Future directions in multimedia retrieval:: impact of new technology

Recent advances in technology, such as various sensors and all kinds of cameras ranging from installed on personal phones to surveillance equipments, have contributed to the acceleration of the accumulation of various multimedia data. In addition, advances in technology in storage, networking, and web designs have made these data easily accessible. However, increasingly fast and extensive applications of these technologies in science, industry, education, entertainment, and art have also created new needs for more sophisticated tools for more efficient searching and browsing of multimedia data. We are, therefore, facing a challenge: on the one hand, the traditional retrieval techniques must now be updated into more advanced search and browsing tools that can impact users in the real-world, and on the other hand, we find ourselves, once again, in the position to envision and to provide innovative approaches in the management and the retrieval of these fastgrowing data of massive quantities.