About Me
I am an Adjunct Professor at Instituto Superior de Tecnologias Avançadas (ISTEC), Campus Académico do Lumiar, Lisboa (Portugal) and a Teaching Assistant at Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon (Portugal). A professor is responsible for transferring his knowledge to students and ensuring that they can extrapolate that knowledge. Making sure my students are challenged and can grow makes my day and motivates me to keep teaching.
When I am not lecturing, I spend my time conducting research as a co-coordinator at the HUMAN Lab and a junior researcher at the Graphics and Interaction research area at INESC-ID. My main research goal is to understand better how to help users discover, explain, and form decisions based on the information conveyed through visual encodings. My research in Information Visualization led me to investigate how researchers can leverage specific factors to make technology more helpful and reliable by making it adapt to the user. These factors include individual differences (e.g., personality and cognitive traits), cognitive biases, and proxies of trust.
As life is not all about work, I am also foodie searching for the best restaurants in the world and cooking what I like best at home. I am also an avid fan and player of Magic: The Gathering.
Research Interests
I find fascinating the way each individual perceives information through visual encodings and how we can make it as intuitive as possible. Most of my research investigates how we can improve information visualization to support decision-making and help users by adapting technology to their user profiles. My main interests revolve around cognitive biases and trust-building processes in information visualization-based scenarios.
Many constructs have models to define oneself, yet I am mainly focused on personality and cognitive styles, as they are more stable and allow researchers to understand how users model their thought processes and interact with the outer world. Cognitive traits such as perceptual speed or spatial ability are also on the menu! Just imagine that the technology adapts your interaction with it and how it displays information based on your specific user profile.
Automatic difficulty adjustment was one of my first topics in research. There are a lot of human and context factors to consider when we want to provide the best-tailored user experience. I have focused on entertainment- and health-related use cases in the past, but all adaptation strategies are attractive.
Real-world cases show that applied gamification techniques improve the quality of several education and health processes. One of my interests is to gamify a strategy and help everyone involved to have a better time.
Inside Academia
Integrated Researcher - INESC-ID
Nov 2023 - OngoingAdjunct Professor - ISTEC
Sep 2023 - OngoingResearcher - INESC-ID
Apr 2023 - Nov 2023Teaching Assistant - ISTEC
Mar 2023 - Aug 2023I was responsible for the Gamification course of the BSc in Computer Science.
Co-coordinator - HUMAN Lab
Nov 2021 - OngoingJunior Researcher - INESC-ID
Jul 2018 - Apr 2023I have worked in two different projects so far:
GameCourse (PTDC/CCI-CIF/30754/2017): creation of mechanisms that support the further development of a platform for course gamification, considering different gamification mechanisms.
R&D Projects (UID/CEC/50021/2013): study the relevance and impact of personality in graphical user interfaces.
Teaching Assistant - IST, UL
Sep 2017 - OngoingI am part of the faculty of the following courses of the BSc and the MSc in Information Systems and Computer Engineering in Instituto Superior Técnico:
- 2023/2024
Information Visualization - Alameda.
- 2022/2023
Computer Graphics - Alameda.
Information Visualization - Alameda.
Multimedia Content Production - Alameda.
- 2021/2022
Information Visualization - Alameda.
Multimedia Content Production - Alameda.
- 2020/2021
Information Visualization - Taguspark.
Multimedia Content Production - Alameda.
- 2019/2020
Information Visualization - Taguspark.
Multimedia Content Production - Alameda and Taguspark.
- 2018/2019
Internet of Things Interaction Design - Taguspark.
- 2017/2018
Databases - Taguspark;
Human-Computer Interaction - Alameda;
Systems Analysis and Modeling - Alameda.
Teaching Assistant - ENIDH
Mar 2017 - Jul 2017I was responsible for the Advanced Programming I course of the TeSP-RSI degree.
Trainee - INESC-ID
Jun 2016 - Jul 2016I optimized a cloud point dissemination to represent avatars in VR using Unity3D.
Outside Academia
Student Mentor - TreeTree2
Jul 2019 - Aug 2019Student Mentor at Academia de Verão de Aprendizagem e Olimpíadas Científicas. My job was to teach students from the seventh to the ninth grade how to review scientific contributions and to present them.
CEO - Studentlab PT
Mar 2017 - Sep 2019I was one of the responsible in the founding of the company and I was in charge of the management team.
President - NEIIST
Jun 2016 - Jun 2017My responsibilities were to promote NEIIST, to create and maintain partnerships of NEIIST with another entities and to overview the work being done by the collaborators.
Publications
Alves, T., Velhinho, R., Henriques-Calado, J., Gonçalves, D., & Gama, S. (2024). Studying the resiliency of the anchoring bias to locus of control in visualization. In Information Visualization. Sage.
Alves, T. (2023). Towards Personality-Aware Information Visualization Systems. PhD dissertation, Instituto Superior Técnico - Universidade de Lisboa, 2017.
Alves, T., Sousa, F., Gama, S., Jorge, J., & Gonçalves, D. (2023). How Personality Traits Affect Peer Assessment in Distance Learning. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 1-26.
Alves, T., Ramalho, B., Gonçalves, D., Henriques-Calado, J., & Gama, S. (2023). Leveraging Conscientiousness-Based Preferences in Information Visualization Design. In Visualization Psychology (pp. 293-330). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Alves, T., Nunes, D., Gonçalves, D., Henriques-Calado, J., & Gama, S. (2023). Towards Conscientiousness-Based Graphical User Interface Design Guidelines. In Personal and Ubiquitous Computing. Springer.
