Digital and newly introduced AI technologies have brought new user and audience experiences.The development of industry and service in visual media is also prospering. This includes but is not limited to, the development and applications discussed in this journal, such as new productions and services of the moving image, picture and photo banks, the burgeoning virtual and futuristic films, as well as the interactive and networked televisions for over-the-top (OTT) viewing.
Many-to-Many: Decentralized Creator Economy in the New Image IndustryThe influence of emerging technologies, such as cloud computing, big data, and blockchain, is changing the landscape of the imagery stock industry. A new mechanism integrating image production and consumption is forming based on a new type of creator economy and a secure exchange of copyright products. A new mode of image content management and data encryption methods has developed by using decentralized, image cloud technologies. Koptyra and Ogiela (2021, p. 1) point out that "imagechain is a cryptographic structure that chains digital images with hash links. The most important feature, which differentiates it from blockchain, is that the pictures are not stored inside the blocks.Instead, the block and the image are combined together in the embedding process."To trace the new development of the image industry and service, the featured article in this issue entitled "The influences of AI and emerging technologies on imagery stock industry