New Structures for the Next Generation of IDMS

Abstract

Interactive multimedia is not new. As early as 1991, sophisticated interactive multimedia systems were available that allowed CDROM-based presentations to be created and distributed to mass audiences. Typical applications for CDROM-based multimedia were art and entertainment, product catalogues, computer-based training and information kiosks.

The nature of the CDROM itself meant that the presentation structure remained static even as the contents appeared to be dynamic. Given the long production cycles of CDROM presentation, and the conventional nature of CDROM distribution channels, CDROM-based multimedia provided only an incremental improvement over conventional documents. The mass acceptance of the World-Wide Web has significantly changed the landscape of presenting distributed information. Users have come to expect that the Web is a generic source for all of their information needs, including information that is multimedia in nature.

This talk will focus on the challenges that a Web-like environment presents to the design and support for the next generation of interactive distributed multimedia systems. These challenges include: - adapting content to the needs to the user - defining time relationships in an uncertain timing environment - problems with scalability and interoperability of applications - problems with protecting the rights of IDMS content owners and users.

The talk will present recent development in the standardization of languages and architectures for IDMS support. In particular, the facilities provided by SMIL and HTML+TIME will be contrasted in their support for general IDMS applications. We will provide examples of new developments in each language and show developments in new user interfaces that make IDMS’s more accessible to a wide range of users.