This paper will first briefly survey the existing impact of multimedia information retrieval (MIR) in applications. It will then analyze the current trends of MIR research which can have an influence on future applications. It will then detail the future possibilities and bottlenecks in applying the MIR research results in the main target application areas, such as the consumer (e.g., personal video recorders, web information retrieval), public safety (e.g., automated smart surveillance systems), and professional world (e.g., automated meeting capture and summarization). In particular, recommendations will be made to the research community regarding the challenges that need to be met to make the knowledge transfer towards the applications more efficient and effective. It will also attempt to study the trends in the applications which can inform the MIR community on directing intellectual resources towards MIR problems which can have a maximal real-world impact.