Editorial: Semantic Media Adaptation and Personalization

Abstract

It is becoming harder to access, manage and transmit multimedia content according to the meaning it embodies. As text-based search engines give way to contentand context-aware engines, which not only personalize searching and delivery but also the content format, advanced network infrastructures are emerging that are capable of end-to-end ubiquitous transmission of multimedia content to any device (fixed or mobile), on any network (wired or wireless), at any time. This has opened up new markets for content and service providers who, recognizing the value of individual users, are investing in technologies that adapt and personalize content. In response, organizations have released new standards, such as MPEG-7, MPEG-21, and VC-1, which enable propagation of content adaptation and personalization. Consequently, a broad range of applications are emerging across many industry sectors, including music, film, games, television, and sports, to name but a few. Personalizing and adapting content to the preferences and needs of users requires processing of content, on the one hand, and recognizing patterns in users’ behavior, on the other. The former involves stages such as extraction and analysis of content semantics and structure, modeling of the resulting content metadata, filtering of content metadata through user profiles, and adaptation of the content to suit the usage environment (i.e. the user, the client, the network, and the natural environment) or the usage environment to suit the Multimed Tools Appl (2009) 41:333–336 DOI 10.1007/s11042-008-0241-0