Examples of Multimedia Systems
Major Areas of use for Multimedia Products.
Multimedia is used in many areas in society, three key areas of its use are:-
Information
Education and Training
Leisure and Entertainment
Virtual Reality and Simulations
Combined Areas: - Educational games, Training simulations
Information
Multimedia is used to provide information in an interesting and interactive manner, using a variety of media. Multimedia is
widely used in information services, providing the viewer an effective presentation of information. Typically the use of
multimedia presentations to present information allows the user to navigate simply through basic information.
Information on demand:An Information Kiosk can be used anywhere to provide information to users where no human assistants can be available. For
example at Tourist centre’s, like the powerhouse which has placed computers with multimedia presentations at the entrance to
the museum. Visors can use this information to decide upon which displays they might like to view and how to get to the
correct area.
Some buildings in Sydney’s CBD are utilising touch screen multimedia presentations in the foyer to provide guests to the
building a directory of companies in the building. These multimedia presentations usually incorporate text, hypertext, icons,
graphics and occasionally sound/video.
Business advertising and marketing can use a kiosk browser, that presents multimedia on certain topics to, for instance to
distribute samples of products to customers via free CDROM’s. Presentations can be quickly produced to give a lecture or
seminar in an interesting manner. A demonstration of a product could be made via a multimedia presentation.
Gambling, banking, and sales are all growth areas in using multimedia presentation to attract more customers via a more user
friendly, interactive presentation of the information.
Review these:The JFK CDROM
http://www.worldbookonline.com/
http://www.eb.com/
http://www.infokiosks.com.au/
Education and Training
Education is a large growth area of the use of multimedia presentations. The are used to allow the learner to participate in a
total learning environment, utilising all media. Widely used in education, at home, in schools, universities, libraries, museums,
computer based training, remote distance learning and performance support.
A well designed presentation will keep the learners attention via an interesting use of the available media, the biggest
attraction is that the presentation is interactive, the learner can read, understand and choose topics all at their own
pace.
It provides a cost effective mechanism to train staff, where they can run through work practice and procedures at their own
pace. There are many tutorials available with screen shots, picture, sound, and video all combining to train people in all
manner of tasks.
The benefits of multimedia education are:-
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Consistency and adaptability
Self paced and self directed learning
Increases retention rates
Customisation of student programs
One on one tuition
Cost saving
Can be taught by an expert in that field – e.g a specialist doctor in USA creating a CDROM for
university medical students in Sydney
Review:
http://www.adobe.com/misc/training.html
http://connwww.iu5.org/cvelem/tutorials/Wordcover.html
http://www.loretonh.nsw.edu.au/student_intranet/web_tutorials/Online_tutorial.htm
Leisure and Entertainment
Multimedia systems such as computer games and other leisure activities.
The leisureand entertainment area is incredibly fast growing, with huge profits for the leading companies of computer games.
Multimedia games provide video clips, animation , integrated sound and advanced 3D graphics that replicate real situations or
fantasy with a great deal or realism and excitement. Computer games provide a high level of interactivity.
The users of these entertainment presentations traditionally use a joystick, mouse or trackball to interact with the game. The
large memory requirements of these presentations stems from the large amount or graphics and video. With little text being
desired by the users. This demand of memory has seen the heavy use of CDROM’s to distribute the games. A computer also
does need a good deal of Ram, with a graphics card, sound card etc to take full advantage of the multimedia.
There is a huge range of online interactive games available, some created in new software programs such as Shockwave, Java,
and Flash. Take a look at:
http://www.purplelion.com/games/
http://www.javapowered.com/games.html
http://www.flashgamer.com/flash.htm
http://www.coffeebreakarcade.com
Virtual Reality and Simulations
An artificial environment created with computer hardware and software and presented to the user in such a way that it appears
and feels like a real environment. To "enter" a virtual reality, a user dons special gloves, earphones, and goggles, all of which
receive their input from the computer system. In this way, at least three of the five senses are controlled by the computer. In
addition to feeding sensory input to the user, the devices also monitor the user's actions. The goggles, for example, track how
the eyes move and respond accordingly by sending new video input.
