| item |
streaming |
downloaded |
| bandwidth |
equal to the display rate |
may be arbitrarily small |
| disk storage |
none |
the entire file must be stored |
| startup delay |
almost none |
equal to the download time |
| resolution |
depends on available bandwidth |
depends on available disk storage |
So, what are our options?
Apart from the quite successful MPEG encodings,
which have found their way in the DVD,
there are a number of proprietary formats
used for transmitting video over the internet:
formats
Quicktime, introduced by Apple, early 1990s, for local viewing;
RealVideo, streaming video from RealNetworks; and
Windows Media, a proprietary encoding scheme fromMicrosoft.
Examples of these formats, encoded for various bitrates
are available at Video at VU.
Apparently, there is some need for digital video
on the internet,
for example as propaganda for attracting students,
for looking at news items at a time that suits you,
and (now that digital video cameras become affordable)
for sharing details of your family life.
Is digital video all there is?
Certainly not!
In the next section, we will deal with standards
that allow for incorporating (streaming) digital video
as an element in a compound multimedia presentation,
possibly synchronized with other items, including
synthetic graphics.
Online, you will find some examples
of digital video that are used as texture maps
in 3D space.
These examples are based on the technology presented
in section [7-3], and use the streaming
video codec from Real Networks that is integrated
as a rich media extension in the
blaxxun
Contact 3D VRML plugin.
comparison of codecs
A review of codecs,
including Envivio MPEG-4, QuickTime 6, RealNetworks
9 en Windows Media 9 was published januari 2005 by
the European Broadcast Union.
It appeared that The Real Networks codecs came out best,
closely followed by the Windows Media 9 result.
Ckeck it out!
...
3
standards
Imagine what it would be like to live in a world
without standards.
You may get the experience when you travel around
and find that there is a totally different
socket for electricity in every place that you visit.
Now before we continue,
you must realize that there are two types of standards:
de facto market standards (enforced by sales politics)
and committee standards (that are approved by some
official organization).
For the latter type of standards to become effective,
they need consent of the majority of market players.
For multimedia on the web, we will discuss three standards
and RM3D which was once proposed as a standard and is now only
of historical significance.
standards
- XML -- eXtensible Markup Language (SGML)
- MPEG-4 -- coding audio-visual information
- SMIL -- Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language
- RM3D -- (Web3D) Rich Media 3D (extensions of X3D/VRML)
XML, the eXtensible Markup Language,
is becoming widely accepted.
It is being used to replace HTML, as well as
a data exchange format for, for example,
business-to-business transactions.
XML is derived from SGML
(Structured Generalized Markup Language) that has
found many applications in document processing.
As SGML, XML is a generic language, in that it
allows for the specification of actual markup languages.
Each of the other three standards mentioned allows
for a syntactic encoding using XML.
MPEG-4 aims at providing "the standardized technological
elements enabling the integration of production,
distribution and content access paradigms of
digital television, interactive graphics and multimedia",
[Koenen (2000)].
A preliminary version of the standard has been approved in 1999.
Extensions in specific domains are still in progress.
SMIL, the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language,
has been proposed by the W3C "to enable the authoring
of TV-like multimedia presentations, on the Web".
The SMIL language is an easy to learn HTML-like language.
SMIL presentations can be composed of streaming audio,
streaming video, images, text or any other media type, [W3C (2001)].
SMIL-1 has become a W3C recommendation in 1998.
SMIL-2 is at the moment of writing still in a draft stage.
RM3D, Rich Media 3D, is not a standard
as MPEG-4 and SMIL, since it does currently not have
any formal status.
The RM3D working group arose out of the X3D working group,
that addressed the encoding of VRML97 in XML.
Since there were many disagreements on what should
be the core of X3D and how extensions accomodating
VRML97 and more should be dealt with,
the RM3D working group was founded in 2000 to
address the topics of extensibility and the integration
with rich media, in particular video and digital television.
remarks
Now, from this description it may seem as if these
groups work in total isolation from eachother.
Fortunately, that is not true.
MPEG-4, which is the most encompassing of these standards,
allows for an encoding both in SMIL and X3D.
The X3D and RM3D working groups, moreover,
have advised the MPEG-4 commitee on how to
integrate 3D scene description and human avatar animation
in MPEG-4.
And finally, there have been rather intense
discussions between the SMIL and RM3D working groups
on the timing model needed to control
animation and dynamic properties of media objects.
...
4
MPEG-4
The MPEG standards (in particular 1,2 and 3) have been a great success,
as testified by the popularity of mp3 and DVD video.
Now, what can we expect from MPEG-4?
Will MPEG-4 provide multimedia for our time,
as claimed in [Koenen (1999)].