Alves, T., Delgado, T., Henriques-Calado, J., Gonçalves, D. & Gama, S. (2023). Exploring the role of conscientiousness on visualization-supported decision-making. In Computers and Graphics. Elsevier.
Delgado, T., Alves, T., & Gama, S. (2022). How neuroticism and locus of control affect user performance in high-dimensional data visualization. In Computers and Graphics. Elsevier.
Alves, T., Dias, C., Gonçalves, D., & Gama, S. (2022). Exploring how Temporal Framing Affects Trust with Time-series Visualizations. In 2022 International Conference on Graphics and Interaction (ICGI). IEEE.
Alves, T., Gonçalves, D., Henriques-Calado, J., & Gama, S. (2022). Examining User Preferences based on Personality Factors in Graphical User Interface Design. In 2022 International Conference on Graphics and Interaction (ICGI). IEEE.
Alves, T., Dias, C., Gonçalves, D., Henriques-Calado, J., & Gama, S. (2022). How Personality and Visual Channels Affect Insight Generation. In 2022 IEEE Workshop on Evaluation and Beyond-Methodological Approaches to Visualization (BELIV). IEEE.
Nogueira, J., Alves, T., & Nicolau, H. (2021). DAN & Danny: Combining Analog and Digital Self-Tracking Data to Manage Wellbeing. In 2021 International Conference on Graphics and Interaction (ICGI). IEEE.
Teotónio, F., Alves, T., & Nicolau, H. (2021). PlayHIIT: Augmenting Remote Exertion Experiences Through Playful Interaction. In 2021 International Conference on Graphics and Interaction (ICGI). IEEE.
Gomes, S., Alves, T., Dias, J., & Martinho, C. (2020). Message Across: A word matching game for reward-based in-game behavior change. In 12th International Conference on Videogame Sciences and Arts. Springer, Cham.
Gomes, S., Alves, T., Dias, J., & Martinho, C. (2020). Reward-Mediated Individual and Altruistic Behavior. In 12th International Conference on Videogame Sciences and Arts. Springer, Cham.
Alves, T., Ramalho, B., Henriques-Calado, J., Gonçalves, D. & Gama, S. (2020). Exploring How Personality Models Information Visualization Preferences. In 2020 IEEE Visualization Conference (VIS). IEEE.
Alves, T., Gomes, S., Dias, J., & Martinho, C. (2020). The Influence of Reward on the Social Valence of Interactions. In 2020 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG). IEEE.
Alves, T., Carvalho, H., & Lopes, D. S. (2020). Winning compensations: Adaptable gaming approach for upper limb rehabilitation sessions based on compensatory movements. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 108, 103501.
Alves, T., Natálio, J., Henriques-Calado, J., & Gama, S. (2020). Incorporating personality in user interface design: A review. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 155, 109709.
Alves, T., Martinho, C., & Prada, R. (2019). Towards Incorporating Personality in Serious Games for Health. In 2019 11th International Conference on Virtual Worlds and Games for Serious Applications (VS-Games) (pp. 1-4). IEEE.
Alves, T., Gonçalves, D., Henriques-Calado, J., & Gama, S. (2019). Personality-Based Graphical User Interface Design Guidelines. Poster presented at: Encontro Ciências 2019 ; 2019 Jul 8-10; Lisbon, Portugal.
Alves, T., Gama, S., & Melo, F. S. (2018). Towards Guidelines for Mental State Induction in First-Person Shooters. In 2018 International Conference on Graphics and Interaction (ICGI) (pp. 1-4). IEEE.
Alves, T., Gama, S., & Melo, F. S. (2018). Flow adaptation in serious games for health. In 2018 IEEE 6th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health (SeGAH) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.
Alves, T. (2017). Flow-Z: A Flow-based Adaptable Game to Maintain Optimal Challenge. MSc thesis, Instituto Superior Técnico - Universidade de Lisboa, 2017.
MSc Supervisions
Maria Campos. Predicting the Anchoring Bias in Information Visualization Through Cognitive Abilities - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama.
Maribel Zapata. Improving Eating Habits Through the Lens of Augmented Reality - Co-Supervised with Daniel Simões Lopes.
Teresa Correia. Studying Task Difficulty in Information Visualization - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama.
Carolina Pereira. The Phantom Effect - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama.
Tiago Delgado. Studying how personality affects user interaction in high-dimensional data visualization - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama and Daniel Gonçalves.
Vasco Pires. Studying the distinction cognitive bias in information visualization - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama and Daniel Gonçalves.
Alexandra Maroco. The Effect of Neuroticism on the Framing Bias in Information Visualization - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama and Daniel Gonçalves.
Carlota Dias. The Effect of Neuroticism on Trustworthiness in Information Visualization - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama and Daniel Gonçalves.
Diogo Loureiro. Web BioSPPy+: Web Application for Biosignal Processing & Visualisation - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama.
Ricardo Velhinho. The Effect of Locus of Control on the Anchoring Effect in Information Visualization - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama and Daniel Gonçalves.
Bárbara Ramalho. Towards Conscientiousness-based Data Visualization - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama.
Diogo Mestre. Visualizing Personality Dysfunction and Pathological Personality Traits - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama.
Francisco Teotónio. SABER - Social Balanced Experiences for Rehabilitation - Co-Supervised with Hugo Nicolau.
Rodrigo Oliveira. BioSSPy Web - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama.
Carolina Xavier. NEURAL: Towards Neuroticism-Based User interface Adaptability - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama.
Daniel Nunes. Interface Adaptativa Baseada na Conscienciosidade - Co-Supervised with Sandra Gama.