As AI-generated content becomes increasingly prevalent in educational settings, understanding its impact on students remains an urgent yet underexplored issue. Although recent studies have begun to explore AI-generated videos, few have specifically examined the pedagogical potential of combining AI voices and avatars. This study investigates the differences in user engagement and cognitive load induced by AI-generated short videos compared to human-based ones in the context of foreign language learning. Using a 2 × 2 experimental design, the study explored four combinations: AI voice & AI avatar, AI voice & Human avatar, Human voice & AI avatar, and Human voice & Human avatar. Results from linear mixed models and Fuzzy C-Means clustering revealed that while both AI voice and AI avatar can improve user engagement independently, a significant improvement in engagement is only observed when both voice and avatar are AI-generated. Similarly, while AI voice and AI avatar can reduce extraneous cognitive load independently, a significant reduction in extraneous cognitive load is only observed when both voice and avatar are AI-generated. This study offers valuable insights for integrating AIgenerated short videos into foreign language learning and the broader educational landscape, paving the way for AI-generated content and innovative approaches to multimedia learning.

This study explores the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration on user engagement and satisfaction within a large media company, specifically ProSiebenSat.1 Through a mixed-method approach, the research incorporates both qualitative interviews with six industry experts and a quantitative survey with users of AI. The study provides comprehensive insights into how AI-driven technologies are reshaping media consumption. The master's thesis begins with a description of the internship at ProSiebenSat.1 through a descriptive recollection. The literature review emphasises the fundamentals of artificial intelligence, explaining its definition, background, and instances for this study. Additionally, concentrating on the study issue while highlighting AI's role in media and social media. This research includes a chapter on ethics, as well as the significant and important role in the research. The ProSiebenSat.1 tools that are used to help interpret the interviewees' statements come next. The Master's Thesis is concluded with the methodology and conclusion. The key findings indicate that there is a high level of awareness and usage of AI among users, satisfaction with AI-driven personalisation remains varied and not consistent, highlighting a need for improvement. The study also uncovers significant concern regarding data privacy and ethical AI use, emphasizing the importance of transparency and accountability in maintaining user trust. The findings suggest that AI’s potential to enhance operational efficiency and personalise user experience is evident, but challenges remain in fully realising this potential. The research makes several recommendations, including improving AI personalisation features, resolving privacy issues, raising user awareness of AI, and investigating potential future integrations with cutting-edge technologies like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Future research should also concentrate on cross-industry comparisons, longitudinal studies of AI's effects, and in-depth analyses of AI ethics and bias mitigation. The future for AI remains exciting, with further growth and integration in various areas and industries. However, the use of the technology must continue to be monitored to keep ethical and socio-economic issues under control. Addressing these challenges is important as media companies must continue to work with AI to capitalize on engagement and satisfaction. This changes how audiences interact with content.

Living a healthy lifestyle is becoming increasingly relevant for contemporary society. As a result, health and lifestyle apps are on their way to become the dominant technological tool in supporting such a healthy lifestyle. For that reason, it becomes essential for app developers to understand what exactly consumers consider a healthy lifestyle, in order to design apps that satisfy user needs and ensure enduring success in the health and lifestyle app market. The present study identifies the key activities and goals consumers associate with a healthy lifestyle and assesses to which degree the five health and lifestyle apps, MyFitnessPal, Runtastic, Seven, Sleep Better and Headspace facilitate them. To this end, primary data was obtained by conducting a survey, in which respondents, among other questions, were asked to provide their associations with a healthy lifestyle. The results were compared with qualitative secondary data about the five different health and lifestyle apps. In addition, the apps were matched with a taxonomy of behavioural change processes. The results show that consumers’ understanding of a healthy lifestyle is much more varied and complex than the literature suggests. Moreover, findings showed which parts of a healthy lifestyle are well matched by current apps and which are not. Also, it was seen that current apps should integrate more behaviour change techniques that enhance motivation. In conclusion, these findings are relevant for app developers in designing successful health and lifestyle apps that meet different consumer needs in order to ensure engagement and retention.

The global financial crisis of 2008 highlighted the critical importance of financial literacy and effective personal financial management. Despite the growing need for financial education, a significant portion of the global population remains financially illiterate, which poses long-term risks to individual and societal economic stability. This thesis explores the potential of gamification as a strategy to enhance user engagement in a mobile application designed to improve financial literacy. By integrating game elements such as points, badges, leaderboards, and personalized learning paths, the proposed app aims to make financial education interactive and engaging. This study is grounded in the Self-Determination Theory, which emphasizes the importance of competence, autonomy, and relatedness in motivating behavior. Through a combination of literature review, survey analysis, and empirical data collection, the research investigates the effectiveness of different gamification elements in enhancing user engagement. The findings reveal that elements focused on competition, social relationships, feedback, progression, and rewards significantly enhance user motivation and engagement. However, immersive elements such as customizable avatars, while enhancing user experience, do not have a significant standalone impact on engagement. This research provides valuable insights for developers and educators on the strategic implementation of gamification in financial literacy applications, highlighting its potential to foster a more financially informed and competent society.