Virtual reality (VR) can be used to create an illusion of reality or imagined reality and is used both for entertainment and
training. Flight simulators for training airplane pilots and astronauts were the first form of this technology, which provided a
very realistic and very expensive simulation.
Virtual reality has other variants. Spatially immersive displays use multi-sided rooms that you walk into, and an "immersive
theater" or "immersive wall" uses a large flat or curved screen (8-24' long) that completely fills your peripheral vision.
Desktop virtual reality (desktop VR) uses a personal computer to play games and view environments that you move around in,
although they lack the 3-D reality of true VR systems.
The term simulation means to create an experience that is like e real world experience. Such as flying a plane etc.
Simulation is the process of imitating a real phenomenon with a set of mathematical formulas. Advanced computer programs
can simulate weather conditions, chemical reactions, atomic reactions, even biological processes. In theory, any phenomena
that can be reduced to mathematical data and equations can be simulated on a computer. In practice, however, simulation is
extremely difficult because most natural phenomena are subject to an almost infinite number of influences. One of the tricks
to developing useful simulations, therefore, is to determine which are the most important factors.
In addition to imitating processes to see how they behave under different conditions, simulations are also used to test new
theories. After creating a theory of causal relationships, the theorist can codify the relationships in the form of a computer
program. If the program then behaves in the same way as the real process, there is a good chance that the proposed
relationships are correct.
http://simcity.ea.com/us/guide/
http://www.ottawakiosk.com/panos/virtual.html (Names itself an Information Kiosk and offers virtual tours of Ottawa)
http://www.boeing.com/assocproducts/hms/ (How to train pilots)
http://www.cs.columbia.edu:80/graphics/projects/archAnatomy/architecturalAnatomy.html
http://digimuse.usc.edu/IAM.htm Virtual museum
http://www.paradigmsim.com/
Combined Areas: - Educational games, Training simulations
Where does the range of children’s games fit in? Such as learning the alphabet in a multimedia presentation, that the child
views as entertainment but in reality has the advantage of educating as well. The name EDUTAINMENT is creeping into the
computing industry to describe these presentations. The arguments for either category are really just as strong.
http://easy2learn.telstra.com/tour.asp (Cross education/games.) Or training for pilots – using a simulated experience.
Advances in Technology
Multimedia places huge demands on computer systems, to process, store, manipulate and display text, graphics, sounds,
animations and videos. There are always new technologies that will increase the speed of the computer CPU (Central
Processing Unit), Storage devices – CDROM, DVD, Transmission Media – For the Internet – Satellite, ADSL, Microwave,
Cable Modems. All advances will improve the quality of Multimedia Production, as well as their ease of access, increase
transmission speeds, and so increase demand for Multimedia Systems.
Advances in technology which are influencing multimedia development such as:
World Wide Web and communication speed and capacity
As the internet grows more and more demands are on new interactive technologies that require more storage space. The larger
the files the slower the download time. The demand for new methods that are faster and offer better quality always grow. New
Methods to increase speed at the moment are:Satellite, Cable modem, ADSL lines, Microwave, ISDN lines…
CD-ROM speed
The faster the CROM can display its data the better the interactive experience for the user. Currently a CD stores about 650
megabytes . CDROM technologies are always being sought to meet the demands OF FASTER ACCESS METHODS. No one
wants to wait for a video file to load up off a CDROM, or a new document to open, or a song to play. Every one wants it now.
Immediate gratification.
Digital Video Disc
A new technology that stores large amounts of data, with CD quality sound and excellent video resolution. A fast access speed
and the larger storage than CDROM has seen large demand for this technology. DVD ROM can hold about 17 Gigabytes,
while DVD- Video holds about 8.5 gigabytes –133minutes of a video.
Questions:*** Use your text and this article to answer the following questions
1. What are the key characteristics of Information multimedia presentations?
2. List two advantages of a kiosk browser.
3. Why would a multimedia presentation hold a students attention for longer than a
normal classroom?
4. What are the advantages of self paced learning?
5. Why are multimedia games so popular?
6. What are the effects of the demand of the entertainment industry on the funding of
development of technology?