Computación e informática

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https://hdl.handle.net/10669/272

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Mostrando 1 - 20 de 263

A Comparison between a Relational Database and a Graph Database in the context of a Personalized Cancer Treatment Application
(2016) Martínez Porras, Alexandra; Mora Rodríguez, Rodrigo Antonio; Alvarado González, Daniel; López Herrera, Gustavo; Quirós Barrantes, Steve
This paper presents a performance comparison between a relational database (implemented in MySQL) and a graph database (implemented in Neo4j). Unlike traditional benchmarks, this comparison is made in the context of a real health application which was developed in Costa Rica. The comparison encompassed twelve queries and three data size configurations.The results of the comparison indicate that MySQL performs better than Neo4j in most cases, but has a poor performance when data size is large and the queries have multiple join operations.
A Functional Size Measurement Procedure for MVC Applications from Source Code: Design, Automation and Empirical Evaluation
(2014-09) Quesada López, Christian Ulises
Software size has proved to be one of the main effort-and-cost drivers. It is widely accepted that software size is one of the key factors that has the potential to affect the effort and cost of the software projects. Functional size methods are hardly automatable and generally require a lengthy and costly process. FSM methods define generic concepts and measurement rules. The setup of a measurement procedure for each input to the measurement process is hence needed. A measurement procedure is defined as a set of operations described explicitly in order to measure according to a specific measurement method. A size estimation procedure based on the use of software development productivity models allows the management of development costs. Although accurate size estimation and effort prediction are very important for the success of any project, many practitioners have experienced difficulties in applying them. Thus, automated and simplified FSM methods are required. This research aims to proposing a functional size measuring procedure for Model-View-Controller (MVC) applications from source code. The research project includes the design, automation and empirical validation of a functional size measuring procedure, according to the ISO/IEC 20926 FPA CPM method. This proposal describes the research agenda of the PhD project. Research objective, background, relevant, prior work, research methods, threats to validity, current status and future plans are described in details. Since this is an ongoing work, this proposal looks for feedback from the expert community in order to improve its consistency as well as the reliability of the empirical validation.
A genetic algorithm based framework for software effort prediction
(2017) Murillo Morera, Juan; Quesada López, Christian Ulises; Castro Herrera, Carlos; Jenkins Coronas, Marcelo
Background: Several prediction models have been proposed in the literature using different techniques obtaining different results in different contexts. The need for accurate effort predictions for projects is one of the most critical and complex issues in the software industry. The automated selection and the combination of techniques in alternative ways could improve the overall accuracy of the prediction models. Objectives: In this study, we validate an automated genetic framework, and then conduct a sensitivity analysis across different genetic configurations. Following is the comparison of the framework with a baseline random guessing and an exhaustive framework. Lastly, we investigate the performance results of the best learning schemes. Methods: In total, six hundred learning schemes that include the combination of eight data preprocessors, five attribute selectors and fifteen modeling techniques represent our search space. The genetic framework, through the elitism technique, selects the best learning schemes automatically. The best learning scheme in this context means the combination of data preprocessing + attribute selection + learning algorithm with the highest coefficient correlation possible. The selected learning schemes are applied to eight datasets extracted from the ISBSG R12 Dataset. Results: The genetic framework performs as good as an exhaustive framework. The analysis of the standardized accuracy (SA) measure revealed that all best learning schemes selected by the genetic framework outperforms the baseline random guessing by 45–80%. The sensitivity analysis confirms the stability between different genetic configurations. Conclusions: The genetic framework is stable, performs better than a random guessing approach, and is as good as an exhaustive framework. Our results confirm previous ones in the field, simple regression techniques with transformations could perform as well as nonlinear techniques, and ensembles of learning machines techniques such as SMO, M5P or M5R could optimize effort predictions.
A Gesture-Based Interaction Approach for Manipulating Augmented Objects Using Leap Motion
(2015-11) López Herrera, Gustavo; Quesada Quirós, Luis; Guerrero Blanco, Luis Alberto
Ambient Intelligence and Ubiquitous Computing are carrying the world to a reality where almost every object interacts with the environment, either via sensors or actuators, and users must learn how to interact with such systems. This paper presents a gesture-based interaction approach to manipulate such objects. We developed a prototype using a leap motion controller as a hand-tracking device, and a Support Vector Machine as a classifier to distinguish between gestures. Our system was evaluated by 12 users with over 10 commands. We also show a review on gesture-based interaction and compare other proposals with ours.
