Multimedia delivery in the future internet

The term “Networked Media” implies that all kinds of media including text, image, 3D graphics, audio and video are produced, distributed, shared, managed and consumed on-line through various networks, like the Internet, Fiber, WiFi, WiMAX, GPRS, 3G and so on, in a convergent manner [1]. This white paper is the contribution of the Media Delivery Platform (MDP) cluster and aims to cover the Networked challenges of the Networked Media in the transition to the Future of the Internet. Internet has evolved and changed the way we work and live. End users of the Internet have been confronted with a bewildering range of media, services and applications and of technological innovations concerning media formats, wireless networks, terminal types and capabilities. And there is little evidence that the pace of this innovation is slowing. Today, over one billion of users access the Internet on regular basis, more than 100 million users have downloaded at least one (multi)media file and over 47 millions of them do so regularly, searching in more than 160 Exabytes1 of content. In the near future these numbers are expected to exponentially rise. It is expected that the Internet content will be increased by at least a factor of 6, rising to more than 990 Exabytes before 2012, fuelled mainly by the users themselves. Moreover, it is envisaged that in a near- to mid-term future, the Internet will provide the means to share and distribute (new) multimedia content and services with superior quality and striking flexibility, in a trusted and personalized way, improving citizens’ quality of life, working conditions, edutainment and safety. In this evolving environment, new transport protocols, new multimedia encoding schemes, cross-layer inthe network adaptation, machine-to-machine communication (including RFIDs), rich 3D content as well as community networks and the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) overlays are expected to generate new models of interaction and cooperation, and be able to support enhanced perceived quality-of-experience (PQoE) and innovative applications “on the move”, like virtual collaboration environments, personalised services/ media, virtual sport groups, on-line gaming, edutainment. In this context, the interaction with content combined with interactive/multimedia search capabilities across distributed repositories, opportunistic P2P networks and the dynamic adaptation to the characteristics of diverse mobile terminals are expected to contribute towards such a vision. Based on work that has taken place in a number of EC co-funded projects, in Framework Program 6 (FP6) and Framework Program 7 (FP7), a group of experts and technology visionaries have voluntarily contributed in this white paper aiming to describe the status, the state-of-the art, the challenges and the way ahead in the area of Content Aware media delivery platforms

Misdirect movies

Misdirect Movies is a curated touring exhibition exploring new possibilities of collage, employing material gleaned from cinema. With access to digital formats, artists are now able to appropriate films to create different and innovative approaches to collage. This builds upon research disseminated in artworks such as The Jump and Frames and the curated exhibition, Unspooling: Artists & Cinema The selected artists explore these ideas in diverse ways to work with narrative through different media. The exhibition will be supplemented by a catalogue, new artwork commissions, a series of artist/curator talks, film screenings, workshops and a website. The idea of the exhibition is to make us look anew at the familiarity of artist's use of collage, moving image and the cinema space. The exhibition includes work by the curators, alongside five artists from the UK, Germany and USA- Elizabeth McAlpine, Dave Griffiths, Cathy Lomax, Rosa Barba and David Reed. The selected artists work across different mediums and have a sustained engagement with the subject of the exhibition. There will be three new commissions launching at touring venues from the selected artists. The exhibition tours from Royal Standard, Liverpool (16-31 March 2013) and tours to Standpoint Gallery, London (5 July- 17 August 2013), Greyfriars, Lincoln (4-26 October 2013) and Meter Room, Coventry (8 November - 1 December 2013). The catalogue is published by Cornerhouse Publications and feature essays by Andrew Bracey, Dr. John Rimmer, Dr. Jaimie Baron, Dr. Maria Walsh and an interview between Dr. Sam George and Sir Christopher Frayling. The catalogue essays reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the exhibition's curatorial focus and feature contributions from visual arts, English literature and film studies backgrounds. The research is further disseminated by talks, critical essays on the website and introduced screenings of artist's films

Providing personalized Internet services by means of context-aware spoken dialogue systems

