Current semantic approaches to multimedia content modeling treat the content�s media, the semantic description of the content, and the functionality performed on the content such as rendering as separate entities, usually kept on separate servers in separate files or databases and typically under the control of different authorities. This separation of content from its description and functionality hinders the exchange and sharing of content in collaborative multimedia application scenarios. In this chapter, we propose Enhanced Multimedia Meta Objects (Emmos) as a new content modeling formalism that combines multimedia content with its description and functionality. Emmos can be serialized and exchanged in their entirety - covering media, description, and functionality - and are versionable, thereby establishing a suitable foundation for collaborative multimedia applications. We outline a distributed infrastructure for Emmo management and illustrate the benefits and usefulness of Emmos and this infrastructure by means of two practical applications.

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U. Srinivasan and S. Nepal (Eds.), Idea Group Inc., Hershey, Philadelphia, To appear 2005.

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