LASIGE Talks are fortnightly/monthly events to publicize recently distinguished publications or ongoing cutting-edge work by researchers from the research centre, consolidating the scientific culture of the LASIGE community.

Speakers: Eduardo Castanho (LASIGE) and David Gonçalves (LASIGE)
Date: April 2nd, 2025, Wednesday
Where: C6.3.27

Program:
11:45 Eduardo Castanho
12:05 David Gonçalves
12:25 Q&A + Break for snacks & coffee

Talk1: Biclustering Data Analysis in a Nutshell
Speaker: Eduardo Castanho
Biclustering is an unsupervised machine learning task with a higher flexibility than clustering. This flexibility drives its potentialities in diverse application domains – ranging from bioinformatics and spatiotemporal data to recommender systems – but raises additional challenges due to the complexity of the problem. In this talk, I will
provide a first approach to biclustering, assuming no prior knowledge. A key question: How does biclustering’s flexibility introduce new complexities in data analysis? I will cover fundamental aspects of choosing an algorithm and the evaluation of biclustering solutions. Can biclustering be integrated into any data mining pipeline? What would be a good algorithm for beginners? What is the minimum number of code lines for biclustering analysis?

Talk2: The Trick Is To Stay Behind? Defining and Exploring the Design Space of Player Balancing Mechanics
Speaker: David Gonçalves
In multiplayer gaming, skill disparity can lead to frustrating experiences. Balancing approaches exist to level the playing field (e.g. aim assistance to low-performing players), but it is unclear how different design choices affect individual player experience. This work first introduces a design space for balancing mechanics and then
present a mixed-methods study, where eight pairs of participants played a game prototype with seven balancing mechanics. We reveal implications for future designs, including the importance of 1) merited victory that does not ignore individual achievements, 2) sense of agency when determining the balancing before and during gameplay, and 3) balancing as an intrinsic part of the game that does not disrupt the core gameplay.