Introduction to Multimedia

By
Dr. Hadi AL Saadi
 What is multimedia?
• Multi: more than one
• Medium (singular): middle, intermediary, mean
• Media (plural): means for conveying information
 Media in the press, newspaper, radio and TV context - mass media
 Media in communications: cables, satellite, network – transmission
media
 Media in computer storage: floppy, CD, DVD, HD, USB – storage me-
dia
 Media in HCI context: text, image, audio, video, CG – interaction
media
Multimedia is a presentation of a computer application
incorporating media elements such as text, graphics, animations
, audio, and video.
 What is Multimedia in terms of Computing

Computing: Computer-based technologies and applications

 What computers? Various forms of computers/devices!
Definition of Multimedia:
Computer-based techniques of text, images, audio, video, graphics, animation, and any other
medium where every type of information can be represented, processed, stored, transmitted,
produced and presented digitally.
 Multimedia can be classified
LINEAR
• A Multimedia Project is identified as Linear when:
– It is not interactive
– User have no control over the content that is being showed to them.
• Example:
– A movie
– A non-interactive lecture / demo show
NON-LINEAR
• A Multimedia Project is identified as Non-Linear when:
– It is interactive , users have control over the content that is being showed to them.
– Users are given navigational control
• Example:
– Games
– Courseware
– Interactive CD
Benefits of Multimedia

10% of what they read

20% of what they hear

30% of what they see

50% of what they hear and see

80% of what they hear, see and say

90% of what they hear, see, say

and touch
What are the media components?
 Text - ASCII/Unicode, HTML, Postscript,
PDF
 Audio – Sound, music, speech, structured
audio (e.g. MIDI)
 Still Image - Facsimile, photo, scanned
image
 Video (Moving Images) – Movie, a
sequence of pictures
 Graphics – Computer produced image
 Animation – A sequence of graphics
images
 Captured Versus Synthesized Media
• Captured media refers to information types captured from the real world (e.g. Still
pictures, moving pictures, and sound).
• Synthesized media refers to information types synthesized by the computers (e.g.
Text, graphics and computer animation).

Discrete Versus Continuous Media

• Discrete media refers to media involving space dimension only (e.g. Still
images, text and graphics). Discrete media is also referred to as static media or
non-time-based media or non-temporal media or space-based media.
• Continuous (time based) media refers to time-based media (e.g. Sound, moving
images, and animation). Continuous media is also referred to as dynamic media
or time-based media or temporal media.
 Characteristics of Multimedia System
1. They must be computer-controlled.
User is able to view, hear, and see using a Multimedia PC System.
2. They are integrated.
At least one discrete and one continuous media combined for information presentation
design sharing
3. The information they handle must be represented digitally.
Consists of various form of media i.e. text, graphics, audio, video, and animations; cre-
ated, stored, processed, and transmitted DIGITALLY.
4. The interface to the final user may permit interactivity.
User is able to navigate, interact, create, and communicate.
General Overview of a Multimedia System
 Benefits of using multimedia in software

• Ease of use
- User friendly, increase user’s effectiveness
• Intuitive Interface
- Allows user to determine functions of an application by their own intuition

• Immersive Experience
- Software application takes over the entire computer screen, allows user to focus on
application
 Benefits of using multimedia in software
• Self-paced interaction and better retention
- allows information processing at one’s own pace

• Better understanding
- simultaneous presentation of different media provides richer & broader range of
information.