The author, Rob Koenen, is senior consultant
at the dutch KPN telecom research lab, active member
of the MPEG-4 working group and editor
of the MPEG-4 standard document.
"Perhaps the most immediate need for MPEG-4 is defensive.
It supplies tools with which to create uniform (and top-quality)
audio and video encoders on the Internet,
preempting what may become an unmanageable tangle
of proprietary formats."
Indeed, if we are looking for a general characterization it
would be that MPEG-4 is primarily
MPEG-4
a toolbox of advanced compression algorithms for audiovisual information
and, moreover, one that is suitable for a variety of
display devices and networks, including low bitrate
mobile networks.
MPEG-4 supports scalability on a variety of levels:
scalability
- bitrate -- switching to lower bitrates
- bandwidth -- dynamically discard data
- encoder and decoder complexity -- signal quality
Dependent on network resources and platform capabilities,
the 'right' level of signal quality can be determined
by selecting the optimal codec, dynamically.
...
5
media objects
It is fair to say that MPEG-4 is a rather ambitious
standard.
It aims at offering support for a great
variety of audiovisual information,
including
still images, video, audio, text,
(synthetic) talking heads and synthesized speech,
synthetic graphics and 3D scenes,
streamed data applied to media objects, and
user interaction -- e.g. changes of viewpoint.
audiovisual information
- still images, video, audio, text
- (synthetic) talking heads and synthesized speech
- synthetic graphics and 3D scenes
- streamed data applied to media objects
- user interaction -- e.g. changes of viewpoint
Let's give an example, taken from the MPEG-4 standard
document.
example
Imagine, a talking figure standing next to a desk
and a projection screen, explaining the contents of
a video that is being projected
on the screen, pointing at a globe that stands on the desk.
The user that is watching that scene decides to
change from viewpoint to get a better look at the globe ...
How would you describe such a scene?
How would you encode it?
And how would you approach decoding
and user interaction?
The solution lies in defining media objects
and a suitable notion of composition
of media objects.
media objects
- media objects -- units of aural, visual or audiovisual content
- composition -- to create compound media objects (audiovisual scene)
- transport -- multiplex and synchronize data associated with media objects
- interaction -- feedback from users' interaction with audiovisual scene
For 3D-scene description, MPEG-4 builds on concepts
taken from VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language,
discussed in chapter 7).
Composition, basically, amounts to building
a scene graph, that is
a tree-like structure that specifies the relationship between
the various simple and compound media objects.
Composition allows for
placing media objects anywhere in a given coordinate system,
applying transforms to change the appearance of a media object,
applying streamed data to media objects, and
modifying the users viewpoint.
composition
- placing media objects anywhere in a given coordinate system
- applying transforms to change the appearance of a media object
- applying streamed data to media objects
- modifying the users viewpoint
So, when we have a multimedia presentation or
audiovisual scene, we
need to get it accross some network and deliver it
to the end-user, or as phrased in [Koenen (2000)]:
transport
The data stream (Elementary Streams)
that result from the coding process can be transmitted
or stored separately and need
to be composed so as to create the actual
multimedia presentation at the receivers side.
At a system level, MPEG-4 offers the following
functionalities to achieve this:
scenegraph
- BIFS (Binary Format for Scenes) -- describes spatio-temporal arrangements of (media) objects in the scene
- OD (Object Descriptor) -- defines the relationship between the elementary streams associated with an object
- event routing -- to handle user interaction
...
6
In addition, MPEG-4 defines a set of functionalities
For the delivery of streamed data, DMIF, which stands for
DMIF
Delivery Multimedia Integration Framework
that allows for transparent interaction with resources,
irrespective of whether these are available from local
storage, come from broadcast, or must be obtained from
some remote site.
Also transparency with respect to network type is
supported.
Quality of Service is only supoorted to the
extent that it ispossible to indicate needs for
bandwidth and transmission rate.
It is however the responsability of the network provider to
realize any of this.
...
|
|
|
| (a) scene graph | (b) sprites |
7
authoring
What MPEG-4 offers may be summarized as follows
benefits
- end-users -- interactive media accross all platforms and networks
- providers -- transparent information for transport optimization
- authors -- reusable content, protection and flexibility
In effect, although MPEG-4 is primarily concerned
with efficient encoding
and scalable transport and delivery,
the object-based approach has also clear
advantages from an authoring perspective.
One advantage is the possibility of reuse.
For example, one and the same background can be reused
for multiplepresentations or plays,
so you could imagine that even an amateur game
might be 'located' at the centre-court of Roland Garros or
Wimbledon.
