Laura Rodriguez
Universidade da Madeira (UMa)
Funchal, Portugal

Cecilia Sik Lányi
University of Pannonia (UP)
Veszprém, Hungary

Invited Speakers
Franco Tecchia
PERCRO - Simultaneous Presence, Telepresence and Virtual Presence
Italy

Talk Title: The Engineering Side of Virtual Reality: Issues and Trends

Brief Bio:
Franco Tecchia is Assistant Professor in Computer Science with primary specialisation on Software Engineering and Computer Graphics. He received a Master degree from the University of Pisa and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University College London, UK, where he was also Research Fellow in the Virtual Environments and Computer Graphics group. His research activities focus on the design and development of complex VR systems, and include real-time computer graphics, virtual and Augmented Reality and software engineering applied to Virtual Environments. He is the head of the Visualisation Systems Group at PERCRO Laboratory (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna - Italy), and the coordinator of the XVR Project, a large development effort project for the creation of a "super fexible" VR framework.

Aim of the Special Session
This special session will focus on the main aspects of the development of Multimedia and Collaborative Virtual Environments (MCVEs). The concept of MCVEs is related to the integrated presentation of synchronized Multimedia objects (such as video, audio, images, etc.) within Collaborative Virtual Environments. Multimedia and Hypermedia information enrich user´s perception and immersion in a Virtual Environment. Besides, Collaborative activities inside Multimedia Virtual Environments also captivate interest and increase the motivation and productivity of the user since he is able to communicate exchanging multimedia information and work jointly with geographically dispersed participants in real-time. The current development of MCVEs is a research challenge and represents a promising and interesting trend for the design of virtual interactive environments in different areas such as education, e-science, health, e-commerce, etc.
The goal of this special sessionis to discuss key concepts, theoretical frameworks and technical approaches, challenges, innovative solutions, and open issues on the development of MCVEs. We invite researchers and designers to submit original Interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary technical contributions and position papers to explore and interchange new solutions for the development of integrated multimedia and collaborative virtual environments.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Innovative interaction techniques within MCVEs
- Internet-based Multimedia and 3D applications
- Multimodal Interaction within MCVEs
- Networking and QoS for MCVEs
- Tele-collaboration and teleoperation within MCVEs
- Virtual humans and avatars within MCVEs
- Multimedia browsers and presentation engines for MCVEs
- Multimedia engineering, including authoring, analyzing, editing and user interface for MCVEs
- Internet Multimedia services (IPTV, VoIP, etc.) for MCVEs
- Peer-to-peer Multimedia and Collaborative Virtual Environments
- Innovative technologies and architectures to support group activity, awareness and telepresence in MCVEs
- Theoretical aspects of coordination and communication in MCVEs
- Design approaches for synchronous interaction: Interface and interaction designs to support real-time and synchronous shared activities
- Software architectures, protocols, distribution mechanisms, and user interface technologies for awareness in activity-based groupware design in MCVEs
- Frameworks for role-based collaboration in MCVEs
- Integrated Multimedia and Collaboration in Virtual and Augmented Reality Environments in any area

Program Committee
Jorge Cardoso, University of Madeira, Portugal
Silvia Botelho, FURG, Brazil
Sylvia Encheva, Stord/Haugesund University College, Norway
Cléver Farias, USP, Brazil
Roberta Gomes, UFES, Brazil
Guillermo Hoyos, Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico
Claudio Kirner, Unimep, Brazil
Werner Purgathofer, Viena University of Technology, Austria
Jauvane de Oliveira, LNCC, Brazil
Ildeberto Rodello, Univem, Brazil
Alberto Ros, ITESM-Puebla, Mexico
Celso Saibel Santos, UNIFACS, Brazil
Pierre de Saqui-Sannes, Ensica, France
Bianchi Serique, UFPa, Brazil
Franco Tecchia, Scuola Superiore S. Anna, Italy
César Teixeira, UFSCar, Brazil
Thierry Villemur, LAAS-CNRS, France
Roberto Willrich, UFSC, Brazil
Jiri  Zara, Czech Technical University, Czech Republic

Proceedings
All accepted and registered papers will be published in the conference proceedings book with an ISBN reference, which will be issued by INSTICC Press. The proceedings will be available at the time of the special session. There will be also a CD-ROM publication.