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Virtual Reality applications based on activities of daily living (ADL) for cognitive diagnosis and rehabilitation

2022 , Buele, Jorge , Varela Aldas, José , Palacios-Navarro G.

Traditionally, screening tools are available to help diagnose a person's cognitive problem. Therefore, rehabilitation techniques are lab exercises that lack adequate ecological validity. In this paper, we propose to establish the projection of a methodology for the development of serious games based on activities of daily living (ADL). Both for real and immersive environments, to assess what provides better results when applied in healthy patients at first, but with a focus on those suffering from Alzheimer's disease. It is expected that when this research is completed, precedents will be established for the development of new proposals based on virtual environments. © 2022 IEEE.

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Gamification in Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities: Global Trends and Approaches - A Bibliometric Review

2023 , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , Avilés-Castillo, Fátima , Buele, Jorge , Palacios-Navarro G.

Given the growing attention to the intersection between technology and education, gamification has emerged as a strategy with great benefits. This bibliometric review addresses gamification’s current and future relevance in the educational field, focusing on its use as a pedagogical strategy to improve the learning and engagement of children with disabilities. Sixty-six studies published between 2001 and 2023 were analyzed, evaluating the most influential articles, main keywords, prominent authors, collaborating institutions, and funding sources. The literature suggests that gamification offers inclusive and personalized learning opportunities covering various disabilities. Methodologies and approaches to implement gamification were identified, including game elements, user-centered design techniques, and emerging technologies such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and educational robotics. However, challenges and areas for improvement were also found, such as the need for more long-term empirical evidence and the importance of considering individual differences and specific needs when designing gamification strategies. The review highlights the importance of strengthening collaborative networks between researchers and education professionals to disseminate best practices and promote more effective gamification approaches adapted to the needs of children with disabilities. Collaboration between educators, game developers, researchers, and parents are crucial to ensure that gamification efforts are inclusive and meet the diverse needs of students. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Virtual goniometer using 3 space mocap sensors for lower limbs evaluation

2020 , Buele, Jorge , Pilatásig, M. , Angueta, H. , Ruales, María Belén , Varela Aldas, José

The deterioration of motor skills in lower limbs represents a reduction in people’s quality of life. This paper presents a virtual goniometer developed by the 3 Space Mocap sensors and Unity 3D software. The system shows lower limbs angles in real-time. This system helps physiatrists determine the movements of hip and knee and was compared with a goniometer to corroborate the system performance. To validate this prototype, comparative tests are carried out present a standard deviation of 1.86° and 2.12° in the left hip and knee respectively. Therefore, it confirms to be a reliable proposal for physical evaluations of lower limbs. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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Construction of a Low-Cost Semi-automatic Machine for Tensile Testing

2021 , Varela Aldas, José , Buele, Jorge , Cruz J.

Tensile tests make it possible to determine the resistance and other relevant parameters of the materials. These procedures are usually performed with equipment that is expensive and inaccessible to higher education centers with limited budgets. In the case of acquiring this hardware, the disadvantage is that this are purely manual machines that make the use and learning process difficult. That is why this document shows the construction of a machine that allows this type of testing, but using low-cost materials. The mechanical and electronic design and programming that has been used to implement and semi-automate the machine is briefly but clearly described. To validate the functionality, the respective tests have been carried out, although it is a limited version that requires improvements, the results are satisfactory. The curve obtained when carrying out tests with A36 steel has shown a similarity with the theory. Thus, students obtain a technological tool that contributes to academic training, strengthening knowledge in the study of materials. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Prototype of a Low Cost Turbine for the Generation of Clean Energy in the Ecuadorian Amazon

2020 , Guáitara B. , Buele, Jorge , Salazar F.W. , Varela Aldas, José

Access to electricity supply in remote areas is limited, despite having wealth of other natural resources such as water. This document presents the design and construction of a scale electric generation system, taking advantage of the hydraulic energy produced by a constant flow of water flow. For this, the turbine design is described, which is based on the principles of Francis and Kaplan. In addition, the structural design made in CAD/CAM software and the actual implementation of the system are shown. To determine the generated electric potential, the electromagnetic analysis is performed based on the Maxwell-Faraday equation and the respective calculations. The validation of this proposal is determined by conducting experimental tests with balanced, unbalanced, series and parallel coils and with their implementation in a home. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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System for Monitoring and Warning of the Ultraviolet Radiation Index: A Study Case in Ecuador Elementary Schools

2020 , Buele, Jorge , Chango F.I. , Chango M.L.Á. , Santamaría M. , Varela Aldas, José

Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation has increased in recent years due to ozone layer depletion and in Ecuador in particular, due to its geographical position and the height of its cities. Prolonged sun exposures in childhood increase the risk of causing malignant effects on the skin and eyes, such as squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma and cataracts. For this reason, this document describes the design of a device based on UV optical sensors that allows determining the existing radiation index. As a processing unit there is the Raspberry Pi 3B+ embedded board and to display the data physically there are LED panels. The storage of information is done through a database managed by MySQL and also implemented on the board. The levels of the ultraviolet radiation index (UVI) are presented through a graphical user interface (GUI) in real time, which also allows generating a report in a.csv file. Functional tests were carried out in the central courtyard of two educational units, to raise awareness among parents and authorities on the adoption of preventive measures that avoid possible damage to the skin of children when carrying out outdoor activities. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Perceptions and Dispositions of Parents and Teachers Toward Technological Learning Communities

2023 , Núñez-Hernández C. , Buele, Jorge

The search for strategies to improve students’ academic performance is increasingly common in education. Parents’ participation and teachers’ attention are key factors in forming a learning community. This article presents the results of a survey in which relevant statistical data was obtained. A significant association (p = 0.571) was found between the frequency with which parents help their children understand school content and their willingness to be part of a learning community, representing 40.65% of the population. In addition, it was found that 66.67% of parents frequently meet with their children’s teachers because they often solve the children’s doubts. Regarding the attention of teachers, it was evidenced that 64.71% of parents who meet very frequently with teachers do so with those who very frequently resolve children’s doubts effectively, which shows a correlation significant (p = 0.467). Finally, the relationship between the degree of mastery of teachers in learning management platforms and their participation in forming learning communities was analyzed. A significant correlation (phi = 0.321) was found between the degree of mastery of teachers in these platforms and their participation in the formation of learning communities, with 28.24% of teachers having sufficient mastery and 20.61% of those with a moderate domain. These findings highlight the importance of parent-teacher collaboration in fostering a culture of learning in school and improving student academic achievement. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

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Sustainable Development in Higher Education Curricula for Software Engineering Chairs

2023 , León Toro, Jenny Marcela , Buele, Jorge , Camino-Morejón V.M. , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio

Nowadays, society demands that high quality teaching practices must be part of the curriculum in higher education institutions. The interdisciplinarity view of the contents taught has made the technical aspects of engineering merge with social, cultural, and economic nuances. In this sense, the new generations of students show their interest in learning and carrying out activities that contribute to sustainability, for this reason, the inclusion of ecological themes in the subjects of computer science and software career is required. A bibliographical analysis was carried out that allowed recognition of main concepts and methodologies applied to the subject. As a result of them, an adjustment of chairs is presented allowing integrating conventional teaching with the new trends of green technology. Reforms were implemented from introductory courses to theoretical knowledge of green software, to the development of web applications with the same approach. In the same way, it involves the management of computer projects, modeling, monitoring, and optimization of resources, and green evaluation. According to the socio-educational model, the articulation between technology and sustainability will allow managing software projects that provide real solutions to problems in context. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Virtual environment application that complements the treatment of dyslexia (VEATD) in children

2020 , Buele, Jorge , López, V.M. , Varela Aldas, José , Soria, A. , Palacios-Navarro, G.

The educational disorders that children present at an early age can cause them to not fully develop throughout their lives. In this research work a 3D virtual system that allows the child who has been diagnosed with dyslexia to complement the exercises performed in a conventional therapy is described. To achieve this an application was developed, the app consists of two games (each with three levels of difficulty), and that are part of the rehabilitation program. In each of these games virtual objects are combined with auditory messages to provide the user with an immersive experience, and to train more than one sense at a time. In the first game task, the activity asks the children to correctly locate the syllables that compose a word and for the second activity the children will listen to a word, after the games asks the children to select the correct word. This tool has been tested by a group of children (eight), with ages ranging from 8 to 12 years old, whose development can be supervised at home by their parents, since it is an intuitive and easy to use interface. The results obtained are stored in a database and in this way the medical specialist can monitor the progress of the child throughout his treatment. For the validation of this proposal the SUS usability test was used. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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Carwash Station Prototype with Automatic Payment Using Intelligent Control Systems

2021 , Buele, Jorge , Quilumba D. , Ilvis D.I. , Saá F. , Salazar F.W.

The daily activities of human being can be improved with the use of technology. Therefore, in this work we propose the design of an imperative system of automatic payment to prevent contact between people, avoiding the transmission of viruses and bacteria. Thus, new appropriate and innovative tools are created and applied to business models for the industrial and service sectors. Using and integrating communication between visual programming platforms, telecommunications (messaging) and online payments, using a programmable automaton, an HMI and a Raspberry board. The results show a robust platform framed in electronic payment technology with high performance and very reliable that uses the MQTT protocol for communication. The results show a time of 2.07 s in data writing after sending the signal and 0.80 s of reading the PLC outputs to the monitoring page. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.