• Cost effectiveness
- less training, less technical support
 Problems with Multimedia
• Investment costs
- multimedia involves high volume of content
- expensive copyright and royalty
• Technical barriers (accessibility issues)
- upgrade IT and PC infrastructure
• Socio psychological barriers
- Generation gap
- Learning rates
- Learning in group/individual
- Importance of teacher
• Legal problems
- Copyright
 Where to use multimedia ?
• Business
• Government
• Education
• Broadcasting and Entertainment
• Research and Development
• Health
 Business
Interactive Multimedia Merchandising
• Online-shopping Kiosks
• Virtual shopping / home shopping
http://www.thevirtualmall.co.uk/
Desktop Videoconferencing
• Due to the high cost of transportation and the large amount of employee time spent
traveling to meetings, videoconferencing is on the rise.
 …continued
Multimedia Travel Systems
• These systems enable the travel agents to show their customers about where they will
travel, what will be their accommodation like, and what they will be able to do at their
destinations.
www.visitmalaysia.com.my
Real Estate
• Multimedia systems enable buyers to visit hundreds of properties virtually, view on
screen photos of homes, inspect floor plans, see street maps, and study neighborhood
demographics.
www.penangtimessquare.com
 …continued
Corporate Training
• Many corporations have used multimedia to reduce training cost and improve
employee productivity.

Advertising and Electronics Brochures

• The electronic brochure is an advertising and marketing tool that usually consists of
single diskette or CD-ROM sent to targeted audiences. Corporations are also beginning
to offer shareholders annual reports on CD-ROM.
www.porsche.com
 Government
Public Service Kiosks
• Multimedia kiosks convey public service information such as jobs and employment
opportunities.
• City-info kiosks offer to citizens and travelers the ability to find information on
addresses, points of interest, shops, restaurants, public transportation, hours of opening,
guided tours, city transport info.
 …continued
Politics
• Multimedia in general and internet in particular are playing a big role in politics and
virtual campaigning where every political candidate contesting in an election has a web
site.

Consumer Information
• Multimedia based CD-ROMs are available which contains government information on
a wide variety of topics: government forms, list of government offices in each state, tax
preparation etc.
Education

Computer Aided Learning

• To assist student through simulation for better understanding such as volcano eruption,
corrosion, language pronunciation, etc.
www.quiz-tree.com

Virtual Campus
• Learning takes place in a virtual classroom using video conferencing and online lecture
so that students all around the world can attend.
 Broadcasting and Entertainment
Electronic catalogue
• Product features and descriptions are advertised through web, CD and mobile devices.
• Interactive Movie
• Viewers can decide the direction of the plot of the movie and camera angle.
On-demand News or movies
• News, movies and TV series can be watched on demand through web and mobile devices.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com
 …continued
3D or animated movies
• Movies created through advance 3D technology and animation
techniques.

Video Games
• Advances in the field of multimedia have led to more attractive
video and computer games being available now in the
consumer market.
 …continued
Virtual Reality
• Virtual Reality refers to the use of a computer to immerse the user
into a simulated experience that it seems real. Virtual reality
systems often use special hardware to enhance the experience,
including visual displays.
Cyber Sports
• Cyber Sports is the use of virtual reality to provide computer users with a realistic
sports experience. Two new interactive virtual reality devices let you “Swing” and
“Hit” balls at your PC.
 Medicine
Virtual Surgery
• Virtual surgery authoring system has been created for producing surgical training
simulation.
• Surgeons can use 3-D images created from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of
the human body to practice complicated procedures such as brain tumor removal and
reconstructive surgery.
 …continued
Video Conferencing and Image Retrieval
• The use of imaging techniques (X-Rays, CT, MRI etc) is growing in health care. The
collection, maintenance, processing and distribution of these records can be
significantly improved by using computer based storage and multimedia networking.
Once these records are integrated with the on-line patient information and easily shared
by both local and remote physicians, it results in a large number of benefits like
reduced cost and improved care.
 Multimedia Products

• Briefing
eg: corporate presentation, sales presentation and educational lectures.

• Reference
eg: encyclopedias, dictionaries

• Database
eg: library system, phone directory
 …continued
• Education and Training
eg: - Instructor support products – Resource materials for instructors
- Standalone or self-paced products – Learning bmaterials for students to study at their own pace
• Kiosk
eg: bank machines, mall information centers.

• Entertainment and Games

eg: computer games and movies.
Text Book

 Text Books

1) Ze-Nian Li & Mark S. Drew, "Fundamentals of Multimedia",

Pearson Education, 2004