other languages. Starting from validated model for English that addresses discourse analysis and textual complexity assessment, we introduce in this paper a textual complexity model for French trained on 200 documents extracted from French textbooks, pre-classified into five textual complexity classes. Analysis factors cover multiple dimensions and are grouped into the following main categories: surface, syntax, morphology, semantics and discourse analysis. The previous metrics are afterwards combined through Support Vector Machines in order to improve prediction accuracy. At a global level, besides purely quantitative surface factors, parts of speech and different cohesion metrics have proved to be reliable predictors of the textual difficulty of school materials. Overall, our study creates a consistent background for building reliable models that automatically evaluate the complexity of French texts.
%K textual cohesion, textual complexity assessment, readability, Support Vector Machines
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Dascalu.pdf

%T Development of Interaction Techniques for Augmented Reality Applications in the field of Education
%A Levente-Lóránt Nagy
%A Dorian Gorgan
%P 61-64
%X In complex scenarios of interactive AR applications the user must manipulate both real objects and virtual objects. This paper presents experiments on the development of intuitive user interaction techniques for the selection of virtual entities, the definition and usage of virtual buttons, menus and the invocation of some operations. It also defines notions of the used interaction techniques, exemplifies manipulation scenarios and highlights the  theoretical and practical difficulties.
%K augmented reality, interaction techniques, selection techniques, virtual buttons, virtual menus
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Nagy.pdf

%T Using visual interfaces in human-machine interaction. Case study: MyDearDaisy
%A Laurenţiu Tănase
%A Dorin-Mircea Popovici
%P 65-68
%X In this article we describe the current implementation status of the MyDearDaisy application dedicated to primary school children. The project aims to instill awareness and motivate children to study the development of a virtual environment that simulates a garden. In a working session, based on free natural gesture interaction, the children experiments the direct cause-effect relations between the environmental conditions, and vegetation evolution. Implementation uses Kinect technology to detect the user, Unity for modeling and rendering a virtual environment and to simulate its evolution, and MS Visual Studio development platform for interpreting user gestures and transmission of commands into the virtual environment.
%K visual interfaces, interaction gestures, virtual reality, education
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Tanase.pdf

%T A study of gender differences in evaluating the quality of the e-learning service
%A Alexandru Balog
%P 69-74
%X Comparing the results obtained from studies on quality of e-learning requires that measurement scales to be stable in different environments and contexts of use. In this article is tested the model eLearnQ used in the evaluating the quality of the e-learning service using data collected from 188 students (102 women, 86 men). In order to test model invariance and study gender differences is applied Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis (MGCFA). The results show that no there are gender differences in perceptions of service quality e-learning in the two groups of students in the context of e-learning in Romania.
%K e-learning service quality, gender differences, invariance measurement, MGCFA
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Balog.pdf

%T Use of haptic feedback in simulation of medical procedure
%A Dorin-Mircea Popovici
%A Felix G. Hamza-Lup
%A Crenguţa M. Bogdan
%A Elena Băutu
%A Cristian A. Corleanca
%P 75-80
%X Haptic feedback is a type of interaction with a computer that is  increasingly used in both research and industrial worlds. The visuo-haptic systems allows users to use the tactile sense in the presence of virtual objects. This paper presents the developing stages of a visuo-haptic system designed to improve certain tasks of the medical procedures.
%K haptic, 3D,surgery
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Popovici.pdf

%T A predictive model to analyze the innovative learning with an augmented reality- based application
%A Costin Pribeanu
%P 81-84
%X Learning applications based on augmented reality (AR) are perceived by students as attractive and innovative.  This paper presents a method and a predictive model to analyze why learning Chemistry with an AR-based application is perceived by students as innovative. For the model development a method based on multi-level multiple linear regressions was used. The results are highlighting that the real objects and the feeling of control over the learning process are the main factors that make the application to be perceived as innovative.
%K path analysis, augmented reality, e-learning
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Pribeanu.pdf

%T A framework proposal for performance-based usability metrics automatic evaluation using AOP
%A Adriana-Mihaela Guran
%A Grigoreta-Sofia Cojocar
%P 85-90
%X In this paper we propose an extensible architecture for the automatic evaluation of some usability factors based on user-performance metrics. The proposed architecture is designed using the Aspect Oriented Programming due to the advantages it brings like code separation for the evaluation module from the business and presentation layers of the application  and extensibility. The framework supports the automatic evaluation of performance metrics like task completion time, number of successful tasks, number of errors.
%K usability, evaluation, metrics, AOP
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Guran.pdf

%T Characteristics of the Facebook use by students - a qualitative approach
%A Dragoș Daniel Iordache
%P 91-94
%X Facebook is a social network that has gained worldwide popularity. In March 2014, the company reported 802 million daily active users, of which a large number are students. This article presents the results of qualitative analysis of data collected through standardized qualitative interviews conducted with a small number of students enrolled in graduate courses at the University of Bucharest.
%K social networking, facebook, qualitative interview, students
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Iordache.pdf

%T Centralised management of the social networks Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and user activity monitoring
%A Claudia-Elena Juncu
%A Adrian Iftene
%P 95-98
%X This paper presents an application created for employees in the Human Resources departments that allows a user to simultaneously promote the company where he works at on three social networks: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The application allows the user to monitor such networks through a very intuitive and user-friendly interface, to simultaneously post messages on all three and generate statistics relative to the user’s activity on these networks. In the paper, we make a detailed presentation of the system’s architecture, followed by a presentation of case studies and statistics obtained.
%K social networks, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Juncu.pdf

