TABLE OF CONTENTS In certain limited domains (e.g., distance education, e-commerce, e-conference), intelligent virtual societies already play an important role. The realization of the intelligent virtual world requires communication and intelligent technologies, which include multimedia information retrieval, multimedia communications, distance learning, e-commerce, and intelligent agents. In this era of information explosion that the Internet has brought about, it is imperative to exploit intelligent technology for efficient and effective search of information. Without significant adoption and advances in intelligent technology, the intelligent virtual world will remain a fantasy. Intelligent information search also requires accurate interpretations of the semantics of the acquired information. We provide an overview of research issues in several technology areas that enable realization of the intelligent virtual world.
Communication technology has played a vital role in the development of the human society. It has shortened the distances among people and accelerated the degree of information exchange. During the past decade, a new communication technology called the Internet has come to interconnect the world. The Internet has been instrumental in the creation of virtual worlds, where e-conference, e-medicine, e-learning, and e-commerce are practiced. Internet search for all sorts of information has supplanted to a good extent visits to libraries for many people around the world. Despite the massive dotcom...
