Barcelona Media anticipates the future of the audiovisual world through i3media

Jan 10, 2007 - BM news

i3media is a research and development project for the creation and automated management of intelligent audiovisual content. The project is carried out by a consortium of the main enterprises of the media sector, with Barcelona Media (BM) collaboration. The research program being developed over a four-year period (2007-2010) and has the support of the Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio.

The results of i3media will enable firms to personalise content according to the consumer, as well as to facilitate interaction with users, who will be able to carry out operations such as programming their own televisions, also in an interactive way. As a result of the project, the content will be automatically configurable in different formats and for different devices.

Designed to generate new technologies that offer development opportunities to the companies that make up the consortium, i3media focuses on intelligent content, personalisation and automated processes. The application of these technologies will have an impact on all companies and areas of the media sector (including production, post-production, storage, search, indexing and distribution) as well as on other fields (such as catering, leisure and automobiles).

Amongst others, the objective is that the research results should enable firms to add extra information - which is clickable and navigable - to the audiovisual objects, or to allow companies to vary the content according to the audiences or geographical areas for which specific audiovisual productions (i.e. advertising) are designed.

Budget and partners

The project has a budget of almost €35 million and involves the participation of over 140 top-level researchers. i3media is run through a consortium headed by MEDIAPRO and comprised of 12 companies. In addition to the consortium, the investigations include the participation of 19 research groups attached to 10 organisations: six universities, two research centres and two technological centres, one of which is Barcelona Media.

Barcelona Media, as well as taking part in i3media like a research center, it administers part of the project and the consortium as a representative of MEDIAPRO.

The CDTI (Centre for Industrial Technological Development) ─ which is part of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade ─ approved the funding for i3media, as a "tractor" technology project, within the second CENIT programme, as part of the initiative INGENIO 2010.