3rd Edition ISIM: Interaction and Storytelling with(in) Immersive Media (ISIM)
New Avenues for Increased Engagement
Call for Papers
The future of media experiences poses a series of thrilling challenges, but the appearance of novel technologies, formats and mediums brings a new wave of opportunities to reimagine content (co-)creation, hybridization, distribution, interaction and engagement possibilities.
While opportunities are endless, the 3rd edition of “Interaction and Storytelling with(in) Immersive Media (ISIM)” Workshop aims to explore and discuss the potential and implications of integrating emerging immersive media technologies and formats (e.g., Point Clouds, light field, 3D Gaussian Splatting, spatial audio, multi-sensory stimuli…), potentially assisted with Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, to enable new avenues for evocative consumption experiences and increased engagement. In particular, the primary focus will be on exploring and ideating new multimodal interaction and storytelling possibilities with and within immersive media environments, so as to maximize the potential benefits and revenues.
Under the umbrella of cross-fertilization actions between key EU projects in this area, ISIM aims at bringing together worldwide enthusiastic academia and industry players, as well as end users and stakeholders, to discuss ideas, challenges, and opportunities in this domain, with a key focus on the added value to the consumers, and thus indirectly to industry players in this domain (content creators, content service providers, manufacturers, technologists…) and thus to the worldwide society.
ISIM 2026 builds upon two highly successful editions in 2024 and 2025, each one having gathered around 40 participants, keynote talks, projects’ presentations, and +9 papers:
ISIM 2026 builds upon two highly successful editions in 2024 and 2025, each one having gathered around 40 participants, keynote talks, projects’ presentations, and +9 papers:
- ISIM 2024: https://transmixr.eu/isim-workshop/
- ISIM 2025: https://heat-xr.eu/isim-workshop/
Topics
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Content (co-)creation tools
- Content format optimization techniques
- Content production tools
- Content blending strategies
- Content sharing, search, and discovery (by e.g. using online repositories)
- AI-assisted content creation and processing
- Multi-sensory stimuli (spatial audio, textual information, haptics, scents…)
- Multimodal interaction with(in) immersive media
- Orchestration and adaptation to target consumption platforms and devices
- End-to-end workflows
- Storytelling approaches
- Immersive media in TV / broadcast services
- Accessibility and inclusivity
- Scenarios and use cases
- Deployment and adoptability implications and barriers
- Evaluation methodologies
- Standardization activities within such topics
- New provoking ideas and visions
- Market opportunities and business models
Workshop Format
ISIM will be an on-site event on June 9th 2026 in Athlone (Ireland), co-located with ACM IMX 2026.
ISIM will be a full-day workshop. A potential agenda for the workshop may be structured as follows:
- Welcome
- Keynote talk by Aljosa Smolic on AI-assisted volumetric video
- Overview presentations by relevant R&I projects and initiatives
- 15-min presentation of long papers
- 8-min presentation of work-in-progress or vision papers
- Round table with relevant panelists from academia and industry
- Brainstorming and discussion sessions
- Wrap-up summarizing insights and lessons learned, and planning next steps
Submission Information
Type(s) of submissions/contributions
- Long papers (4-6 pages, excluding references). Oral presentation (15min).
- Short papers (2-3 pages, excluding references). Oral presentation (8min).
- Papers need to be submitted using double-column ACM template
Submission URL: https://new.precisionconference.com
[Demos will be welcome, but must be accompanied with a paper submission]Important Dates
- Submission Deadline:
March 13th, 2026April 3rd, 2026 - Acceptance Notification: April 24th, 2026
- Camera Ready Version: May 1st, 2026
- Workshop: June 9th, 2026
Proceedings
Workshop papers will be published in the main IMX’26 Proceedings indexed by the ACM Digital Library.
Program
9:00h – 9:15h. Welcome and Presentations
9.15h – 10.00h. Design Foundations for Immersive Storytelling (Chair: Mario Montagud)
- E. Blanckaert, I. Jennes, W. Van den Broeck, “Making Immersive XR Accessible: Cross-Use-Case Design Requirements for Initial Interaction”
- Jiantao Wu, et al., “HMXR-Eval: a Hybrid Multisensory XR Evaluation Framework”
- G. Fadda, et al., “An Integrated Design Methodology for Multisensory XR Theater: Bridging Technical, Artistic, and Ethical Dimensions”
10:00h – 11:00h – Tools and Frameworks for Immersive Storytelling (Chair: Maurizio Murroni)
- R. Graça, et al., “Generative AI in Story Co-creation to Enrich the Polariscope Platform”
- K. Laibson, et al., “Stage Presence: a Virtual Tool for Theatre Rehearsals”
- S. Uddin, G. Muntean, “Preserving Narrative Integrity in Distributed Immersive Storytelling through Coherence-Aware Adaptation”
- E. Nerelli, et al., “Recovering Lost Theatrical Heritage through Interactive VR: Casa de Comedias de l’Olivera”
11:00h – 11:15h – Coffee Break
11:15h – 12:30h – Tools and Frameworks for Immersive Storytelling (Chair: Maurizio Murroni)
- [Online] M. Montroy, A. Matamala, A. P. Chalikias, E. Kamateri, I. Tsampoulatidis, “Immerse Lesson Editor”
- Jiantao Wu, et al., “Evaluating the Adoption of Hybrid Extended Reality Technologies (HEAT): Bridging Value Propositions, Market Research and User Acceptance Using the Technology Acceptance Model and SWOT Model”
- T. Balogh, P. A. Kara., “Smoothness or Sharpness: On the Rendering of 3D Gaussian Splatting of Sparse Point Clouds on Light Field Displays”
- T. Balogh, P. A. Kara, “Valid-Viewing-Area-Focused Feasibility Study on Split-Domain Light Field Visualization”
12.30h – 13:30h. Lunch Break
13:30h – 14:00h: Exploration Studies for Immersive Storytelling (Chair: Vlad Popescu)
- E. Rocchi, et al., “Beyond Audio-Visual VR: The Role of Olfactory Synchronization in Multisensory Experiences”
- G. Fiten, et al., “On the Impact of the Embodiment of AI-agents on Active Engagement in Virtual Reality Experiences”
14:00h – 15:00h: Closing Keynote Talk by Aljosa Smolic: “AI-based Volumetric Content Creation for Immersive XR Experiences and Production Workflows”
15:00h – 15:30h: Coffee Break
IMX DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM 2026 PROGRAM
15:30h – 16:00: Doctoral Consortium Pitches
16:00h – 17:30h: Doctoral Consortium Poster Presentations
Co-Organizers and Projects’ Representatives
| Co-Organizer | Entity | Project Representative |
| Mario Montagud | University of Valencia & i2CAT Foundation | EVOLVE, HEAT, TECLAVAL |
| Iris Jennes | Vrije Universiteit Brussel, imec-SMIT | PRESENCE |
| Anna Matamala | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona | ACCESSCAT, SPICE, IMMERSE |
| Maurizio Murroni | University of Cagliari | HEAT |
| Sergi Fernández | i2CAT Foundation | PRESENCE |
