The Multimedia Signal Processing Technical Committee (MMSP TC) promotes the advancement of multimedia signal processing technology with special emphasis on the interaction, coordination, synchronization, and joint processing of multimedia and multi-modality signals.  In the past, the TC has also served as a home for incubating new areas that do not fall neatly into areas covered by existing TCs.

The MMSP TC organizes annual MMSP Workshops.  MMSP 2010 will be held October 4-6 in Saint-Malo, France, under the theme of entertainment, gaming and virtual reality.  Plenary/invited talks will be given by Ton Kalker (HP Labs), Bernard Grill (Fraunhofer), Stéphane Donikian (INRIA), Phil Chou (Microsoft), Levent Onural (Bilkent University), and Pier Luigi Dragotti (Imperial College London).  MMSP 2011 will be held in October in Hangzhou, China, under the theme of cloud-client multimedia computing.  Proposals for MMSP 2012 are being accepted by the Chair (pachou AT microsoft.com) through September 15, 2010.  The TC will evaluate these proposals at MMSP 2010.

The MMSP TC is also directly involved in steering and organizing the technical program for the IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo (ICME), held annually in July under the sponsorship of four IEEE societies (Signal Processing, Computer, Communications, and Circuits and Systems).  Recently ICME has been revamped with a highly selective acceptance rate of at most 15% for oral papers and an additional 15% for poster presentations.  We aspire for learning to become a key characteristic of the revamped ICME, through tutorials, classes, keynotes, overviews, and of course learning the state-of-the-art directly from the principal researchers in the field.  Focused workshops are also an integral part of the conference.  In conjunction with ICME 2010, members of the TC organized the Hot3D workshop, which encouraged presentation of early stage, preliminary, and potentially disruptive technologies in 3D Multimedia.  ICME 2011 will be held July 11-15 in Barcelona, Spain, while ICME 2012 will be held in Melbourne, Australia.  A call for proposals for ICME 2013 and 2014 will be sent out shortly.

TC members are involved in publications such as the IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, Transactions on Information Forensics & Security, Transactions on Image Processing, Signal Processing Letters, and Signal Processing Magazine.

New TC members are being sought for a three-year term, beginning January 1, 2011.  We are calling for nominations of high-profile multimedia signal processing researchers, who are willing to actively participate in TC activities, including paper reviews and award nominations. We particularly encourage nominations of female candidates and candidates representing Regions 7 (Canada) and 9 (Latin America).  Nominations should include (1) percentages of the top-level EDICS areas covered by the candidate, (2) a brief bio (less than 1 page in pure text format), and (3) a sentence stating that the candidate is willing to serve, such as “If elected to the TC, I agree to serve as an active member and will be IEEE Signal Processing Society member from Jan. 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013.”  Nominations should be sent to the Chair of the membership subcommittee, Marco Tagliasacchi (marco.tagliasacchi AT polimi.it) by September 20, 2010.  Affiliate Members are always welcome to sign up here.  More information can be found at the TC website.

The 17th IEEE International Conference on Image Processing ICIP2010 will be held in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from September 26 to 29, 2010.

The conference will bring together more than 1400 researchers, scientists and engineers in image processing from around the world to what is expected to be the largest gathering of researchers in the forefront of image processing research. The organizing committee received a record number of 2545 paper submissions from 44 countries, and from these, selected 1185 papers for inclusion in a packed program during the three full days of the conference.

Hong Kong is a modern metropolitan city, an international travel hub supported by a well developed hospitality industry to host visitors from all over the world. Late September is the best time to visit Hong Kong to enjoy the transition from summer to autumn. For more information about the conference please visit http://www.icip2010.com .

All nominations should be sent to Michael D. Zoltowski, at mikedz AT ecn.purdue.edu, no later than 15 October 2010. Please provide the name and contact information of the nominee, as well as the individual’s biographical information, which includes information about the individual’s current activities in the Signal Processing Society, the IEEE, or other professional societies.