The widespread use of new mobile technology implementing wireless communications enables a new type of advanced applications to access information services on the Internet. In order to provide services which meet the user needs through intelligent information retrieval, the system must sense and interpret the user environment and the communication context. Though context-awareness is vital to provide services adapted to the user preferences, it cannot be useful if such services are difficult to access. The development of spoken dialogue systems for these applications facilitates interaction in natural language with the environment which is also benefited from contextual information. In this paper, we propose a framework to develop context-aware dialogue systems that dynamically incorporate user specific requirements and preferences as well as characteristics about the interaction environment, in order to improve and personalize web information and services. We have identified the major components for context-aware dialogue systems and placed them within a general-purpose architecture. The framework also describes a representation mode based on a dialogue register in order to share information between the elements of the architecture, and incorporates statistical methodologies for dialogue management in order to reduce the effort required for both the implementation of a new system and the adaptation to a new task. We have evaluated our proposal developing a travel-planning system, and provide a detailed discussion of its positive influence in the quality of the interaction and the information and services provided.Research funded by projects CICYT TIN2011- 28620-C02-01, CICYT TEC2011-28626-C02-02, CAM CONTEXTS (S2009/TIC-1485), and DPS2008- 07029-C02-02.Publicad

Their memory:exploring veterans’ voices, virtual reality and collective memory

This paper focuses on the virtual reality (VR) project Their Memory and details the development and evaluation of virtual reality environments and experiences with respect to its impact on young people (14-35 demographic) with the narratives of veterans in Scotland. As part of the AHRC Immersive Experiences program, Their Memory was created to explore how game design techniques and immersive technology could be used to enhance existing historical research and enrich narratives to bring expansive experiences to hard-to-reach audiences. The project worked directly with the veterans’ charity, Poppyscotland, to create an environment and experience that would resonate with new audiences, and explore documentary and storytelling techniques for the commemoration of war and conflict. The design of the project evolved through co-design sessions with veterans and young people and culminated in the creation of a short, thought-provoking, narrative-driven experience. The VR experience enabled players to connect with the memories of veterans in Scotland and exploring the different conflicts or situations they experienced and how they make sense of them. The project brought together cross-sector expertise to research how immersive experiences can help memory-based organizations in engaging with wider audiences, raise awareness, and diversify current learning outputs. The paper details the design and development of the Virtual Reality project, through co-design, and how this engaged the audience and evolved the experience created. The paper includes a summative evaluation of events conducted with schoolchildren to assess the project and concludes with how the project evidences impact upon audiences and the potential for both technology and the experience

Unreliable Narrators for Troubled Times: The Menacing “Digitalisation of Subjectivity” in Black Mirror

This article offers an examination of the television series Black Mirror (2011-) using a theoretical framework for studying post-classical narrative complexity. Its basic proposition is that narrative fracturing and misleading points of view are used in Black Mirror to offer a critique of the excessive confidence in digital technology and social networks as regulators of human subjectivity. While a mission historically attributed to science fiction is the exploration of a particular contemporary issue by expressing it in fiction form, Black Mirror offers an innovative twist on this objective by incorporating the narrative complexity of the mind-game film through the perspective of distorted subjectivities. In nearly every episode, the conflict that arises highlights the dangers inherent to the naturalisation of technological devices that virtually become appendages of the human body. Most episodes explore the negative consequences of the unrestrained use of new technologies to control memories, regulate personal relationships or reduce all human experience to data. The absence of any debate questioning their value results in a completely alienated society that feeds on the fictionalisation of politics and private life, in which individuals are incapable of distinguishing between reality and fiction, or even between what is happening outside and inside their own minds

Mobile Devices at the Cinema Theatre

The pre-show experience is a significant part of the movie industry. Moviegoers, on average arrive 24 min before when the previews start. Previews have been a part of the movie experience for more than a hundred years and are a culturally significant aspect of the whole experience. Over the last decade, the premovie in-theatre experience has grown to a $600 million industry. This growth continues to accelerate. Since 2012, this industry has increased by 150%. Consequently, there is an industry-wide demand for innovation in the pre-movie area. In this paper, we describe Paths, an innovative multiplayer real-time socially engaging game that we designed, developed and evaluated. An iterative refinement application development methodology was used to create the game. The game may be played on any smartphone and group interactions are viewed on the large theatre screen. This paper also reports on the quasiexperimental mixed method study with repeated measures that was conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of this new game. The results show that Paths is very engaging with elements of suspense, pleasant unpredictability and effective team building and crowd-pleasing characteristics

