aau/MüllerEmanuele Artioli wants to make video streaming better – with higher quality, greater personalisation, and more reliable playback even when network conditions are poor, such as on a train journey or in a remote location. One of his main research interests is using AI to identify which parts of a video genuinely matter to viewers – and should therefore be delivered in higher quality. He plans to complete his doctoral programme at the University of Klagenfurt in the autumn of 2026.
Researchers at the University of Klagenfurt – above all Christian Timmerer, who leads the research group at the Department of Information Technology – have accumulated decades of experience in advancing video-streaming technologies. “Yet there is still a great deal to be done,” says Emanuele Artioli, who has spent the past few years conducting research at the Christian Doppler Laboratory ATHENA and is now nearing the completion of his doctoral programme. There is considerable scope for improving the transmission of conventional 2D video, and even more so when it comes to displaying three-dimensional images. One promising new approach is 3D Gaussian Splatting, which aims to enable immersive, high-resolution 3D video streaming.
Among other areas, Emanuele Artioli specialises in combining artificial intelligence with conventional rule-based compression algorithms. He explains the technology using the following example: “Imagine that you are streaming a tennis match. It is important for the viewer to see the players and the ball clearly, whereas displaying the background at the same high level of image quality is less important. Conventional codecs treat every pixel equally. We, however, use AI to identify the parts of the image that genuinely matter and encode them at a higher quality. This allows us to transmit the rest of the image using significantly less data.”
This requires an artificial intelligence system that “does not merely see pixels”, but can recognise, for example, that a moving person is important to what is happening in the video. Taken together, the new algorithms are intended to make video streaming faster and more reliable. The aim is to give users the best possible viewing experience while transmitting as little data as possible. Reducing the amount of data also helps to limit energy consumption.
When asked whether it is always desirable for AI to decide which parts of an image matter most, Emanuele Artioli replies: “We should have had this debate decades ago, when streaming services first emerged and began compressing content and reducing its quality. Most of us have long since accepted experiencing even works of art at a slightly lower quality in exchange for the convenience of being able to access them anywhere.”
Emanuele Artioli has now almost completed his dissertation, and his final doctoral examination will take place in the autumn. In November 2026, he will present part of his research on 3D video transmission at the ACM International Conference on Multimedia in Rio de Janeiro. He never expected that he would eventually work in this particular field. “The subject found me, rather than the other way around,” he says, looking back. After leaving school in Finale Emilia in the Emilia-Romagna region, he completed a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Industrial Management at the Università di Bologna, followed by a Master’s degree in Data Science at the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca. An Erasmus semester brought him to the University of Klagenfurt, and he was immediately drawn to the region and its proximity to lakes and mountains. He later wrote his Master’s thesis in cooperation with Bitmovin. After graduating, he returned to Klagenfurt to work for the company, which is a spin-off of the University of Klagenfurt. Since 2022, he has been conducting predoctoral research at the Christian Doppler Laboratory ATHENA.
Although he now speaks enthusiastically about the “elegance of beautiful algorithms” – even if, as he admits, “that sounds a little nerdy” – his path into computer science was not always straightforward. “I had an aptitude for school as a child, especially for natural sciences, but during the final years of high school, I started struggling in mathematics. When I got sub-par results at my final examination, I decided I was not going to let that define my future, and enrolled in an Engineering Degree.” Through determination and hard work, he mastered the mathematical foundations he now relies on in his research – knowledge that is also likely to serve him well in the future.
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A few words with … Emanuele Artioli
When was the last time you discussed your research with someone outside the scientific community?
Can’t pinpoint the exact time, probably a few weeks ago, but I definitely know the person: my mum. She never went to University but has a very inquisitive mind, so it’s always interesting to bounce ideas off her. Plus she’s a natural yapper, and if I didn’t use every single conversation point at my disposal, our phone calls would be too close to a monologue.
What is the first thing you do in the office each morning?
Put my Ragù or Pesto in the fridge. To the surprise of no one, Italians really care about their pasta, so I make my own sauces, and luckily the Athena lab has a full kitchen I can cook lunch at.
Who do you regard as the greatest scientist in history, and why?
Trust Neil Degrasse Tyson on this one. He’s adamant the answer is Sir. Isaac Newton. I can’t imagine life before he invented gravity.
What makes you furious?
I pride myself in being a calm personality, nothing gets me quite furious. However, I do have a tendency to question authority, which I would call a skill in research, but did bring about quite a few headaches.
And what calms you down?
A hug. Music. Time. At the end of the day, we’re all the same.
Do you ever take proper holidays? Without thinking about your work?
No need, I love my work. Paying the bills is, obviously, a top priority, but if I didn’t have to worry about money, I would still be doing science. Which by the way includes a fair bit of traveling around the world: quite the all-inclusive deal.
What are you afraid of?
I consider myself extremely fortunate, especially in terms of the people who love me. As long as I have them, there’s nothing to be afraid of really.
What are you looking forward to?
As the PhD comes to an end, I am projected to the next chapter. More likely than not, I will have to leave Klagenfurt and start a new life who-knows-where else. That’s equal parts scary and exciting.
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Study technology at the University of Klagenfurt
Der Beitrag Elegant algorithms for smarter video streaming erschien zuerst auf University of Klagenfurt.