This paper describes a new generic metadata model, called CAM Metamodel, that merges altogether information about content, services, physical and technical environment in order to enable homogenous delivery and consumption of content. We introduce a metadata model that covers all these aspects and which can be easily extended so as to absorb new types of models and standards. We ensure this flexibility by introducing an abstract metamodel, which defines structured archetypes for metadata and metadata containers. The metamodel is the foundation for the technical metadata specification. We also introduce new structures in the abstract and core metamodels supporting the management of distributed community created metadata.

The paper presenls the concept or Reactive and Adaptive Multimedia Object (RAMO), which lays down the foundation of a new approach for implementing the next generation of interactive and immersive multimedia applications. The R A M 0 concept is an object-oriented approach, which treats the elementary components of a virtual world as self-relying objects and encapsulates their representations and behaviours' abilities.Multimedia applications are achieving very high levels of realism and user immersion. The everincreasing demand for applications where real and virtual worlds fully merge makes the traditional approach of implementing multi-media applications, based on predefined interaction scenarios, inappropriate and inefficient. The whole concept of constructing multimedia applications must be redefined and brought closer to the way real worlds behave. This can only be achieved if we treat all the elements of a virtual world as individual objects, having their own properties and being able to interact autonomously. Interactions concern those among objects in their virtual world as well with the actors and elements of their surrounding real world. With such an approach multimedia applications arc no longcr prcdcfincd or confincd sccnarios, but rather fully modcllcd virtual worlds with a live of their own. This approach, while being the way forward towards a seainless merger of real worlds with virtual worlds. represents a major technological challenge.In the realm of Interactive Multimedia Application several research activities have been conducted in different public and private research centres around the world. However one can say that no model for the design of coniplex interactive inultiiiiedia scenarios have been properly defined for now. Even less interactions with rich entities and event-based scenarios are proposed. The present work addresses the design and modelling issues of generating dynamic time and event-based scenarios and managing interactions among multiple agent-oriented entities.The RAM0 concept is based on the notion that a new dimension of interactivity can be achieved by enabling multimedia objects to fulfil the following criteria: to become fully autonomous; to be independent from predefined scenarios (event and time-based scenarios); to fully emulate the characteristics and behaviours of the represented entities; and to be adaptable to any encompassing virtual environment.The correlated RAMO application that supervises such multimedia object supports intelligent intcractivc scrviccs by constituting a dynamic multimcdia prcscntation system. Some cntitics arc dedicated to the definition of contextual properties, they constitute the Contextual RAMO Objects. Their properties may correspond to several kinds of contextual information or to supervision capabilities such as managing and moderating interactions or leading collective tasks for instance. Other entities, called Embedded RAMO Objects, enact several media that are adaptive and constitute the animated multimedia content of a scene. These...

Community Coordinated Multimedia (CCM) provides an extended and enhanced human experience by collaboratively consuming electronic and networked content and multimedia-intensive services. Community coordinated multimedia vision raises the challenges of multimedia content creation, interpretation, exchange, and consumption over a large range of heterogeneous services, terminals and networks. The development of CCM metamodel plays a key role in tackling these challenges by enabling the transparent multimedia aggregation and exchange crossing communities. This paper aims to design and develop the CCM metamodel. A generic terminology for CCM metamodeling is developed. A extensive study on metamodeling activities and metamodeling methodologies is presented. A combined metamodeling approach is proposed for the CCM metamodel development. Experiences and results on the CCM metamodeling and CCM metamodel-driven content annotation prototype are elaborated.