Another, perhaps not so obvious, advantage
is that provisions have been made for
managing intellectual property
of media objects.
And finally, media objects may potentially be
annotated with meta-information to facilitate
information retrieval.
...
8
syntax
In addition to the binary formats, MPEG-4 also specifies a syntactical
format, called XMT, which stands for
eXtensible MPEG-4 Textual format.
XMT
- XMT contains a subset of X3D
- SMIL is mapped (incompletely) to XMT
when discussing RM3D which is of interest from a
historic perspective, we will further establish
what the relations between, respectively MPEG-4,
SMIL and RM3D are,
and in particular where there is disagreement,
for example with respect to the timing model
underlying animations and the temporal control of
media objects.
...
9
example(s) -- structured audio
The Machine Listening Group
of the MIT Media Lab
is developing a suite of tools for structered audio,
which means transmitting sound by describing
it rather than compressing it.
It is claimed that tools based on the MPEG-4 standard will be the future platform for computer music, audio for gaming, streaming Internet radio, and other multimedia applications.
The structured audio project is part of a more encompassing research effort of the Music, Mind and Machine Group of the MIT Media Lab, which
envisages a new future of audio technologies and interactive applications that will change the way music is conceived, created, transmitted and experienced,
SMIL
SMIL is pronounced as smile.
SMIL, the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language,
has been inspired by the Amsterdam Hypermedia Model (AHM).
In fact, the dutch research group at CWI that developed the AHM
actively participated in the SMIL 1.0 committee.
Moreover, they have started a commercial spinoff
to create an editor for SMIL, based on the editor
they developed for CMIF.
The name of the editor is GRINS. Get it?
As indicated before SMIL is intended to be used for
SMIL
TV-like multimedia presentations
The SMIL language is an XML application, resembling HTML.
SMIL presentations can be written using a simple text-editor
or any of the more advanced tools, such as GRINS.
There is a variety of SMIL players.
The most wellknown perhaps is the RealNetworks G8 players,
that allows for incorporating RealAudio and RealVideo
in SMIL presentations.
parallel and sequential
Authoring a SMIL presentation comes down, basically, to
name media components for text, images,audio and video with URLs, and to schedule their presentation either in parallel or in sequence.
Quoting the SMIL 2.0 working draft, we can characterize
the SMIL presentation characteristics as follows:
presentation characteristics
- The presentation is composed from several components that are accessible via URL's, e.g. files stored on a Web server.
- The components have different media types, such as audio, video, image or text. The begin and end times of different components are specified relative to events in other media components. For example, in a slide show, a particular slide is displayed when the narrator in the audio starts talking about it.
- Familiar looking control buttons such as stop, fast-forward and rewind allow the user to interrupt the presentation and to move forwards or backwards to another point in the presentation.
- Additional functions are "random access", i.e. the presentation can be started anywhere, and "slow motion", i.e. the presentation is played slower than at its original speed.
- The user can follow hyperlinks embedded in the presentation.
Where HTML has become successful as a means to write simple hypertext
content,
the SMIL language is meant to become a vehicle of choice
for writing synchronized hypermedia.
The working draft mentions a number of possible applications,
for example a photoalbun with spoken comments,
multimedia training courses, product demos with explanatory
text, timed slide presentations, onlime music with controls.
applications
- Photos taken with a digital camera can be coordinated with a commentary
- Training courses can be devised integrating voice and images.
- A Web site showing the items for sale, might show photos of the product range in turn on the screen, coupled with a voice talking about each as it appears.
- Slide presentations on the Web written in HTML might be timed so that bullet points come up in sequence at specified time intervals, changing color as they become the focus of attention.
- On-screen controls might be used to stop and start music.
As an example, let's consider an interactive news bulletin,
where you have a choice between viewing
a weather report or listening to some story about,
for example, the decline of another technology stock.
Here is how that could be written in SMIL:
example
<par>
<a href="#Story"> <img src="button1.jpg"/> </a>
<a href="#Weather"> <img src="button2.jpg"/></a>
<excl>
<par id="Story" begin="0s">
<video src="video1.mpg"/>
<text src="captions.html"/>
</par>
<par id="Weather">
<img src="weather.jpg"/>
<audio src="weather-rpt.mp3"/>
</par>
</excl>
</par>
Notice that there are two parallel (PAR)
tags, and one exclusive (EXCL) tag.
The exclusive tag has been introduced in SMIL 2.0
to allow for making an exclusive choice,so that only
one of the items can be selected at a particular time.
The SMIL 2.0 working draft defines a number of elements
and attributes to control presentation, synchronization
and interactivity, extending the functionality of SMIL 1.0.