Narratives of ocular experience in interactive 360° environments

The purpose of this research project was to examine how immersive digital virtual technologies have the potential to expand the genre of interactive film into new forms of audience engagement and narrative production. Aside from addressing the limitations of interactive film, I have explored how interactive digital narratives can be reconfigured in the wake of immersive media. My contribution to knowledge stems from using a transdisciplinary synthesis of the interactive systems in film and digital media art, which is embodied in the research framework and theoretical focal point that I have titled Cynematics (chapter 2). Using a methodology that promotes iterative experimentation I developed a series of works that allowed me to practically explore the limitations of interactive film systems that involve non-haptic user interaction. This is evidenced in the following series of works: Virtual Embodiment, Narrative Maze, Eye Artefact Interactions and Routine Error - all of which are discussed in chapter 4 of this thesis. Each of these lab experiments collectively build towards the development of novel interactive 360° film practices. Funneling my research towards these underexplored processes I focused on virtual gaze interaction (chapters 4-6), aiming to define and historically contextualise this system of interaction, whilst critically engaging with it through my practice. It is here that gaze interaction is cemented as the key focus of this thesis. The potential of interactive 360° film is explored through the creation of three core pieces of practice, which are titled as follows: Systems of Seeing (chapter 5), Mimesis (chapter 6), Vanishing Point (chapter 7). Alongside the close readings in these chapters and the theoretical developments explored in each are the interaction designs included in the appendix of the thesis. These provide useful context for readers unable to experience these site-specific installations as virtual reality applications. After creating these systems, I established terms to theoretically unpack some of the processes occurring within them. These include Datascape Mediation (chapter 2), which frames agency as a complex entanglement built on the constantly evolving relationships between human and machine - and Live-Editing Practice (chapter 7), which aims to elucidate how the interactive 360° film practice designed for this research leads to new way of thinking about how we design, shoot and interact with 360° film. Reflecting on feedback from exhibiting Mimesis I decided to define and evaluate the key modes of virtual gaze interaction, which led to the development of a chapter and concept referred to as The Reticle Effect (chapter 6). This refers to how a visual overlay that is used to represent a user's line of sight not only shapes their experience of the work, but also dictates their perception of genre. To navigate this, I combined qualitative and quantitative analysis to explore user responses to four different types of gaze interaction. In preparing to collect this data I had to articulate these different types of interaction, which served to demarcate the difference between each of these types of gaze interaction. Stemming from this I used questionnaires, thematic analysis and data visualisation to explore the use and response to these systems. The results of this not only supports the idea of the reticle effect, but also gives insight into how these different types of virtual gaze interaction shape whether these works are viewed as games or as types of interactive film. The output of this allowed me to further expand on interactive 360° film as a genre of immersive media and move beyond the realm of interactive film into new technological discourses, which serves to validate the nascent, yet expansive reach of interactive 360° film as a form of practice. The thesis is concluded by framing this research within the wider discourse of posthuman theory as given that the technologies of immersive media perpetuate a state of extended human experience - how we interact and consider the theories that surround these mediums needs to be considered in the same way. The practice and theory developed throughout this thesis contribute to this discourse and allow for new ways of considering filmic language in the wake of interactive 360° film practice

In Darwin’s Garden: an evolutionary exploration of augmented reality in practice

This book is part of the Springer Advanced Information and Knowledge Processing Series and will be published under Springer's Open Access policy.This chapter discusses the rapid developments in augmented reality and mixed reality technologies, from a practitioner’s perspective of making the augmented reality sculptural work In Darwin’s Garden. From its conception in 2012, to its exhibition at Carbon Meets Silicon II in 2017, the advances in augmented reality technology led to an interplay between the goal of the creators and the technological realisation of that vision. The art, design and technology involved, generated a reactive process that was mired in external influences as the accessibility to augmented reality became commercially valuable and subsequently restricted. This chapter will be of interest to anyone who wants to understand more about the possibilities, technologies and processes involved in realising mixed reality practice and about the commercial culture that supports it