%T User context in railway applications
%A Vlad Colceriu
%A Victor Bâcu
%A Teodor Ștefănuț
%A Dorian Gorgan
%P 99-104
%X The current paper presents the flow of information and user states used for establishing a global context used for train localization in a low cost railway platform. Localization is based on a low precision GNSS and inertial sensors integrated in commercial mobile devices, such as tablet PC's and smart-phones. The integrity requirements of such a solution on which safety of life depends are stringent. So in order to satisfy them the current solution proposes to partially externalize to the public the localization and other services traditionally provided by the conductor, by hinging on the devices of the crowd.
%K data flow, crowd outsourcing, railway system, localization, sensors
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Colceriu.pdf

%T Interactive system for the management and promotion of the multicultural content from the Romanian space
%A Ion Alexandru Marinescu
%A Lidia Băjenaru
%A Mihaela Tomescu
%P 105-108
%X One way to highlight and promote the most important and significant elements of the national multicultural heritage is  to exploit them through Internet-based technologies. This paper presents the user interface of the interactive system for the management and promotion of multicultural content from the Romanian space "DigiMultiCult", which is in the test phase. The system provides, via a web portal, preservation and promotion services for the national multicultural heritage with relevance at European level.
%K multiculturalism, functional model, ontology, metadata, Point of Single Contact (PSC)
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Marinescu.pdf

%T Interactive system for virtual enterprise agility evaluation
%A Lidia Băjenaru
%A Ana-Maria Borozan
%A Mihaela Tomescu
%A Daniel Savu
%P 109-112
%X The paper presents aspects regarding the design and implementation of an interactive system for the evaluation of a virtual enterprise agility. The solution adopted is a web portal that provides services for the creation and management of a virtual enterprise, on-line shop services to support the enterprise activity and an application for evaluation and reporting of enterprise activity in general and especially of its agility. It highlights the system adaptability, scalability and usability.
%K virtual enterprise, agility, agile enterprise, modeling, evaluation
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Bajenaru.pdf

%T Real-time visualization and processing of large volumes of medical data
%A Andrei Simion
%A Florica Moldoveanu
%A Victor Asavei
%A Alin Moldoveanu
%P 113-116
%X This paper presents a case study on methods for real-time visualization and manipulation of medical data using an optimized version of the ray casting algorithm for volumes implemented on GPU's using parallel programming techniques (OpenGL Shading Language).
%K medical data visualization, volume ray casting, empty space leaping, sparse voxel octree
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Simion.pdf

%T Image search based on the content and on associated metadata
%A Adrian Iftene
%A Lenuţa Alboaie
%A Cristina Şerban
%A Alexandra Siriţeanu
%P 117-122
%X In the last years, the number of visual resources has grown substantially and in parallel there was created new advanced algorithms to retrieve relevant information in such a collection. This paper presents a system that enables indexing and searching operations over a large amount of data available in a collection of images. In order to recommend relevant results, we have used clustering algorithms that allow us grouping similar images by content in the same cluster. The paper contains several sections, in which we provide an overview of the state of the field, the proposed system architecture that we have built and results that we had obtained.
%K image and text indexing and searching, Lucene, LIRe.
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Iftene.pdf

%T Graphic editor used to draw the phasor diagrams of electric circuits operating under sinusoidal conditions
%A Marinel Popescu
%A Claudiu-Mihai Bălan
%P 123-128
%X The paper presents a graphic editor used to draw the phasor diagrams of electrical circuits that operate under sinusoidal steady state. The editor uses graphic primitives and mouse events to draw the phasors and it allows the measurement of amplitude and phase on an existing chart.The control panel and operation are easy to use by users of popular graphics editors (such as Paint from Windows).The basic elements of this editor can be included into the software application for a data acquisition system used for the measurement and monitoring of electrical quantities in three phase networks.The paper is aimed at students from technical faculties with electric department, which achieved Pascal or Delphi applications and proposes a simple solution to develop their own applications where these simple examples presented can be integrated, adapted or developed.
%K graphic editor, phasor diagram, sinusoidal steady state, phasor
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Popescu.pdf

%T eCulturalHighway - web portal for promoting cultural tourism
%A Valentin Răduţ
%A Ionuţ Petre
%A Dragoş Marian Smada
%P 129-133
%X In this paper is presented the web portal eCulturalHighway - a system built towards the user access to information on institutions and cultural sites (museums, theaters, art galleries, memorials, archaeological sites) presented at the level of city/village, county and country, that emphasise the potential of national cultural repository and also information about accommodation establishments (hotels, motels, hostels) in the localities in which the objectives are placed. The paper describes the facilities that this portal provides to the users, the relational database developed to manage the necessary data for proper functioning, the means through which the information is inserted and handled inside the database and the procedure by which the GoogleMaps API has been integrated into eCulturalHighway to provide a broader perspective in terms of tourism.
%K cultural tourism, cultural heritage, tourist attractions
%W http://rochi.utcluj.ro/articole/2/RoCHI-2014-Radut.pdf