A mobile application for improving the delivery process of notifications
(2021-01) Ureña Madrigal, Heriberto; López Herrera, Gustavo; Díaz Oreiro, Ignacio; Quesada Quirós, Luis
At present, there are systems in charge of classifying and sending notifications to smart devices at different times. However, there are not many studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of these systems in real world settings. We propose a method that classifies and prioritizes notifications by analyzing only the content of the notification and the sender of the message. We also developed a system implementing this method. User diaries were used to analyze the behavior of the system in real world situations, and the results showed that the implemented system significantly reduces interruptions to users. Additionally, the user experience of the system was evaluated through the standardized questionnaire UEQ (User Experience Questionnaire). The results obtained were positive in most of the scales of this instrument, above the average according to UEQ benchmarks. However, aspects such as stimulation and creativity can be improved in the future to motivate users to use the system.
A mobile application that allows children in the early childhood to program robots
(2016) Ramírez Benavides, Kryscia Daviana; López Herrera, Gustavo; Guerrero Blanco, Luis Alberto
Children born in the Information Age are digital natives; this characteristic should be exploited to improve the learning process through the use of technology. This paper addresses the design, construction, and evaluation process of TITIBOTS, a programming assistance tool for mobile devices that allows children in the early childhood to create programs and execute them using robots. We present the results of using TITIBOTS in different scenarios with children between 4 and 6 years old. The insight obtained in the development and evaluation of the tool could be useful when creating applications for children in the early childhood. The results were promising; children liked the application and were willing to continue using it to program robots to solve specific tasks, developing the skills of the 21st century.
A Model Proposal for Augmented Reality Game Creation to Incentivize Physical Activity
(2017) Cicció Cabezas, José Antonio; Quesada Quirós, Luis
Obesity and a sedentary lifestyle are relevant issues in today’s society. Even though different resources can be used to approach this problem, technology provides endless possibilities to fight against this problem. This article presents the results of a model to create augmented reality games where goals are achieved by doing physical activity (moving between different places). In order to evaluate the model, a prototype was built and presented to 50 participants. The results obtained indicated that an important percentage of the interviewees were attracted to the idea of playing a game to increase their physical activity.
A Prototype Mobile Expert System for Nutritional Diagnosis
(2013) Quesada López, Christian Ulises; Jenkins Coronas, Marcelo
This paper describes NUTRITION UCR, a prototype expert system for human nutritional diagnosis developed in Java on Android using a service-oriented architecture. The system runs on mobile devices and offers smart features that evaluate the nutritional condition of an individual by assessing their physical characteristics and eating habits. We explain the knowledge engineering process used to develop the system, overview the system architecture and selected design tools, and summarize some preliminary results from the prototype implementation.
A survey of software testing practices in Costa Rica
(2019-04-24) Quesada López, Christian Ulises; Hernández Agüero, Erika; Jenkins Coronas, Marcelo
Software testing is an essential activity in software development projects for delivering high quality products. In a previous study, we reported the results of a survey of software engineering practices in the Costa Rican industry. To analyze more in depth the specific software testing practices among practitioners, we replicated a previous survey conducted in South America. Our objective was to characterize the state of the practice based on practitioners use and perceived importance of software testing practices. This survey evaluated 42 testing practices grouped in three categories: processes, activities and tools. A total of 92 practitioners responded to the survey. The participants indicated that: (1) task for recording of the results of tests, documentation of test procedures and cases, and reexecution of tests when the software is modified are useful and im-portant for software testing practitioners. (2) Acceptance and system testing are the two most useful and important testing types. (3) Tools for recording defects and the effort to fix them (bug tracking) and the availability of a test database for reuse are useful and important. Regarding the use of practices, the participants stated that (4) Planning and designing of software testing before coding and evaluating the quality of test artifacts are not a regular practice. (5) There is a lack of measurement of defect density and test coverage in the industry; and (6) tools for automatic generation of test cases and for estimating testing effort are rarely used. This study gave us a first glance at the state of the practice in software testing in a thriving and very dynamic industry that currently employs most of our computer science professionals. The benefits are twofold: for academia, it provides us with a road map to revise our academic offer, and for practitioners it provides them with a first set of data to benchmark their practices.
