Guest Editorial Special Issue on Visual Computing in the Cloud: Mobile Computing

Recent advances in mobile devices (e.g., smartphones and wearables) and wireless technologies are fueling a new wave of user demands for an improved user experience. Indeed, users are not only expecting ubiquitous network connections for traditional services (e.g., messaging and calling), but also demanding extensive access to a wealth of video contents and services. However, this growing demand is seriously hindered by the fact that the onboard resources with mobile devices are inherently limited and their growth rate falls behind that of their desktop counterparts. It follows that new solutions should be in order to resolve this fundamental tussle. Fortunately, the emerging cloud computing offers a natural solution to extend the desktop visual experience to mobile devices. It actually provides both computational and storage support for media-rich applications with both front-end and back-end functionalities.