A personalized system for scalable distribution of multimedia content in multicast wireless networks

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-014-2139-3This paper presents a novel architecture for scalable multimedia content delivery over wireless networks. The architecture takes into account both the user preferences and context in order to provide personalized contents to each user. In this way, third-party applications filter the most appropriate contents for each client in each situation. One of the key characteristics of the proposal is the scalability, which is provided, apart from the use of filtering techniques, through the transmission in multicast networks. In this sense, content delivery is carried out by means of the FLUTE (File Delivery over Unidirectional Transport) protocol, which provides reliability in unidirectional environments through different mechanisms such as AL-FEC (Application Layer Forward Error Correction) codes, used in this paper. Another key characteristic is the context-awareness and personalization of content delivery, which is provided by means of context information, user profiles, and adaptation. The system proposed is validated through several empirical studies. Specifically, the paper presents evaluations of two types that collect objective and subjective measures. The first evaluate the efficiency of the transmission protocol, analyzing how the use of appropriate transmission parameters reduces the download time (and thus increasing the Quality of Experience), which can be minimized by using caching techniques. On the other hand, the subjective measures present a study about the user experience after testing the application and analyze the accuracy of the filtering process/strategy. Results show that using AL-FEC mechanisms produces download times until four times lower than when no protection is used. Also, results prove that there is a code rate that minimizes the download time depending on the losses and that, in general, code rates 0.7 and 0.9 provide good download times for a wide range of losses. On the other hand, subjective measures indicate a high user satisfaction (more than 80 %) and a relevant degree of accuracy of the content adaption.This work is supported in part by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of the Government of Spain under project COMINN (IPT-2012-0883-430000) and by the project PAID/2012/313 from the PAID-05-12 program of the Vicerrectorado de Investigacion of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia.De Fez Lava, I.; Gil Pascual, M.; Fons Cors, JJ.; Guerri Cebollada, JC.; Pelechano Ferragud, V. (2014). A personalized system for scalable distribution of multimedia content in multicast wireless networks. Multimedia Tools and Applications. 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-014-2139-3S127AdAdge (2013) A majority of U.S. mobile users are now smartphone users. Available at: http://adage.com/article/digital/a-majority-u-s-mobile-users-smartphone-users/241717 . Accessed November 2013Adomavicius G, Tuzhilin E (2005) Toward the next generation of recommender Systems: a survey of the state-of-the-art and possible extensions. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering 17:734–749Adomavicius G, Tuzhilin A (2010) Context-aware recommender systems. Recommender Systems Handbook (Chapter 7): 217–253Androjena, Jena Android Porting (2013). Available at: https://code.google.com/p/androjena . Accessed December 2013Anind KD (2001) Understanding and Using Context. Personal Ubiquitous Comput 5:4–7Assad M, Carmichael DJ, Kay J, Kummerfeld B (2007) PersonisAD: distributed, active, scrutable model framework for context-aware services. Proc. of Pervasive Computing, Toronto, Canada:55–72Bai H, Atiquzzaman M (2003) Error modeling schemes for fading channels in wireless communications: a survey. IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials 5(2):2–9Baldauf M, Dustdar S, Rosenberg F (2007) A survey on context-aware systems. Int. J. AdHoc and Ubiquitous Computing, Springer-Verlag 2:263–277Barquero D, Bria A (2007) Forward Error Correction file delivery in DVB-H. Proc. of IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC), Dublin, Ireland:2951–2955Bright A, Kay