A systematic literature review of methodologies used for the design of serious games. A comparative analysis
(2020-06-26) Sandí Delgado, Juan Carlos; Bazán, Patricia Alejandra
This article of systematic literature review presents the analysis of a series of methodological proposals, suggested for the design of educational video games. Nine different methodologies are analyzed. As part of the analysis, criteria are defined to describe and compare them, linked with the possibilities they have for the design of serious games. Criteria include: requirements elicitation and specification, pedagogical intention, pedagogical and ludic objectives definition, educational level and target public, roles identification, feedback type, user experiences analysis, objectives and methodologies validation. Main results indicate the following. 1) It is of vital importance, in the initial phase of a methodology design to incorporate the requirements elicitation and specification, as well as to define and assign roles of the different parties involved in the game production, all of this jointly and by consensus. 2) The definition of pedagogical objectives is closely related to the context use and it is important that it be done in the initial stage and then asses the game quality in the final stage. 3) It is important to incorporate the definition of pedagogical elements in the design. They will be helpful to assess the efficiency, learning and the user experience in relation with the interaction with the game. In addition, these pedagogical elements will facilitate the development of a quantitative record of learning to know the process and its quality by the user. It is concluded that the set of methodologies analyzed provide information in regards to the considerations when proposing a methodology for the design of a serious games. As a future work, there will be a methodological proposal, which will facilitate the integration of the aspects identified through the revision of the methodologies analyzed to guide systematically the design process of a serious game, specifically targeted to the teaching of digital competencies.
A tertiary study on model-based testing areas, tools and challenges: Preliminary results
(2018-04-24) Villalobos Arias, Leonardo; Quesada López, Christian Ulises; Martínez Porras, Alexandra; Jenkins Coronas, Marcelo
Context: Model-based testing (MBT) is one of the most studied approaches by secondary studies in the area of software testing. A tertiary study that aggregates knowledge from secondary studies on MBT can be useful to both academia and industry. Objective: The goal of this study is to identify and characterize secondary studies in model-based testing, in terms of the areas, tools and challenges they have investigated. Method: We conducted a tertiary study in MBT. Our systematic mapping of secondary studies included 12 literature surveys and 10 systematic reviews over the period 1996–2016.Results: We found that the two most studied areas of MBT are UML models and Transition-based notations. We also found that only 5 studies compared and classified MBT tools. The main challenges and limitations found were related to the need for more empirical evidence that supports the selection of MBT approaches and tools. Conclusions: Not many systematic reviews on MBT were found, consequently some areas still lack secondary studies: test execution aspects, language types, model dynamics, and some model paradigms and generation methods. We thus encourage the MBT community to perform further systematic reviews and mapping studies, following known protocols and reporting procedures, in order to increase the quality and quantity of empirical studies in MBT.
A user interaction bug analyzer based on image processing
(2016-08) Méndez Porras, Abel; Alfaro Velásco, Jorge; Jenkins Coronas, Marcelo; Martínez Porras, Alexandra
Mobile applications support a set of user-interaction features that are independent of the application logic. Rotating the device, scrolling, or zooming are examples of such features. Some bugs in mobile applications can be attributed to user-interaction features. Objective: This paper proposes and evaluates a bug analyzer based on userinteraction features that uses digital image processing to find bugs. Method: Our bug analyzer detects bugs by comparing the similarity between images taken before and after a user-interaction. SURF, an interest point detector and descriptor, is used to compare the images. To evaluate the bug analyzer, we conducted a case study with 15 randomly selected mobile applications. First, we identified user-interaction bugs by manually testing the applications. Images were captured before and after applying each user-interaction feature. Then, image pairs were processed with SURF to obtain interest points, from which a similarity percentage was computed, to finally decide whether there was a bug. Results: We performed a total of 49 user-interaction feature tests. When manually testing the applications, 17 bugs were found, whereas when using image processing, 15 bugs were detected. Conclusions: 8 out of 15 mobile applications tested had bugs associated to user-interaction features. Our bug analyzer based on image processing was able to detect 88% (15 out of 17) of the user-interaction bugs found with manual testing.
