Abstract: A convergence of trends is shifting the focus of quality assessment from compliance with system design goals to fulfillment of user needs or expectations in different contexts.

Abstract: This paper describes a design framework for TCPfriendly and media-friendly rate control algorithms for multimedia streaming applications. The idea of this framework is to start from TFRC’s (TCP-Friendly Rate Control) transmission rate and then alter this transmission rate so that it tracks the media characteristics of the stream (e.g., bitrate) or other application characteristics like the client buffer fill level. In this way, the media-friendly property of the algorithm is achieved. We give three rules that guide how the TFRC throughput should track the evolution of the stream’s media characteristics and remain TCPfriendly in the long term. We also present, as proof of concept, four simple media-friendly and TCP-friendly congestion control algorithms built using the aforementioned framework. These congestion control algorithms are better suited for multimedia streaming applications than traditional TCP congestion control or smooth congestion control algorithms like TFRC. We have performed evaluations of two of the four proposed media-friendly and TCP-friendly congestion control algorithms under various network conditions and validated that they represent viable transport solutions, better than TFRC, for variable bitrate video streams. More specifically, our two media-friendly and TCPfriendly congestion control algorithms maintained a TCP-friendly throughput in the long term in all experiments and avoided an empty buffer at the client side in situations when TFRC could not achieve this.

Abstract: Social media becomes a vital part in our daily communication practice, creating a huge amount of data and covering different real-world situations. Currently, there is a tendency in making use of social media during emergency management and response. Most of this effort is performed by a huge number of volunteers browsing through social media data and preparing maps that can be used by professional first responders. Automatic analysis approaches are needed to directly support the response teams in monitoring and also understanding the evolution of facts in social media during an emergency situation. In this paper, we investigate the problem of real-time sub-events identification in social media data (i.e., Twitter, Flickr and YouTube) during emergencies. A processing framework is presented serving to generate situational reports/summaries from social media data. This framework relies in particular on online indexing and online clustering of media data streams. Online indexing aims at tracking the relevant vocabulary to capture the evolution of sub-events over time. Online clustering, on the other hand, is used to detect and update the set of sub-events using the indices built during online indexing. To evaluate the framework, social media data related to Hurricane Sandy 2012 was collected and used in a series of experiments. In particular some online indexing methods have been tested against a proposed method to show their suitability. Moreover, the quality of online clustering has been studied using standard clustering indices. Overall the framework provides a great opportunity for supporting emergency responders as demonstrated in real-world emergency exercises.

Abstract: Inter-destination multimedia synchronization and quality of experience are critical to the success of social TV, which integrates television viewing with social networking.

Abstract: Crowdsourced quality-of-experience (QoE) assessments are more cost-effective and flexible than traditional in-lab evaluations but require careful test design, innovative incentive mechanisms, and technical expertise to address various implementation challenges.

Abstract: ICN has received a lot of attention in recent years, and is a promising approach for the Future Internet design. As multimedia is the dominating traffic in today's and (most likely) the Future Internet, it is important to consider this type of data transmission in the context of ICN. In particular, the adaptive streaming of multimedia content is a promising approach for usage within ICN, as the client has full control over the streaming session and has the possibility to adapt the multimedia stream to its context (e.g. network conditions, device capabilities), which is compatible with the paradigms adopted by ICN. In this article we investigate the implementation of adaptive multimedia streaming within networks adopting the ICN approach. In particular, we present our approach based on the recently ratified ISO/IEC MPEG standard Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP and the ICN representative Content-Centric Networking, including baseline evaluations and open research challenges.

Abstract: Networks of micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) equipped with various sensors are increasingly used for civil applications, such as monitoring, surveillance, and disaster management. In this article, we discuss the communication requirements raised by applications in MAV networks. We propose a novel system representation that can be used to specify different application demands. To this end, we extract key functionalities expected in an MAV network. We map these functionalities into building blocks to characterize the expected communication needs. Based on insights from our own and related real-world experiments, we discuss the capabilities of existing communications technologies and their limitations to implement the proposed building blocks. Our findings indicate that while certain requirements of MAV applications are met with available technologies, further research and development is needed to address the scalability, heterogeneity, safety, quality of service, and security aspects of multi-MAV systems.

Abstract: BRIDGE is a European collaborative project established within the Security Research sector of the European Commission. The basic goal of BRIDGE is to contribute to the safety of citizens by developing technical and organisational solutions that improve crisis and emergency management in EU member states. A (middleware) platform is being developed that is to provide technical support for multi-agency collaboration in large-scale emergency relief efforts. Several tools and software systems are being implemented and tested to support first responders in their efforts. Beyond technical considerations, organisational measures are being explored to ensure interoperability and cooperation among involved parties; social, ethical and legal issues are being investigated as well. A focus of the project is to demonstrate and validate its results in the course of real-world emergency response exercises. Since most of the BRIDGE work is beyond the scope of this e-letter on social networking, only a brief overview of the BRIDGE goals and work will be given. However, one thread of work is relevant in the context of social networking and deserves to be covered more closely: automatic detection of notable sub-events of a crisis from social networks. This activity makes use of crisis-related information coming from citizens via social networks and thus contributes to building an improved operational picture in a crisis situation and to better planning and performing crisis response tasks.

Abstract: Mulsemedia—multiple sensorial media—captures a wide variety of research efforts and applications. This article presents a historic perspective on mulsemedia work and reviews current developments in the area. These take place across the traditional multimedia spectrum—from virtual reality applications to computer games—as well as efforts in the arts, gastronomy, and therapy, to mention a few. We also describe standardization efforts, via the MPEG-V standard, and identify future developments and exciting challenges the community needs to overcome.