Some selected recent articles:

Conference Coverage on IEEE.tv

“Top 10″ Must-KNow Policies & Procedures for Conference Organizers

COS: Focus on Solutions

Recently, they announced the 2010 winner: Jonathon Cox, from Colorado State University, for his project on TUX 2, A Balancing Wheelchair. The Tux project is an attempt to solve the common problem of mobility for paraplegic and quadriplegic people by designing a new and innovative wheelchair. The new design uses inexpensive parts and sensors to allow the base to only require two wheels, similar to a Segway Personal Transporter. Because only two wheels are necessary and the wheelchair is actively stabilized, the base can be substantially reduced in size and the maneuverability therefore greatly improved. Another benefit of the design is the ability to let the passenger ride in a standing position supported by a restraint system. This solves one of the biggest complaints of wheelchair bound people which is the inability to make eye to eye contact during a conversation.

Click here for more details about the Senior Project Funding Competition.

A highlight from ICASSP 2010 was Ronald Schafer’s presentation celebrating the past progress and making assumptions about what the future might hold for the field of DSP. Dr. Shafer is one of the world’s leading authorities on digital signal processing. As a HP Fellow at HP Labs he is focusing on problems of acoustic signal processing for audio communication and entertainment.

The keynote speaker of THEMES 2010, Vwani Roychowdhury, discusses the Science of Social Networking: Mining, Modeling, and Monetizing the Social Media Revolution. Dr. Roychowdhury is an internationally recognized researcher and esteemed professor at the University of California Los Angeles. He is known for innovative problem solving.

The 2011 application is now open and will close at 5:00 pm local time on November 10, 2010.  Application instructions are available online at www.nsfsi.org. For further information concerning benefits, eligibility, and tips on applying, applicants are encouraged to visit www.nsf.gov/eapsi or www.nsfsi.org.

NSF recognizes the importance of enabling U.S. researchers and educators to advance their work through international collaborations and the value of ensuring that future generations of U.S. scientists and engineers gain professional experience beyond this nation’s borders early in their careers. The program is intended for U.S. graduate students pursuing studies in fields supported by the National Science Foundation. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply for the EAPSI. Applicants must be enrolled in a research-oriented master’s or PhD program and be U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents by the application deadline date. Students in combined bachelor/master degree programs must have matriculated from the undergraduate degree program by the application deadline date.

Should you have any questions, please contact the EAPSI Help Desk by email at <eapsi AT nsfsi.org> or by phone at 1-866-501-2922.

SPS Publications: September 2010 Content Gazette

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Other SPS Sponsored Publications

The Signal Processing Theory and Methods Technical Committee (SPTM TC) promotes activities in the technical areas of theory and methods of digital and statistical signal processing. SPTM TC has organized 8 subcommittees starting from 2010, including Awards Subcommittee, Nominations & Elections Subcommittee, Workshops Subcommittee, Industry/Government Subcommittee, Webmaster Subcommittee, Newsletter Subcommittee, Student Subcommittee, and Education Subcommittee. Every subcommittee contains three to four committee members. These subcommittees make the SPTM TC internal works parallel, members get to know each other, and thus create a more efficient and friendly workspace for the whole TC.

The 16th IEEE Workshop on Statistical Signal Processing (SSP2009) was held in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. The workshop was indeed successful in achieving its goals and objectives. Over 250 researchers from more than 35 countries gathered to contribute into the meeting. Six very rich keynote talks (by Pierre Comon, Lajos Hanzo, Athina Petropulu, Jean-Philippe Thiran, Deliang Wang, and Abdelhak Zoubir), two special sessions, and two tutorials were the other highlights of the meeting. The meeting was co -sponsored by Cardiff University, Cardiff Neuroscience Centre, EURASIP, and Loughborough University. The participants enjoyed free access to both wired and wireless networks, free welcome reception, free three-course hot lunches in cosy environment, and a memorable banquet in Celtic Manor Golf Club in New Port, Wales, overlooking a beautiful scenery and countryside while listening to Welsh harp rhythms.

The 2011 IEEE Digital Signal Processing Workshop and IEEE Signal Processing Education Workshop (DSP/SPE 2011) will be held jointly January 4 to 7, 2011, at the award-winning Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Arizona. The goals of the workshops are to bring together leading engineers, researchers, and educators in signal processing from around the world to discuss novel signal processing theories, methods, and applications.