Page 36 - ITU Journal, ICT Discoveries, Volume 3, No. 1, June 2020 Special issue: The future of video and immersive media

ITU Journal: ICT Discoveries, Vol. 3(1), June 2020

For instance, Fig. 4 includes an example of the ITU-T SG16 – Multimedia, which includes a work
presentation of user-referenced subtitles with a item on presentation of sign language. All these
radar as the guiding method, and Fig. 5 of the groups and related activities are being monitored to
presentation of a user-referenced sign language get updated about latest news and contributions
video with the speaker’s name and arrows to and to assess the feasibility of presenting
indicate where the speaker is in the 360° space. contributions.
The player also includes support for different
spatial presentation modes for (3D) audio
description and audio subtitling such as:

• Classic mode: no positioning.
• Static mode: from a fixed point in the scene.
• Dynamic mode: coming from the direction of
the action.
The player can be run on traditional consumer
devices (e.g., connected TVs, PCs, laptops, tablets
and smartphones) and on VR devices (e.g., HMDs). Fig. 2 – ImAc portal
It also supports different interaction modalities, like
via the mouse, keyboard, touch screen, gyroscope,
VR controls, or even via voice.

This part of the ImAc platform also includes the
proper technology to enable multiscreen scenarios
in a synchronized and interactive manner, using
both fully web-based and HbbTV-compliant
technology. More details about the player and its
supported features can be found in [18].
A demo video of the portal and player features can
be watched at: https://bit.ly/2Wqd336. Their Fig. 3 – ImAc player / menu
current version and the available VR360 and access
service content can be accessed via this URL:
http://imac.i2cat.net/player/. The source code can
be downloaded from: https://github.com/ua-
i2cat/ImAc.
In this context, the ImAc project has explored the
specification of standard solutions for subtitle
presentation modes (e.g., within W3C), and for
appropriate UIs and interaction modalities
(e.g., within International Organization for
Standardization, ISO).
Fig. 4 – Presentation of subtitles with radar indicator
In general, the contributions from the ImAc project
can be also of interest to groups of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU). Examples are: 1)
the Intersector Rapporteur Group Audiovisual
Media Accessibility (IRG-AVA), which studies topics
related to audiovisual media accessibility and aims
at developing draft Recommendations for “Access
Systems” that can be used for all media delivery
systems, including broadcast and broadband
services; 2) the ITU-R Study Group 6 (SG 6), which
addresses broadcasting scenarios, including vision,
sound, multimedia and data services; and 3) Fig. 5 – Presentation of sign language video, with arrows
and speaker’s name (and color)

14 © International Telecommunication Union, 2020