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As technology continues to advance and more institutions adopt assistive technologies strategies, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the most effective ways to implement assistive technologies strategies in higher education. The purpose of this paper is to explore how assistive technologies strategies can be effectively integrated into higher education for disabled communities. Orientation and mobility are often underestimated. People with disabilities, such as deaf, blind, and physically impaired people, are often challenged with navigation problems. Signage is the most common mechanism of wayfinding information, but orientation is much more complex. To address the lack of inclusion and accessibility that overwhelms indoor environments, such as schools and public services, an Indoor Mapping application was designed. The target is the ISEP community -- its students, staff, and visitors. The aim is to create an assistive technology, that can guide disabled students, but also incoming and Erasmus students that struggle in their early days at the University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourist activity has grown to be of extreme importance for a country’s economy, notably in several countries like Portugal, where the tourism sector accounts for over 15% of the national GDP. As of this moment, ensuring that our country has conditions to welcome and assist every tourist interested in our cultural heritage tourism while offering equal opportunities in the access information and use of infrastructures, is a priority. The Inclusive Cultural Heritage Tourism project uses assistive technologies, as well as inclusive and educative tools, to enhance inclusive tourism and to raise awareness of the lack of inclusion and accessibility of the deaf community, through regular interaction between deaf and non-deaf communities promoted by a Community of Practice developed for this purpose. One of its major purposes is to inform and educate about sign language. Also, this forum allows both communities to share their difficulties, thoughts, and ideas on matters of inclusion and tourism. This is accomplished through social networks, where a structure of interaction is built to enable the discussion and engagement of all participants in numerous activities. By developing a Community of Practice where everyone can communicate without barriers, we are contributing to the overall goal of the project: to create an environment where deaf and non-deaf individuals have the same opportunities to understand and be understood. The focus is to make cultural heritage venues inclusive and accessible, aiming for the easy access of deaf individuals to information and infrastructures. This, along with our community of practice, developed to assist and welcome every deaf individual, has the potential to offer better conditions to the deaf community, in their right to equal opportunities. Thus, the aim is to ensure that Portugal is able to position itself as a pioneer in inclusive tourism, as well as an up-to-date technological, inclusive, and accessible country for any tourist, local or foreigner, wishing to visit national cultural heritage venues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with hearing impairments face numerous obstacles when engaged in touristic activities or using infrastructure and services in touristic spots. When tourism is considered a social good of first necessity, new concerns arise and pressure for inclusion in the sector stimulates the advance of innovative solutions for inclusive tourism. There are also economic interests in inclusive tourism, an unexplored market niche that might compensate the expected drop on the tourism growth rate in comparison to recent years in Portugal. The ICHT project - Inclusive Cultural Heritage Tourism - aims to promote the accessibility of deaf tourists to cultural heritage by embedding new technology-aids, online and on-site, to raise awareness, to attract deaf tourists, to assist them while visiting us, and to exploit their experience as a new dissemination channel. ICHT is focused on creating digital tools and digital content in sign language to be available online, on mobile devices and on-site at cultural touristic attractions in the North of Portugal through innovative channels like games, holography, and collaborative platforms. ICHT advocates the integration of novel high-tech sign language user interfaces in tourism destinations and stimulates local operators to learn the basics of sign language communication to welcome deaf tourists in Portugal. ICHT brings in R&D world-class results in the field of automatic sign language translation qualifying Portugal to guide Inclusive Tourism worldwide and become a pioneer leading the Tourism of the Future. The full system includes an on-site application using holography, a game to play on a mobile device (before, during, and after visiting the attraction), an online collaborative platform to assist deaf and non-deaf tourists, and a set of International Sign training courses. The ICHT system will be available in five pilot installations at Torre dos Clérigos, Lello bookshop, Maia Zoo, Port wine cellars, and Viseu thermae. ICHT brings a new approach to teach sign language to the professionals in the touristic sector opening new opportunities for a more inclusive society. The sign language training together with the assistive technology tools developed by ICHT generate inclusive environments for the deaf. ICHT has the potential to become a PIN project in the Tourism sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communicating in languages other than one's mother language is a demanding task. Even when mastering basic skills in a foreign language, communication is challenging unless you are a frequent user. The vocabulary and grammar rules tend naturally to be forgotten over time. This is even more critical when distinct channels are used by one's mother language and a given foreign language; this is the current setting when communication among deaf and non-deaf users is undergoing, even in the same country. We expect that the use of technology may assist users in such cases, notably through the Figure Out application. Figure Out is a mobile application designed to translate text, automatically captured by the mobile camera, to a given language. This application will allow translation from and to any language, including sign languages. The aim is to enable everyday users like, students, and all individuals to access information in their first language or the one they choose. By simplifying access to information, the application will improve accessibility, inclusion, and communication, namely between the deaf and non-deaf communities. With Figure Out it is possible to enhance the access of, students, tourists, and the deaf population to education, culture, and international mobility while reducing communication barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycling has grown to be extremely relevant for the maintenance of our planet, but also for our well-being. Sustainability is a key issue in modern societies, relying on intergenerational care and education to promote recycling habits and social responsibility. Raising awareness towards recycling and healthy environmental habits, and motivating people to become more responsible about sustainability and the environment might be achieved through a game, designed to be simple and intuitive and to enhance the learning process. Eco Tetris is a game, designed to teach about the importance of recycling. Based on the well-known Tetris game, Eco Tetris builds upon this by adding card collecting mechanics and integrating the game with the real world via geo-referencing, beacons, and augmented reality experiences. The main goal of this game is to raise awareness and make the players more conscious of their environmental decisions and habits, while also being entertained. Our primary focus is the older generation, for whom the game is kept simple, in terms of both usability and design. Eco Tetris is a game whose main concern is to transmit knowledge on how to recycle and its importance for our planet. In this game, players are challenged to place the garbage in the right recycling bin. The mechanic is virtually the same as when recycling. Our goal is to imbue the player with recycling habits. The core gameplay loop will have the player doing the sorting exercise - separating garbage in-game, mentally associating it to its right colors. The bridge between the in-game and real-world is achieved via geo-reference modules and beacons. When visiting an eco-point, the player will have access to additional content, like an augmented reality experience, that provides positive reinforcement and knowledge about players' actions and the environment in general. We expect this game to promote ecological responsibility and a major view of one's role in the recycling process. The game is developed towards the enhancement of decision-making, memory skills, awareness, responsibility, and learning of its players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]