Smart Cities and Mobility
The concept of Smart Cities aims to create more sustainable, efficient, and greener urban environments through the use of technology, specifically the Internet of Things (IoT). This aligns with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, specifically Goal 11 which focuses on making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Smart cities rely heavily on information and communication technologies (ICT) and transportation systems are a key area in which they are evolving quickly and steadily through the use of the IoT. This has led to the development of new concepts such as cooperative ITS (C-ITS) and autonomous vehicles (AV). Smart cities and mobility can be thought of as complex, dynamic, distributed systems in which entities have intelligence and autonomy, and exhibit cooperative, collaborative, and competitive interactions. Therefore, the domains of smart cities and smart mobility provide a natural laboratory for testing AI theories, methods, tools, and applications in a cross-fertilization approach that benefits both the application domains and AI.
LIACC has vast experience and a long history in applying AI in traffic and transportation, which allowed the Laboratory to easily pursue research and innovation in smart cities and mobility as well. More specifically, multiagent systems are the main methodology to model, design, and test intelligent solutions in smart cities and mobility.
Different applications to which LIACC has contributed include intelligent traffic control, public transit and multimodal transportation, demand modelling, road safety, autonomous driving and platoon coordination, urban vehicle accessibility regulations, road pricing and incentives design, electric mobility, sustainable households and intelligent waste collection. Additionally, LIACC has contributed to the implementation of methodologies and tools, including middleware for transportation simulators interoperability, artificial societies synthetisation, and disruption management.
Public Administration and Governance
The constant development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) methodologies makes the automation of processes more and more attractive for the Public Administration and Government (PAG). Due to the advances in AI and Information Technology (IT), several PAG processes which, a few years ago, had to be completely carried out by humans can be automated today. The overall PAG domain involves a diversity of application areas in which Intelligent Systems may play a key role in a near future, namely in: Government, Urban Planning, Transports, Traffic Management, Energy, Water and Waste Management, Citizenship, Hospital Management & Public Health, Culture & Heritage Management, Tourism, Education & Research Management, among many others.
To enable the use of Intelligent Systems in these application areas, different AI/IT methods and technologies are needed, such as: Data Science; Analytics; Decision Support Systems; Machine Learning; Optimization; Natural Language Processing; Social Media Analytics; Modeling & Simulation; AI Planning; Agents and Multi-Agent Systems; Social Intelligence; Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Perception, Robotics & Automation; Big Data and Cloud/Edge Computing; User Modelling; Cybersecurity; and Sustainable Computing.
This thematic line aims to address the challenges raised by current trends on innovative electronic service provision, in particular in the field of e-government and public administration. It thus focuses on advanced AI-powered IT solutions to address the relationships between humans and online services, and the use of AI to improve public administration services. In the context of this thematic line, LIACC intends to improve and promote public policies and decision-making processes, making them more data-driven. This will be achieved by using modern IT/AI methodologies, allowing to first collect and integrate the relevant heterogeneous data, generated in Public Administration and other sources (e.g., social media), and then process “intelligently” such data, providing valuable insights and actionable knowledge.
Health and Wellbeing
The thematic line of Health and Well-being aims to improve the overall physical and mental well-being of individuals through cutting-edge research in the fields of medicine, psychology, environment and public health, and with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
One key area of focus is the development of personalized solutions, which aims to tailor medical treatments and solutions to the individual characteristics of each patient. AI can play a key role in this process by analyzing biomedical data, such as imaging and electronic health records, to identify patterns and make future predictions. Another area of focus is the prevention and management of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer promoting a better quality of life. By using AI techniques, it will be possible to analyze large amounts of data to identify early conditions and develop predictive models that can help medical and healthcare teams. Mental health and the identification of potential risk factors are also important areas of research. LIACC has some experience using AI-powered chatbots and virtual therapy assistants to provide mental health support and care.
In addition to these specific research goals, LIACC intends to integrate all these different goals to deliver a holistic understanding of health and wellbeing and develop meaningful and effective interventions that deliver the greatest benefit to individuals and communities.
Innovative and Sustainable Industry/Services
The Innovative and Sustainable Industry/Services aims to support public policies that leverage the Portuguese industrial sectors, including companies, research centers, technical and vocational training organizations, startups, and entrepreneurs, in their development and adoption of intelligent systems for sustainability and competitiveness. LIACC may contribute to helping the Portuguese industry to adopt new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) to become more sustainable and competitive on a global scale.
In general, the Innovative and Sustainable Industry/Services aims to be a catalyst for the adoption of intelligent systems and technologies in the Portuguese industry, driving sustainable growth and competitiveness, while also supporting public policies that promote the development of a sustainable and innovative economy in Portugal.
Infrastructures and Highly Connected Society
This line focuses on the development and integration of technological infrastructure that enables a highly connected society. This includes the design, deployment, and maintenance of information and communication technology (ICT) systems such as networks, data centers, and cloud computing systems.
LIACC aims to research in this thematic line focusing on the development of smart cities, which integrate ICT systems to improve the efficiency and sustainability of urban environments. This includes the use of IoT devices, big data analytics, and machine learning to optimize energy usage, transportation systems, and public services.
Moreover, this thematic line addresses the challenges and opportunities that arise from the increasing connectivity and interdependence of individuals, organizations, and systems. This includes the study of cybersecurity, privacy, and trust in the context of highly connected societies.
Human/Machine Interaction
The Human/Machine Interaction thematic line focuses on the study of how people interact with technology and how technology can be designed to enhance human capabilities. This includes research on the design, evaluation, and implementation of interactive systems such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and human-computer interfaces.
One key area of research within this thematic line is the development of natural user interfaces, which allow people to interact with technology in more intuitive and human-like ways, such as through gestures, speech, touch or a combination of these possibilities. LIACC includes research on computer vision, speech recognition, and machine learning to enable more effective human-computer interaction.
Another important aspect of this thematic line is the study of how technology affects human behavior, emotions, and cognition. This includes research on how the use of technology can impact mental health, social interactions, and decision-making.
LIACC intends in this Human/Machine Interaction thematic line to better understand how people interact with technology, and how technology can be designed to enhance human capabilities and improve the quality of human life
Entertainment and Games
AI technology is playing an increasingly important role in the entertainment and games industry. It has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with and experience virtual worlds, leading to more realistic and immersive experiences.
The entertainment and games industry has seen a significant increase in the integration of AI technology in recent years. This includes the use of AI in game development, as well as in the design of virtual and augmented reality experiences. AI algorithms can be used to generate realistic and believable non-player characters that can interact with players in a natural and responsive manner. This allows more immersive gameplay experiences and can lead to more realistic and engaging virtual worlds. LIACC has also experience in the serious games field allowing several applications for healthcare, such as patient rehabilitation, education, training and mental health.
