In order to enable the search and retrieval of video from large archives, we need a representation language for video content. Although some aspects of video can be automatically parsed, a sufficient representation requires that video be annotated. We discuss the design of a video representation language with special attention to the issue of creating a global, reusable video archive. Our prototype system, Media Streams, enables users to create multi-layered, iconic annotations of streams of video data. Within Media Streams, the organization and categories of the Icon Space allow users to browse and compound over 3500 iconic primitives by means of a cascading hierarchical structure that supports compounding icons across branches of the hierarchy. A Media Time Line enables users to visualize, browse, annotate, and retrieve video content. The challenges of creating a representation of human action in video are discussed in detail, with focus on the effect of the syntax of video sequences on the semantics of video shots. 1 Introduction: The Need

Virtual globes have progressed from little-known technology to broadly popular software in a mere few years. We investigated this phenomenon through a survey and discovered that, while virtual globes are en vogue, their use is restricted to a small set of tasks so simple that they do not involve any spatial thinking. Spatial thinking requires that users ask “what is where ” and “why”; the most common virtual globe tasks only include the “what”. Based on the results of this survey, we have developed a multi-touch virtual globe derived from an adapted virtual globe paradigm designed to widen the potential uses of the technology by helping its users to inquire about both the “what is where” and “why ” of spatial distribution. We do not seek to provide users with full GIS (geographic information system) functionality, but rather we aim to facilitate the asking and answering of simple “why ” questions about general topics that appeal to a wide virtual globe user base. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored.

While many synchronous computer-mediated communication systems have failed to encourage users to make use of the expressive capabilities of their avatars, asynchronous systems may hold better chance. This paper reports on the design and user study of a message system that allows users to concatenate and annotate avatar animations and send them to peers. During three weeks, a group of 11 17-year-olds exchanged 222 animated messages in their everyday life environment. The interplay between text and animation allowed users to create significantly expressive messages. Many messages told micro-stories about fictitious and real events. Users identified with their avatars and were proud of their embodied representation. The content of messages deepened during the course of the study.

Virtual Reality (VR), by its nature and characteristics, is of specific interest to the AI community, particularly in the domains of Storytelling and Intelligent Characters. We argue that VR must be considered a particular narrative medium alongside Theatre, Literature or Cinema. This paper reviews relevant work in narrative theory from Plato onwards, including the work and theories of literary critics [1], cinema critics [2, 3, 4] and theatrical dramaturges [5], and analyses the specific characteristics of VR relevant to this theory. Less studied media such as Live Role Playing Games, improvisational drama and participatory drama are also considered. Finally, this document argues for a participatory process-oriented narrative, with particular attention to the specificities and particularities of stories and their possible representation, adapted to the narrative medium Virtual Reality.

We suggest that the dramatically engaging mediation of an experience of place should be built in as a fundamental capability of a compelling and meaningful virtual environment (VE). Our main objective is to develop flexible interactive techniques that supply VE's with a coherent context and make the resulting `virtual place' available to the user in a dramatically engaging way.

Abstract § We describe a system, IDIC, which can generate a video sequence according to a story plan by selecting appropriate segments from an archive of annotated video. IDIC uses a simple planner to generate its stories. By critically examining the strengths and weaknesses of the representation and algorithm employed in the planner, we are able to describe some interesting similarities and differences between planning and video story generation. We use our analysis of IDIC to investigate the representation and processing issues involved in the development of video generation systems.

As multimedia researchers analyze and design “experiential systems ’ there is a pressing need to place that work on a solid theoretical foundation. Without careful analysis of the objects and methods, terminology, and conceptual frameworks of experiential systems design, misconceptions about what experiences are and how they can be computationally addressed can allow research to proceed in less fruitful directions. This paper addresses core theoretical issues in experiential systems design about the nature of experience, especially the distinction between data which can be represented computationally and experiences which are internal mental events We draw from theoretical work in the humanities that addresses models of human communication and meaning creation, the philosophical investigation of the structures of lived experience (phenomenology), and the application of that philosophical method to understanding the forms and functions of mediated experience (aesthetics). Phenomenology and aesthetics form a theoretical foundation for reassessing the limits and possibilities of computationally modeling and shaping experiences. Radically interdisciplinary work is required that truly integrates technical and humanistic research in order to design experiential systems.

Although emotions elicited by the fictional world or the artefact play a part in story-driven video games, they are certainly not the focus of the experience. From a cognitive psychological perspective, this paper studies the appraisal and action dimensions of emotions arising from gameplay. As it relies on cognitive film theories about popular narrative movies, it also revisits their conceptual sources in order to better reflect on the specificity of those gameplay emotions.

Abstract: This article describes a new method for assessing the effect of a given film on viewers ’ brain activity. Brain activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during free viewing of films, and inter-subject correlation analysis (ISC) was used to assess similarities in the spatiotemporal responses across viewers ’ brains during movie watching. Our results demonstrate that some films can exert considerable control over brain activity and eye movements. However, this was not the case for all types of motion picture sequences, and the level of control over viewers ’ brain activity differed as a function of movie content, editing, and directing style. We propose that ISC may be useful to film studies by providing a quantitative neuroscientific assessment of the impact of different styles of filmmaking on viewers’ brains, and a valuable method for the film industry to better assess its products. Finally, we suggest that this method brings together two separate and largely unrelated disciplines, cognitive neuroscience and film studies, and may open the way for a new interdisciplinary field of “neurocinematic ” studies.

We present a narrative theory-based approach to data mining that generates cohesive stories from a Wikipedia corpus. This approach is based on a data mining-friendly view of narrative derived from narratology, and uses a prototype mining algorithm that implements this view. Our initial test case and focus is that of field-based educational tour narrative generation, for which we have successfully implemented a proof-of-concept system called Minotour. This system operates on a client-server model, in which the server mines a Wikipedia database dump to generate narratives between any two spatial features that have associated Wikipedia articles. The server then delivers those narratives to mobile device clients. 1.