Page 7 - Kaleidoscope Academic Conference Proceedings 2021

Message from the Chair of the Technical
Programme Committee

Mostafa Hashem Sherif, Ph.D
Technical Programme Committee Chair

The focus of the ITU Kaleidoscope 2021 (K-2021) academic conference is on how the on-going
digital transformation is blurring the distinction between our physical and virtual worlds. Technical
standards as well as policies and regulation have their respective roles in ensuring that the new
immersive experiences benefit humanity at large.
Because the Covid-19 pandemic is still affecting communities around the world, for the second year
in a row, K-2021 is held online from 6 to 10 December 2021.

The conference programme includes eighteen original papers retained from a total of 39 submissions,
after a double-blind peer-review process. The video demonstration track, which was introduced in
last year’s Kaleidoscope, has now four demonstrations. Also, thanks to Laetitia Bochud, Director of
Virtual Switzerland, a K-2021 partner, the coffee breaks will include entertainment segments to show
how immersive technologies can be used in dance, theatre productions and live performances.

The contributors to K-2021 hail from all continents. To accommodate the various time zones over
the globe, each day’s proceedings are limited to around 3 1/2 hours.

The authors of the best papers presented at the conference will share a prize fund of CH 6 000. In
addition, young authors of up to 30 years of age presenting accepted papers will receive Young
Author Recognition certificates.

In my role as the chair of the technical programme committee (TPC), I would like to thank all
56 reviewers, whether members of the TPC or anonymous reviewers, for assisting the steering
committee in making the selection. Members of the steering committee were also essential in
preparing three keynote sessions and in inviting two papers dealing with the conference’s theme.
They also helped organise two special sessions on the intersection of the technology with culture, and
its effects on the future of museums, art galleries and live performances. I would also like to thank
our technical co-sponsors and partners.

The K-2021 conference proceedings (as well as those of the previous conferences) can be downloaded
free of charge from http://itu-kaleidoscope.org.

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