Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society

Advancing Chatbot Conversations: A Review of Knowledge Update Approaches

Thu, 25 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Conversational systems like chatbots have emerged as powerful tools for automating interactive tasks traditionally confined to human involvement. Fundamental to chatbot functionality is their knowledge base, the foundation of their reasoning processes. A pivotal challenge resides in chatbots' innate incapacity to seamlessly integrate changes within their knowledge base, thereby hindering their ability to provide real-time responses. The increasing literature attention dedicated to effective knowledge base updates, which we term content update, underscores the significance of this topic. This work provides an overview of content update methodologies in the context of conversational agents. We delve into the state-of-the-art approaches for natural language understanding, such as language models and alike, which are essential for turning data into knowledge. Additionally, we discuss turning point strategies and primary resources, such as deep learning, which are crucial for supporting language models. As our principal contribution, we review and discuss the core techniques underpinning information extraction as well as knowledge base representation and update in the context of conversational agents.

Building soft skills through a role-play based approach for Requirements Engineering remote education

Gretchen Torres de Macedo, Awdren Fontão, Bruno Gadelha — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Teaching Requirements Engineering requires adopting pedagogical techniques to develop students' technical skills for identifying users' needs and designing software solutions. Additionally, since requirements engineering involves group work, students must cultivate social skills such as communication, empathy, and conflict resolution. In remote learning scenarios, developing these skills becomes more challenging due to limited interaction. To address these needs, this paper proposes adapting a project-based collaborative learning approach for remote education that combines Role-Play and Send-a-Problem learning techniques. In this approach, students collaborate on software projects in teams, assuming two roles: customers and software developers. We evaluated this approach during two cycles of Action Research, conducted remotely in two disciplines of a Software Engineering undergraduate course involving advanced and beginner students, respectively. In the advanced students' class, we observed that the methodology enhanced communication skills, analytical reasoning, conflict resolution, and empathy. To validate these results, we conducted a new study with beginning students, achieving positive outcomes despite the need for more support in team communication. As our primary contribution, we provide guidelines for implementing this collaborative learning approach online.

Mapping RDEVSNL-based Definitions of Constrained Network Models to Routed DEVS Simulation Models

Clarisa Espertino, Maria Julia Blas, Silvio Gonnet — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Routed DEVS (RDEVS) formalism has been introduced recently to provide a reasonable formalization for the simulation of routing processes over Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) models. Due to its novelty, new software tools are required to improve the Modeling and Simulation (MS) tasks related to the RDEVS formalism. This paper presents the mapping between constrained network models obtained from textual specifications of routing processes and RDEVS simulation models implemented in Java. RDEVSNL context-free grammar (previously defined) is used to support the textual specification of a routing process as a constrained network model. Such grammar is based on a metamodel that defines the syntactical elements. This metamodel is used in this paper as a middleware that allows mapping constrained network model concepts with RDEVS simulation models. From such a constrained network model template, RDEVS Java implementations are obtained. The proposal is part of a work-in-progress intended to develop MS software tools for the RDEVS formalism using well-known abstractions to get the computational models through conceptual mapping. Using these tools, modelers can specify simulation models without needing to codify any routing implementation. The main benefits are i) reduction of implementation times and ii) satisfactory simulation model correctness regarding the RDEVS formalism.

Adopting Human-data Interaction Guidelines and Participatory Practices for Supporting Inexperienced Designers in Information Visualization Applications

Eliane Zambon Victorelli, Julio Cesar Dos Reis — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Nowadays, voluminous data support may influence decision-making. People with varied profiles need to interact with data to gain valuable insights. There is a need for software tools to support the understanding and management of information to favor Human-Data Interaction (HDI) with a richer user experience. This study explores the combination of HDI design guidelines and participatory approaches to improve user experience in data interaction. We defined a design process to support the activities and adapted participatory practices to facilitate HDI design. We conducted workshops with inexperienced designers developing information visualization applications for common-sense domains. They generated and analyzed several application prototypes. Results suggest that design guidelines help generate HDI-based prototypes with a good user experience.

Technologies to Support Adaptable Game Design - A Systematic Mapping Study

Caio Carvalho, Luciano Teran, Marcelle Mota, Roberto Pereira — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Designing games accessible and inclusive to a broader audience requires considering social, technical, and cultural aspects that recognize the diversity of the target audience. One strategy to foster inclusion is through adaptability, allowing games to be adapted based on the needs of their users. In this context, a Systematic Mapping Study was conducted to identify and document existing studies focusing on the adaptation of digital games. Aiming at creating a structured and wide panorama of the scientific literature, this paper draws on the 5W2H Framework to answer the following research questions: (1) What game characteristics are being adapted? (2) Why is it being adapted? (3) For whom is it being adapted? (4) When does the adaptation occur? (5) Who is carrying out the adaptation? (6) What technologies are present? (7) Where are the technologies used? (8) How were the technologies evaluated? (9) What was evaluated? (10) Who evaluated? and (11) What theories and methodologies support the study? Beyond presenting the current state-of-the-art in digital game adaptation, the mapping study highlights a prevailing trend in research on adaptive systems. Notably, Patients and Health Professionals emerge as the primary target audience, although many studies did not specify their target audience. The results also indicate that the evaluation of technologies commonly employs Proof of Concept, Experiment, and Case Studies, with Patients and Students frequently considered as the target audience, albeit as secondary participants in the adaptation and evaluation processes. Finally, the findings reveal that most papers lack explicit grounding in a theoretical or methodological foundation, suggesting the need for further investigation.