A Virtual Repository of Learning Objects to Support Literacy of SEN Children
(2015-01) Guerrero Blanco, Luis Alberto; Jadán Guerrero, Janio
Literacy development is an essential process for special education needs children. Otherwise, they will have additional difficulties in their daily life activities and hence their social inclusion. It is a big challenge for parents and teachers, but it is easier if the process begins since childhood. In this paper, we present Tic@ula, a virtual repository for creating, centralizing, and sharing learning objects based on the IEEE learning object metadata standard. The framework aims to enhance the adaptation of the resources for literacy to the Costa Rican reality and extend its application to children with moderate intellectual disability. The educational resources are based on the literacy method proposed by Spanish authors in their book Down Syndrome: Reading and Writing. The method and the resources were evaluated in a case study. The preliminary results showed that the method cannot only be applied in local context but also assists teachers and parents in the design and use of literacy resources for special education.
Acceptance of Serious Games to Develop Digital Competencies in Higher Education
(2022) Sandí Delgado, Juan Carlos; Sanz, Cecilia Verónica; Lovos, Edith Noemi
Serious games are the focus of the current research agenda. They show promise for allowing students to learn and practice skills. In fewer studies, they are used for the development of academic competencies. Therefore, it is of interest to deepen the research on the benefits of serious games in academic education and training. This article presents a study using serious games aimed at higher education academics’ training for the development of digital competencies. The study was carried out with 56 academics, using the serious game called AstroCódigo. The study analyzed the level of acceptance of serious games using the TAM model and what factors the academics believe affect this acceptance. It is important to know possible barriers that affect the development of actions oriented to the formation of academic competencies through serious games, which can also affect the adoption of games as a resource for teaching situations. None of prior studies have focused on analyzing the technological acceptance of serious games used for the development of academic competencies. The results of this research indicate that participants believe that using serious games can be beneficial to drive digital competencies. However, there are aspects such as the highest academic qualification, work experience, professional development, perceived usefulness, ease of use, and fear of change associated with age rank which can play a negative role in the use and acceptance of digital technologies by academics, particularly serious games. These results may be a clue to the barriers linked to the fact that most of the participants in this study do not use serious games in their classes or for their digital skills training. Additionally, the possibility to try and fail and the increased level of challenges proposed in the serious games, related to enjoyment, were valued by academics, during the sessions with AstroCódigo. These findings open the door to organize strategies for academic training in digital competencies within higher education institutions. They can also impact the design decisions of new serious games.
Agile for Newbies: A Scrum Workshop Design and Implementation Process
(2019) Guzmán Benavides, Julio César; López Herrera, Gustavo; Aymerich Fuentes, Brenda Aydil
“Scrum is simple to understand but difficult to master”. This paper describes our efforts in designing and testing a 16-h Scrum workshop that provides an overview of Scrum´s core concepts. The workshop is intended for participants with little or no background on Scrum. Designed by four certified scrum masters, this workshop combines different practices gathered from a series of training and day to day applications of Scrum. We have tested and improved the workshop described in this paper in 5 iterations over the past two years. Feedback from participants and improvements proposed by instructors were incorporated. The workshop combines theoretical knowledge and practical activities to help participants interiorize the theory. The design of this workshop is modular so that it can be adapted to different participant´s needs. Activities are designed to be developed in workshops with 15 participants.
Alexa vs. Siri vs. Cortana vs. Google Assistant: A Comparison of Speech-Based Natural User Interfaces
(2017-07-17) López Herrera, Gustavo; Quesada Quirós, Luis; Guerrero Blanco, Luis Alberto
Natural User Interfaces (NUI) are supposed to be used by humans in a very logic way. However, the run to deploy Speech-based NUIs by the industry has had a large impact on the naturality of such interfaces. This paper presents a usability test of the most prestigious and internationally used Speech-based NUI (i.e., Alexa, Siri, Cortana and Google’s). A comparison of the services that each one provides was also performed considering: access to music services, agenda, news, weather, To-Do lists and maps or directions, among others. The test was design by two Human Computer Interaction experts and executed by eight persons. Results show that even though there are many services available, there is a lot to do to improve the usability of these systems. Specially focused on separating the traditional use of computers (based on applications that require parameters to function) and to get closer to real NUIs.
