IEEE first workshop on networking issues on multimedia entertainment

GLOBECOM 2004—Satellite Workshop

November 29th 2004

Dallas, TX, USA

The growing availability of digital contents and the simultaneous cost reductions in storage, processing, and networking is driving the growth of the entertainment technology. Many of the technologies pioneered in emerging entertainment applications have also found use in a large spectrum of more serious settings, ranging from telemedicine to in-home, in-car, in-flight multimedia distribution platforms. The success of the entertainment technology is confirmed by several facts. Take, for example, the two following cases: in 2003 the revenues generated by games have yet again surpassed those provided by the movie industry; the Apple iTunes online music service has hit a record share of almost 20% in the MP3 player market in the last semester of 2003. Further, while in the past entertainment technology traditionally offered predominantly passive experiences (e.g., video on demand), continual advances in network and computer technologies are providing tools for implementing greater interactivity and for enabling consumers to enjoy more exciting experiences, such as, for example, interactive digital TV, interactive theatre and orchestrated music and sound design. Simply put, today's entertainment technology is able to create "entertainment spaces" in which people experience a world where games, movies, songs, plus news, sport events and shows, are all made available for instant enjoyment with just one click. Another beneficial aspect of high-tech entertainment is that this phenomenon is pulling together an extremely diverse group of experts specializing in different technical areas, such as networking, computer graphics, games, animation, multimedia design, human-computer interaction, educational media and software engineering. Even though high-tech entertainment promotes interdisciplinary fusion, however, only the ubiquity of wireless/wired communication is considered suitable for accepting the challenge of building a "large interactive environment" for the delivery of the maximum entertainment value to millions of consumers worldwide. In this respect, there is a great hope that the wired and wireless Internet (along with its protocols, architectures, programming styles and technological solutions) may take over this complex scenario for fulfilling the consumer expectations. The first IEEE International Workshop on Networking Issues in Multimedia Entertainment provides an open forum for researchers, engineers and academia to exchange the latest technical information and research findings on Next-Generation Multimedia Networking concepts, technologies, systems, and applications for entertainment covering existing deployments, current developments and future evolution. Authors are solicited to submit complete unpublished papers in the following, but not limited to, topic areas:

Networked Technologies for Entertainment:

Handoffs for Entertainment (Internet to WLAN, to 3G/BT/...)

Entertainment

Emerging Entertainment Applications: