VIN

From a user point of view this project will study the future position and (inter)actions of the 'networked individual' within the various communities of which (s)he is a member (macro-level). Besides, the enabling and constraining factors on the mutual shaping between sociality and technology (meso-level) are researched as well as the methods and techniques to support social interaction (sociability) within communities (micro-level). On top of this, we will investigate the impact of the interplay between technology and social interaction on the individual.

From a legal point of view the problem of new networks and services versus old regulatory frameworks will be investigated in this project. The shift to user-centric networks poses particular problems to our legal and regulatory regimes, which are traditionally focused on a certain technology, rather than on a certain user need. In this project, we aim at furthering scientific knowledge on the legal problems which might arise when citizens become their own content-creator on virtual individual networks. Furthermore we will investigate how we can overcome the antithesis by trying to establish a blueprint for a coherent and future-proof regulatory framework for the converging media environment.

From a technological point of view collaborative interactivity is an important aspect in the context of virtual networks. It is a key feature of new and immerging audio-visual applications, where users become active participants in two- or multi-way tele-presence sessions instead of just being passive consumers. In the context of VIN, distributed multi-users support collaborative work and play. They are active contributors of information at any moment in time.

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