Journal of Multimedia (Academy Publisher) Special Issue on Multimedia for Cultural Heritage * CALL FOR PAPERS * http://www.academypublisher.com/jmm/si/jmmsi_mch.pdf TOPICAL THEME Multimedia technologies have recently created the conditions for a true revolution in the Cultural Heritage area, with reference to the study, valorization, and fruition of artistic works. Cultural heritage has a key importance in human culture, but at the same time, especially during financial crisis periods, it is one of the most threatened activities. We strongly believe that, among all the fields in which modern multimedia research can bring a leap forward in data management and user experience, cultural heritage is undoubtedly one of the most promising and certainly one of the most important. All the plurality of masterpieces (paintings, books, manuscripts, even photos of sculptures and architectures eventually) can be effectively enclosed into a unique paradigm through digitalization, which allows a significant reduction in costs, an enormous expansion of public (therefore of money income) and, at the same time, a tremendous freedom of data elaboration, therefore a pleasure for the public and usefulness for experts. The use of these technologies will allow the creation of new digital cultural experiences by means of personalized and engaging interaction. New multimedia technologies could be used also to design new approaches to the comprehension and fruition of the artistic heritage for example through smart, context-aware artifacts and enhanced interfaces with the support of features like story-telling, gaming and learning. To these aims, open and flexible platforms are needed, to allow building services that support use of cultural resources for research and education. The purpose of this special issue on Multimedia for Cultural Heritage is to further extend or reinvent the use and the possibilities of multimedia technologies in the field, in order to bring significant advances and outcomes for research, society and economy. Submissions are expected to deal with multimedia for cultural heritage in areas including, but not limited to: - Interactive 3D media and immersive environments - Multi-modal multimedia computing systems and human-machine interaction - Multimedia databases and digital libraries - Multimedia applications and services - Media content analysis and search - Hardware and software for multimedia systems also in mobile scenarios - Security issues in the presentation and distribution of cultural information IMPORTANT DATES Paper submission deadline September 15, 2011 Notifications of the first round of reviews November 1, 2011 Deadline of the revised submissions December 15, 2011 Final decisions for all the accepted papers January 15, 2011 Publication of the special issue March, 2012 PAPER SUBMISSION Prospective authors should submit high quality and original contributions that have not appeared, nor are under consideration, in any other journals. Submissions should follow the guidelines of Journal of Multimedia, which can be found at: http://www.academypublisher.com/jmm/authorguide.html. For further questions or inquiries, please contact the corresponding Guest Editor, Dr. Costantino Grana by Email at: costantino.grana@unimore.it. GUEST EDITORS Rita Cucchiara (Email: rita.cucchiara@unimore.it) Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy Costantino Grana (Email: costantino.grana@unimore.it) Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy