Media personalisation

Surrey researchers for AI4ME have released a new dataset designed to accelerate the development of personalised media experiences

15 July 2024

The dataset, called ForecasterFlexOBM, features a weather forecast presented by three actors in a variety of settings, including English and British Sign Language. It was captured using a sophisticated 16-camera array and high-quality audio equipment, providing researchers with a rich source of data for machine learning experiments.

The ForecasterFlexOBM dataset includes scenes that are relevant to both production and research, such as neural radiance fields, shadow casting, action/event detection, speaker source tracking, and video captioning.

By using this dataset, researchers can develop and test new techniques for personalising media content to meet the specific needs and preferences of individual viewers.

The release of the ForecasterFlexOBM dataset is a significant step forward in the field of personalised media production. By providing a high-quality, publicly available resource, researchers can collaborate and accelerate the development of innovative solutions that will benefit audiences around the world.

The researchers were: Berghi, D., Cieciura, C., Einabadi, F., Glancy, M., Camilleri, O. C., Foster, P. A., Nadeem, A., Sardari, F., Zhao, J., & Volino, M. ICME 2024.

Access the ForecasterFlexOBM paper

A new era of content creation and consumption

23 January 2023

The University of Surrey, in collaboration with the BBC, EPSRC and Lancaster University, is spearheading a groundbreaking initiative to revolutionize the UK media industry through personalised media experiences.

Leveraging the power of AI and Object-Based Media (OBM), this partnership aims to create media content that seamlessly adapts to individual preferences, accessibility needs, devices, and location.

Building upon the BBC's extensive experience in OBM and its ability to conduct large-scale audience trials, this project seeks to redefine how we interact with media.

The University of Surrey's expertise in audio-visual AI will enable the efficient creation of personalized OBM experiences, while Lancaster University's proficiency in software-defined networking will ensure the scalable and cost-effective delivery of these experiences to millions of users.

This ambitious £15m UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Prosperity Partnership goal is to develop technologies that will provide the UK creative sector with unrivalled capabilities to create a step-change in audience experiences at scale.

Learn more about AI4ME research

This new project brings together academics from engineering and sociology to explore, in partnership with the BBC, how citizen voices can be incorporated in the ethical development and review of new technologies for media personalisation.

Read more

Surrey and the BBC are working together to test an approach to bring in people – normal people, rather than experts – to oversee AI’s development in media personalisation.

Read more

Watch the very latest in sound tech, audio inspiration, creativity and flare! Personalisation, working with audiences and even getting them to work for you. A quick-fire round of lightning talks with a discussion afterwards from the field of research on new ideas of connecting with audiences. 

Watch the 'Personalising Sound' panel

Joined by BBC R&D, this panel explores digital rights, human values, trust and decentralisation as directions to advance society's ability, our ability, to shape the algorithms that feed our media. The session includes presentations from speakers researching these themes and provide an opportunity for questions and discussion. It is hoped that their insights will enrich and inform a debate as part of society's ongoing conversation to design technologies for media personalisation that better serve the needs of society.