Future User Centric Media: Research Challenges and the Road Ahead

This work presents relevant excerpts from two white papers recently published with the support of the Networked Media Unit of the European Commission, outlining a number of research challenges and the way ahead towards providing user centric media, as well as rich multimedia and multimodal content, via the Internet and Ambient Systems over the next decade. It will focus on key advances in Future Media technologies that will enable innovative applications and services, engaging new experiences, where multimedia digital content will be more immersive and closely related to the physical world. According to the consolidated opinion of international experts in the field, high quality research on these challenges will be able to enhance our communication experiences, as well as the way we work and live in the next future.