News

New Research Alert: Non-Invasive Technology for Deception Detection
Curious about how infrared thermal imaging (fITI) and eye-tracking could be applied to detect deception in everyday conversations?
Check out our latest study published in Current Psychology (Springer Nature) where Martin Seitl, Stanislav Popelka, Daniel Dostál, and Petra Hypšová dive into this topic!
Analyzing facial temperature and eye fixations, we identified unique physiological and behavioural cues in spontaneous and prepared deception scenarios.
Key Findings:
Facial Temperature: There were no significant temperature shifts during deception, but spontaneous scenarios showed higher forehead and cheek temperatures due to increased cognitive load.
Eye Fixations: During prepared lies, liars increased eye contact, while in spontaneous deception, participants reduced eye contact with the interviewer.
To understand why these patterns emerge, read the full study!

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-024-06840-6

The Hackathon knows its winners!

This weekend, 10 teams and one individual came together at Envelopa Hub to work on exciting projects using open data, and the results were amazing!
Students and professionals competed in multidisciplinary teams, presenting their ideas to an expert jury in the Aula of the Faculty of Science at UP.

1st Place – NTL-CUP: A smart parking app for smart cities – identifying free parking spots using camera systems.
2nd Place – DataQ – Safevision: A system for detecting armed attackers using surveillance cameras.
3rd Place – Střelci – Neboj App: A navigation app that finds the safest route home.

Special Awards:
Best Business Potential Award (ICOK): Team TRIX – A chatbot proposal for the Olomouc Tourism website.
Best Student Team Award (UPOL): Team Střelci – Neboj App.

A huge thank you to all participants, mentors, judges, and partners – we couldn’t have done it without you!

We have successfully kicked off the new academic year at the Department of Geoinformatics!
We welcome more than 50 new undergraduate students in their first year and new Master’s students in both the Czech program and the English Joint Master Degree in Digital Earth.
We also continue to engage with future generations, showcasing our latest scientific achievements at events like the Night of Scientists. We wish all students success and resilience throughout the 2024/2025 academic year!

During the summer, we embarked on the first phases of the groundbreaking EnCLOD project. In close collaboration with our esteemed partners from CityOne and CITIQ, we crafted a sensor network of immense significance. This network will amass a wealth of data on the city of Olomouc, with a primary focus on traffic and temperature. As of last week, we have begun to gather data from 26 traffic sensors, primarily aimed at studying parking demand/occupancy. However, our journey is far from over. We have more sensors to install, and a vast amount of big data to analyze and present as open data to the public. These are small steps towards a smarter city, and your involvement is crucial in this journey.

Many thanks to the Statutory City of Olomouc, the Olomouc Region and Palacký University for their fast and smooth cooperation in designing the network and in dealing with the necessary permits.

We are pleased to announce that Jakub Koníček successfully defended his dissertation on “Visual Analysis in the Identification of Infographics in Cartography” yesterday and has earned his Ph.D.!

We are also happy to share that since September, Jakub has taken up the position of assistant, which means he is staying with our department. ️
We wish him continued success and look forward to further collaboration!

Dr Popelka from the Department of Geoinformatics at Palacký University in Olomouc has been honoured with the prestigious TopScholar title by the ScholarGPS platform, which recognizes scientists for their outstanding achievements in their fields.

Thanks to his exceptional publication record, research impact, and the quality of his scientific contributions, Dr. Popelka has ranked among the top 0.5% of scientists worldwide. In the ScholarGPS rankings, he secured the 37th position in geoinformatics and the 43rd position in eye-tracking (tracking eye movements). This award is a testament to his significant contributions to the scientific community and strengthens the prestige of our department on an international level.

ScholarGPS is the world’s most comprehensive scientific analytics platform, utilizing artificial intelligence and advanced data science techniques to evaluate over 30 million scientists and 55,000 institutions worldwide.

Congratulations to Dr. Popelka on this remarkable achievement, and thank you for your contributions to the advancement of science!

✨ On May 28-29, 2024, the #EnCLOD project consortium gathered in Vicenza, Italy, hosted by the Province of Vicenza, to launch this exciting initiative! ✨
Funded by Interreg Central Europe, the EnCLOD project (Enhancing Governance Capacities of Local Authorities Using Open Data) aims to improve governance in five Central European territories by leveraging #Open Data and #IoT sensor networks.

Over the next 30 months 10 partners will collaborate, including the Province of Vicenza, leader of the project, the University of Venice (IUAV), the DKV Debrecen Exclusive Public Transport Company, CITIQ, the Palacký University Olomouc, CityOne, the Urban Municipality of Nova Gorica, the University of Ljubljana, the University of Žilina and ALDA+.

The kick-off event featured insights from Mr. Winfried Ritt and Mr. Alberto De Sordi, who highlighted the project’s context and the roles of the Joint Secretariat and National Contact Points.

We also discussed the five pilot areas, each targeting critical urban and social challenges to drive innovation and sustainability.
This meeting was all about building strong collaborations and setting the stage for transformative impacts across Central Europe. We’re thrilled about the journey ahead and the positive changes this project will bring!
Stay tuned for more updates!

More here: https://lnkd.in/dnKN2XwT

We were honoured to welcome representatives from the significant Czech/Slovak cartographic company CBS. We presented our rich cartographic production, our 3D laboratory, and the possibilities of using 3D printing in tactile cartography and space modelling. We also showcased our eye-tracking technology.
In return, we were introduced to the Map Explorer application, which enhances static cartographic products with an interactive component.
This visit was exceptional because it was the first to fly to us – specifically in a gyrocopter!
Thank you, CBS, for the inspiring visit, and we look forward to further cooperation!