J, Ler D, Ngo K, Niu W, Nuguid A (2005) Adaptively recommending museum tours. Proc. of the UbiComp Workshop on Smart Environments and their Applications to Cultural Heritage, Tokyo, Japan:29–32Chatfield C, Carmichael D, Hexel R, Kay J, Kummerfeld B (2005) Personalisation in intelligent environments: managing the information flow. Proc. of the OZCHI Computer-human interaction, Canberra, Australia:1–10Chen YFR, Jana R, Stern D, Wei B, Yang M, Sun H, Dyaberi J (2010) Zebroid: using IPTV data to support STB-assisted VoD content delivery. Multimedia System Journal 16(3):199–214Chen G, Kotz D (2000) A survey on context-aware mobile computing research. Technical Report TR2000-381, Dartmouth Computer ScienceCommunity Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) – Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Available at: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html . Accesed October 2013de Fez I, Fraile F, Belda R, Guerri JC (2011) Performance evaluation of AL-FEC LDPC codes for push content applications in wireless unidirectional environments. Multimedia Tools and Applications 60(3):669–688de Fez I, Fraile F, Belda R, Guerri JC (2012) Analysis and evaluation of adaptive LDPC AL-FEC codes for content download services. IEEE Transactions on Multimedia 14(3):641–650de Fez I, Fraile F, Guerri JC (2013) Effect of the FDT transmission frequency for an optimum content delivery using the FLUTE protocol. Computer Communications 36(12):1298–1309de Fez I, Guerri JC (2014) An adaptive mechanism for optimal content download in wireless networks. IEEE Transactions on Multimedia 16(4):1140–1155Du R, Safavi-Naini R, Susilo W (2003) Web filtering using text classification (2003). Proc. of the Int Conf on Networks (ICON), Sydney, Australia:325–330ETSI TS 102 034 (2008), Transport of MPEG-2 TS Based DVB Services over IP based Networks (and associated XML), v1.4.1, available online: www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/102000_102099/102034/01.04.01_60/ts_102034v010401p.pdfETSI TS 102 472 (2009), Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB); IP Datacast over DVB-H: Content Delivery Protocols, v1.3.1, available online: www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/102400_102499/102472/01.03.01_60/ts_102472v010301p.pdfETSI TS 126 346 (2013), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); LTE; Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS); Protocols and codecs (release 10), v11.3.0, available online: www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/126300_126399/126346/11.03.00_60/ts_126346v110300p.pdfFelfernig A, Jeran M, Ninaus G, Reinfrank F, Reiterer S (2013) Toward the next generation of recommender systems: applications and research challenges. Multimedia Services in Intelligent Environments 24 (Chapter 5): 81–98Fraile F, de Fez I, Guerri JC (2009) Modela-TV: service personalization and business model management for mobile TV. Proc. of 7th European Interactive TV Conference (EuroITV), Leuven, Belgium:1–6Fraile F, de Fez I, Guerri JC (2014) Evaluation of background push content download services to mobile devices over DVB networks. IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting 60(1):1–15Gallager RG (1962) Low density parity check codes. IRE Transactions on Information Theory 8(1):21–28Gil M, Giner P, Pelechano V (2012) Personalization for unobtrusive service interaction. Personal Ubiquitous Comput 16(5):543–561Guillen J, Miranda J, Berrocal J, Garcia-Alonso J, Murillo J, Canal C (2014) People as a service: a mobile-centric model for providing collective sociological profiles. IEEE Software 31(2):48–53Hrvoje J, Stockhammer T, Xu W, Abdel Samad W (2006) Efficient video-on-demand services over mobile datacast channels. Journal of Zhejiang University 7(5):873–884Hsieh CC, Lin CH, Chang WT (2009) Design and implementation of the interactive multimedia broadcasting services in DVB-H. IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics 55(4):1779–1787Kellerer H, Pferschy U, Pisinger D (2004) Knapsack problems. SpringerKorpipaa P, Malm EJ, Rantakokko T, Kyllonen V, Kela J, Mantyjarvi J, Hakkila J, Kansala I (2006) Customizing user interaction in smart phones. IEEE Pervasive Computing 5:82–90Kuppusamy