Alternative and augmentative communication for people with disabilities and language problems: an eye gaze tracking approach
(2016) Arias Soto, Emmanuel; López Herrera, Gustavo; Quesada Quirós, Luis; Guerrero Blanco, Luis Alberto
Alternative and augmentative communications encapsulates the use of technology to provide communication means for people with some sort of disability. In this paper, we present a prototype that provides both pictographic and alphabetic options to allow communication. Our system was originally designed for people that suffer physical disabilities and are not able to move their body. To allow interaction we provide an eye gazed based interaction. Our system was evaluated with an experienced test subject, because the system requires training to be used. However, evaluations results demonstrated that a skilled user requires less than two seconds (average) to select a pictogram or letter (i.e., in less than a minute, a 30 characters long phrase or up to two semantically correct sentences using pictograms can be produced).
Alzheimer’s Disease Early Detection Using a Low Cost Three-Dimensional Densenet-121 Architecture
(2020-06-23) Solano Rojas, Braulio José; Villalón Fonseca, Ricardo; Marín Raventós, Gabriela
The objective of this work is to detect Alzheimer’s disease using Magnetic Resonance Imaging. For this, we use a three-dimensional densenet-121 architecture. With the use of only freely available tools, we obtain good results: a deep neural network showing metrics of 87% accuracy, 87% sensitivity (micro-average), 88% specificity (micro-average), and 92% AUROC (micro-average) for the task of classifying five different classes (disease stages). The use of tools available for free means that this work can be replicated in developing countries.
An Empirical Evaluation of Automated Function Points
(2016) Quesada López, Christian Ulises; Madrigal Sánchez, Denisse; Jenkins Coronas, Marcelo
Background: Function point analysis (FPA) has become widely used to measure software functional size in the industry. FPA is usually performed manually, which is a time consuming and expensive process. Automated Function Point (AFP) specification states the guidelines for automating FPA counting from software source code, generally consistent with current FPA practices. Objective: This paper analyzes the relationships between FPA and AFP measures and measurement process. This includes total function points and basic functional components (BFC) size. The goals are to evaluate accuracy, reproducibility, perceived ease of use, usefulness, and intention to use and to understand the nature of the differences between measures. Method: A controlled experiment was conducted to evaluate the FPA and AFP measurement process with 14 participants (E1). We have subsequently conducted two replications of the original experiment with 12 participants each (E2 and E3). Statistical analyses were conducted to find differences between the methods regarding effectiveness and adoption properties. Results: Participants using FPA performed as well as participants using AFP to measure total functional size. Treatment and control groups did not differ significantly in terms of accuracy and reproducibility (p<0.05) throughout E1, E2 and E3. FPA presented similar accuracy to AFP for each replication. Participants between experiments performed different; data function (DF) results show an important difference between methods. Conclusions: The results confirm the potential for developing automation tools for function point counting that could produce more consistent measurement results; however, this process should be conducted carefully, depending on the implementation of a given requirements specification, AFP could produce different results. Although encouraging results were obtained, further research is needed to confirm performance results and to draw more conclusions on the perceived adoption properties.
An empirical evaluation of NASA-MDP data sets using a genetic defect-proneness prediction framework
(2016-11-09) Murillo Morera, Juan; Quesada López, Christian Ulises; Castro Herrera, Carlos; Jenkins Coronas, Marcelo
In software engineering, software quality is an important research area. Automated generation of learning schemes plays an important role and represents an efficient way to detect defects in software projects, thus avoiding high costs and long delivery times. This study carries out an empirical evaluation to validate two versions with different levels of noise of NASAMDP data sets. The main objective of this paper is to determine the stability of our framework. In all, 864 learning schemes were studied (8 data preprocessors x 6 attribute selectors x 18 learning algorithms). In line with statistical tests, our framework reported stable results between the analyzed versions. Results reported that evaluation and prediction phases were similar. Furthermore, the performance of the phases of evaluation and prediction between versions of data sets were stable. This means that the differences between versions did not affect the performance of our framework

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