Health systems worldwide are challenged on multiple fronts. Demographic change, the increase of both communicable and non-communicable and chronic diseases, and economic sustainability are some examples. On the other hand, medical and technical progress have dramatically improved the possibilities for not just disease prevention, early recognition, and therapy, but also living well beyond traditional expectations. Information and communication technologies (ICT) play a vital role here in this progress, and it is of utmost importance that researchers from all communities of ICT investigate opportunities to contribute to improving worldwide health with their expertise.
Multimedia and multi-modal sensors have become an integral part of our lives. People take pictures and videos, communicate with rich media beyond voice and text including social media mechanisms, and collect tremendous amounts of continuous data about our lives through our devices and ubiquitous ambient sensors. This opens amazing opportunities to solve personal and societal challenges, but also imposes new and, so far, unforeseen questions in both health and computing. Multimedia research has thus evolved into a core enabler for future applications that would shape the future health of society.
Managing one’s health is among the most personal and most important challenges. Within this special issue, we will explore the relevance, contribution, and future directions of multimedia towards advancing health systems and personal health. Contributions of multimedia in this field now already range from medical imaging to daily life monitoring, from high-tech medical devices to low-cost wearable sensors to analyses of personal media archives. Furthermore, the ongoing progress in both multimedia and medical research will lead to new opportunities and future growth in this exciting field.
Research in multimedia and health is driven by the current technological advancements in sensors and personalized healthcare. There is an increasing amount of research that shows how core multimedia research is becoming an important enabler for solutions with applications and relevance for the societal questions of health. This special issue brings together researchers from diverse topics such as multimedia, pervasive health, lifelogging, accessibility, HCI, health, medicine, and psychology to address challenges and opportunities of multimedia in and for health. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
Submissions due: 1 October 2021
Publication: January-March 2022
For author information on how to submit a manuscript, visit https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/mu/write-for-us/15018. Please submit your papers through the ScholarOne online system (https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cs-ieee) and be sure
to select the special-issue name. Manuscripts should not be published or currently submitted for publication elsewhere. Please submit only full papers intended for review, not abstracts, to the ScholarOne portal. Abstracts should be sent by email to the guest editors directly.
Contact the guest editors at mm3-21@computer.org.
