Preamble

The importance of digitalization has increased in the era of globalization and the technological revolution, providing significant potential for practice and research in the communication sciences as it has a massive impact on the media industry and business in general, spreading awareness, collecting data, publishing, broadcasting, and the strategic mechanisms that enable the media to operate efficiently.

The world is witnessing significant developments, especially in artificial intelligence and metaverse fields, which have a visible impact on the future of digital media, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the professional and research levels of communication sciences.

The contributions of artificial intelligence came to improve the user’s experience by providing customized content and recommendations based on the user’s needs and behavior. While artificial intelligence allows for performing huge analytics, using machine learning to analyze users’ data, improve marketing, and manage customer relations, the metaverse can be used to improve the user’s experience as it allows using intelligent design to improve user interfaces, making them more accessible and more effective in interacting with users.

Background

The College of Communication and Media Technologies at Gulf University, Kingdom of Bahrain, is organizing its 4^th International Scientific Refereed Conference, “Digital Media, Artificial Intelligence Technologies and Metaverse,” in light of the significant transformations that the accelerating world digital revolution is witnessing, and within its keenness to keep abreast of these developments which significantly benefits the educational process and links students with the latest professional practices.

Gulf University, represented by the College of Communication and Media Technologies, seeks, through this conference, to contribute abundantly to developing an integrated future vision for professional practices and the advanced methods of innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of digital media, benefiting from artificial intelligence and metaverse to overcome the current issues and make the future.

Conference Vision

Gulf University seeks to make its 4^th International Scientific Refereed Conference, “Digital Media, Artificial Intelligence Technologies and Metaverse,” a scientific platform to attract the most prominent researchers, academicians, and practitioners in digital media, artificial intelligence, metaverse, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the Arab countries and the world to address and discuss the future of the media industry in light of the significant digital transformations that the world is witnessing and to benefit as much as possible from artificial intelligence and metaverse technologies.

Conference Goals

– To analyze and explore the nature of the transformations that digital media, artificial intelligence, and metaverse technologies are witnessing.

– To discuss how to enhance interaction between digital media and artificial intelligence and metaverse technologies and how to use these technologies to improve the quality of the media industry and increase interaction with the public.

– To explore the methods that advance innovation in digital media and related technologies, such as animation and virtual reality technologies. 

– To discuss the potential challenges, issues, and risks of digital media and related technologies, such as the spread of fake news, manipulation, privacy violation, and cyber security.

– To discuss the methods that improve interaction between the audience and digital media content and how to use advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality to enhance engagement and participation.

– To explore the prospects of digital education and the challenges of artificial intelligence technologies that may pave the way for significant transformations in the practice and society.

– To consider the impact of digital media on economic competitiveness and its role in shaping the knowledge economy and innovation.

– To verify the sources of information and how to distinguish fake news from real news in the digital age.

– To discuss privacy issues and how users and individuals can be protected from e-espionage and data theft.

Conference Language

English is the language of the conference, and the research papers presented will be published in Springer (Scopus), not in journals indexed in Scopus. However, there will be sessions in Arabic, and the papers presented in Arabic will be published in the Journal of the College of Communication and Media Technologies.

First Theme: Digital Media and Communication

• Digital storytelling and narrative techniques.
• Digital marketing and advertising trends.
• User-generated content and participatory culture
• Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications in media.
• Fake news, manipulation, privacy violation, and cybersecurity.
• Employing Experiences of Artificial Intelligence in Professional Media Practices.

Second Theme: Metaverse and Virtual Worlds

• Exploring the concept and potential of the metaverse.
• Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in creating immersive experiences.
• Virtual communities and social interactions in the metaverse.
• Legal and ethical considerations in the metaverse.

Third Theme: Emerging Technologies and Innovations

• Internet of Things (IoT) and its integration with digital media and AI.
• Blockchain applications in digital media and metaverse.
• Wearable technology and its impact on digital media experiences.

Fourth Theme: Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications

• Privacy and data protection in the digital age.
• Verifying information sources and distinguishing news in the digital media.
• Bias and fairness in AI algorithms and metaverse experiences.
• Intellectual property rights in digital media and the metaverse.

English is the language of the conference, and the research papers presented will be published in Springer (Scopus), not in journals indexed in Scopus. However, there will be sessions in Arabic, and the papers presented in Arabic will be published in the Journal of the College of Communication and Media Technologies.