KS, Aghila G (2012) A personalized web page content filtering model based on segmentation. Int Journal of Information Sciences and Techniques (IJIST) 2(1):41–51Kutscher D, Greifenberg J, Loos K (2007) Scalable DTN distribution over uni-directional links. Proc. of the SIGCOMM workshop on networked systems in developing regions (NSDR), Kyoto, Japan: article no. 6Lewis JR (1995) Ibm computer usability satisfaction questionnaires: psychometric evaluation and instructions for use. Int J Hum Comput Interact 7(1):57–78Liang L, Cruichkshank H, Sun Z, Kulatunga C, Fairhurst G (2010) The integration of TESLA and FLUTE over satellite networks. Proc. of the IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference (Globecom), Miami, FL, USA:1–6Lohmar T, Huschke J (2009) Radio resource optimization for MBMS file transmissions. Proc. of the IEEE Int Symposium on Broadband Multimedia Systems and Broadcasting (BMSB), Bilbao, Spain:1–7Neumann C, Roca V, Walsh R (2005) Large scale content distribution protocols. ACM Computer Communication Review 35(5):85–92Paila T, Walsh R, Luby M, Roca V, Lehtonen R (2012) FLUTE – File Delivery Over Unidirectional Transport. IETF RFC 6726Paolini E, Varrella M, Chiani M, Matuz B, Liva G (2008) Low-complexity LDPC codes with near-optimum performance over the BEC. Proc. Adv Satellite Mobile Systems (ASMS), Bologna, Italy:274–282Papastergiou G, Psaras I, Tsaoussidis V (2009) Deep-space transport protocol: a novel transport scheme for space DTNs. Computer Communications 32(16):1757–1767Peltotalo J, Harju J, Saukko M, Väätämöinen L, Bouazizi I, Curcio I (2008) Personal mobile broadcasting based on the 3GPP MBMS System. Proc. of MoMM, Linz, Austria:156–162Peltotalo J, Peltotalo S, Harju J, Walsh R (2007) Performance analysis of a file delivery system based on the FLUTE protocol. Int Journal of Communication Systems 20(6):633–659Podlipnig S, Böszörmenyi L (2003) A survey of web cache replacement strategies. ACM Computing Surveys 35(4):374–398Roca V, Neumann C, Furodet D (2008) Low density parity check (LDPC) staircase and triangle forward error correction (FEC) schemes. IETF RFC 5170Runeson P, Höst M (2009) Guidelines for conducting and reporting case study research in software engineering. Empir Softw Eng 14(2):131–164Schiller JH, Voisard A (2004) Location-based services. Kaufmann, MorganSerral E, Gil M, Valderas P, Pelechano V (2013) Automating unobtrusive personalized services in ambient media environments. Multimedia Tools and Applications, Springer US, available online, doi: 10.1007/s11042-013-1634-2Serral E, Valderas P, Pelechano V (2010) Towards the model driven development of context-aware pervasive systems. Pervasive and Mobile Computing 6(2):254–280Streefkerk JW, van Esch-Bussemakers MP, Neerincx MA (2006) Designing personal attentive user interfaces in the mobile public safety domain. Comput Hum Behav 22:749–770Valtonen M, Vainio AM, Vanhala J (2009) Proactive and adaptive fuzzy profile control for mobile phones. Proc. of the IEEE Int Conf on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom), Galveston, Texas, USA:1–3van Woensel W, Gil M, Casteleyn S, Serral E, Pelechano V (2012) Adapting the obtrusiveness of service interactions in dynamically discovered environments. Proc. of MobiQuitous, Beijing, China:250–262W3C (2012), OWL 2Web Ontology Language Document Overview, Recommendation 11. Available at: http://www.w3.org/TR/owl2-overview. Accesed: November 2013Weld DS, Anderson C, Domingos P, Etzioni O, Gajos K, Lau T, Wolf S (2003) Automatically personalizing user interfaces. Proc. of the Int Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI), Acapulco, Mexico:1613–1619Xu J, Hu Q, Lee W, Lee DL (2004) Performance evaluation of an optimal cache replacement policy for wireless data dissemination. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering 16(1):125–139Yetgin Z, Çelik T (2012) Efficient progressive downloading over multimedia broadcast multicast service. Computer Networks 56(2):533–547Zheng Q, Zhu P, Wang Y, Xu M (2010) EPSP: Enhancing network protocol with social-aware plane. Proc. of IEEE/ACM Int Conference on Green Computing and Communications (GreenCom) and Int Conference on Cyber, Ohysical and Social Computing (CPSCom), Hangzhou, China:578–58