Human mobility has been widely studied for a variety of purposes, from urban planning to the study of spread of diseases. These studies depend heavily on large datasets, and recent advances in collaborative sensing and WiFi infrastructures have created new opportunities for generating that data. However, these methods and procedures require the participation of a significant community of users through extended periods of time. In this paper, we address the problem of how to engage people to participate in the data collection process. We have conducted a user study on the utilisation of a mobile collaborative sensing application. We have found that users react positively to campaigns, but it is difficult to keep them participating for long periods of time. We also hypothesise that one must close the loop, rewarding the participants with services based on the collected data, eventually showing that there is added value obtainable from crowd sourcing.

Motivated by the conjecture that traditional political communication patterns and strategies are broken within social network sites, this paper investigates the presence of Portuguese political parties on Facebook during a year with two major elections (European and Legislative), both from the posting activity aspect and the user engagement. The following research questions are formulated: Is it possible to identify distinctive styles adopted by different parties or to demonstrate that their audience acknowledges them in a different manner? If such distinction is possible, can it be correlated with the party’s foundation time, relative size, or place within the political spectrum? Our analysis shows that the common assumptions that older parties do not behave like newer ones fail when tested against the collected data. We also observe higher levels of user engagement attracted by newly founded, minor, and right-leaning parties, compared to their older, major, and left-leaning counterparts, respectively.

Background AI-enabled chatbots are increasingly used to support psychological well-being, yet limited research has examined engagement and its outcomes from a cross-cultural theoretical perspective. Objective This study investigates the determinants of user engagement with well-being chatbots and examines how engagement behaviours influence user well-being. Method Grounded in the theory of interpersonal behaviour, this study integrates trust theory, the health belief model, and technology addiction to develop a comprehensive framework. The model is empirically tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling with survey data from the United States and China. Results The model accounts for 67.0% of the variance in engagement intention and 75.6% in engagement behaviour, indicating that engagement-related constructs capture users’ interaction patterns effectively across both countries. However, the model explains a considerably higher proportion of variance in well-being in the U.S. sample (40.7%) than in the Chinese sample (8.5%). This pattern suggests that while user engagement with chatbots is structured in similar ways across countries, its translation into perceived well-being is contingent on contextual and cultural factors rather than on engagement alone. Conclusion This study identifies the core determinants of user engagement with AI-enabled chatbots and theoretically demonstrates that engagement behaviours positively influence user well-being through attachment and flow experiences. From a practical perspective, the findings underscore the importance of cultural differences for well-being chatbot practitioners, suggesting that the design and deployment of globally applicable well-being chatbots should carefully account for cultural contexts and usage practices across countries.

A presente dissertação investiga o impacto do juiciness no envolvimento dos participantes durante uma tarefa experimental gamificada. Sustentada pela Teoria da Autodeterminação (SDT), que defende que a motivação intrínseca aumenta quando necessidades psicológicas básicas são satisfeitas (competência, autonomia e relacionamento), esta dissertação explora se elementos de jogo juicy, como sons e animações, podem fortalecer essa motivação e aumentar o envolvimento dos participantes. O estudo incluiu 125 estudantes universitários divididos em três grupos: controlo (sem gamificação), PBL e PBL+Juicy. Após visualizar um vídeo educativo, os participantes responderam a questões sobre o mesmo, cujo feedback era adaptado tendo em conta ao grupo experimental. De forma a medir o envolvimento dos participantes na tarefa foi utilizada a Escala de Envolvimento do Usuário (UES). Era esperado encontrar efeitos significativos do juiciness no envolvimento dos participantes, contudo, os resultados não revelaram diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre os grupos. Após a discussão dos resultados, concluiu-se que a eficácia do juiciness pode depender do contexto e da tarefa, principalmente quando esta já é intrinsecamente interessante. A dissertação destaca a importância de um design sensível ao conteúdo, à amostra e ao tipo de tarefa.

The manuscript includes information about the objectives, methods, participation requirements and references for the Users and Evaluation of Interactive Storytelling at the 3rd International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling – Edinburgh 2010.

Rare disease registries increase research accessibility for patients, while providing clinicians/investigators with a coherent data ecosystem necessary to boost research and patient care. The IRD-PT registry is a national, web-based, interoperable registry for inherited retinal degenerations (IRDs) designed to generate scientific knowledge and collect high-quality data on the epidemiology, genomic landscape and natural history of IRDs in Portugal. In two years, the number of enrolled patients almost doubled (537 to 1060). Still, the registry has a lower-than-expected adoption rate, with only 4 centers across Portugal actively enrolling patients. This highlights a strong need to understand factors that may be hindering the registry's nationwide adoption. The purpose of this manuscript is to analyze challenges, facilitators and barriers to the adoption and use of the IRD-PT registry, and to discuss avenues for improvement, focusing on keeping the registry sustainable in the long run. We believe that this exercise may help other rare disease registries to improve user adherence and engagement, ultimately contributing to develop more sustainable and successful registries in the field.