IMMERSIVE MEDIA AND ACCESSIBILITY: HAND IN HAND TO THE FUTURE

Advances on immersive media can provide relevant benefits to our society. The future looks promising with the development of new communication technologies, formats and hardware, together with their wide applicability areas. However, a fundamental aspect remains unexplored in this media landscape ev...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Montagud, Mario, Orero, Pilar, Fernández, Sergi
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2072/374748
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/2072/374748
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Inclusive Societies
Virtual & Immersive Media Technologies
Media Internet
621.3
Descripción
Sumario:Advances on immersive media can provide relevant benefits to our society. The future looks promising with the development of new communication technologies, formats and hardware, together with their wide applicability areas. However, a fundamental aspect remains unexplored in this media landscape evolution: accessibility. Lack of accessibility hinders the interaction and immersion with Virtual Reality (VR) experiences to many consumers, becoming a barrier for global e-inclusion and equality of opportunities. Making immersive media accessible becomes then a priority, and is the research topic covered in this article. After reviewing the societal impact and regulatory framework, the article identifies current advances, limitations and challenges in this field. Then, it presents technological solutions and insights from initiatives targeted at achieving a seamless presentation of access services (subtitling, audio description and sign language) with VR360 content. Although these contributions are primarily conceived for broadcast services, their applicability spans to other sectors, and can pave the way for next-generation accessible VR experiences with 6 Degrees-of-Freedom (6DoF).