Before discussing how the functionality proposed
in the SMIL 2.0working draft may be realized,
we might reflect on how to position SMIL
with respect to the many other approaches to
provide multimedia on the web.
As other approaches we may think of flash,
dynamic HTML (using javascript), or java applets.
In the SMIL 2.0 working draft we read the following comment:
history
Experience from both the CD-ROM community and from the Web multimedia community suggested that it would be beneficial to adopt a declarative format for expressing media synchronization on the Web as an alternative and complementary approach to scripting languages.
Following a workshop in October 1996, W3C established a first working group on synchronized multimedia in March 1997. This group focused on the design of a declarative language and the work gave rise to SMIL 1.0 becoming a W3C Recommendation in June 1998.
In summary,
SMIL 2.0 proposes a declarative format
to describe the temporal behavior of a multimedia presentation,
associate hyperlinks with media objects, describe the form of the
presentation on a screen, and specify interactivity
in multimedia presentations.
Now,why such a fuzz about "declarative format"?
Isn't scripting more exciting?
And aren't the tools more powerful?
Ok, ok. I don't want to go into that right now.
Let's just consider a declarative format
to be more elegant. Ok?
To support the functionality proposed for SMIL 2.0
the working draft lists a number of modules
that specify the interfaces for accessing the attributes
of the various elements.
SMIL 2.0 offers modules for animation,
content control, layout, linking, media objects, meta information,
timing and synchronization, and transition effects.
SMIL 2.0 Modules
- The Animation Modules
- The Content Control Modules
- The Layout Modules
- The Linking Modules
- The Media Object Modules
- The Metainformation Module
- The Structure Module
- The Timing and Synchronization Module
- The Time Manipulations Module
- The Transition Effects Module
This modular approach allows to
reuse SMIL syntax and semantics in other XML-based languages, in particular those that need to represent timing and synchronization. For example:
module-based reuse
- SMIL modules could be used to provide lightweight multimedia functionality on mobile phones, and to integrate timing into profiles such as the WAP forum's WML language, or XHTML Basic.
- SMIL timing, content control, and media objects could be used to coordinate broadcast and Web content in an enhanced-TV application.
- SMIL Animation is being used to integrate animation into W3C's Scalable Vector Graphics language (SVG).
- Several SMIL modules are being considered as part of a textual representation for MPEG4.
The SMIL 2.0 working draft is at the moment of writing
being finalized.
It specifies a number of language profiles
topromote the reuse of SMIL modules.
It also improves on the accessibility features of SMIL 1.0,
which allows for,
for example,, replacing captions by audio descriptions.
In conclusion,
SMIL 2.0 is an interesting standard, for a number of reasons.
For one, SMIL 2.0 has solid theoretical underpinnings
in a well-understood, partly formalized, hypermedia model (AHM).
Secondly,
it proposes interesting functionality, with which
authors can make nice applications.
In the third place, it specifies a high level
declarative format, which is both expressive and flexible.
And finally, it is an open standard
(as opposed to proprietary standard).
So everybody can join in and produce players for it!
...
10
RM3D -- not a standard
The web started with simple HTML hypertext pages.
After some time static images were allowed.
Now, there is support for all kinds of user interaction,
embedded multimedia and even synchronized hypermedia.
But despite all the graphics and fancy animations,
everything remains flat.
Perhaps surprisingly, the need for a 3D web standard arose
in the early days of the web.
In 1994, the acronym VRML was coined by Tim Berners-Lee,
to stand for Virtual Reality Markup Language.
But, since 3D on the web is not about text but more
about worlds, VRML came to stand for
Virtual Reality Modeling Language.
Since 1994, a lot of progress has been made.
www.web3d.org
- VRML 1.0 -- static 3D worlds
- VRML 2.0 or VRML97 -- dynamic behaviors
- VRML200x -- extensions
- X3D -- XML syntax
- RM3D -- Rich Media in 3D
In 1997, VRML2 was accepted as a standard, offering rich means
to create 3D worlds with dynamic behavior and user interaction.
VRML97 (which is the same as VRML2) was, however, not the success
it was expected to be, due to (among others)
incompatibility between browsers,
incomplete implementations of the standards,
and high performance requirements.
As a consequence, the Web3D Consortium (formerly the VRML Consortium)
broadened its focus, and started thinking about
extensions or modifications of VRML97 and an XML version of
VRML (X3D).
Some among the X3D working group felt the need to rethink
the premisses underlying VRML and started
the Rich Media Working Group:
groups.yahoo.com/group/rm3d/
The Web3D Rich Media Working Group was formed to develop a Rich Media standard format (RM3D) for use in next-generation media devices. It is a highly active group with participants from a broad range of companies including 3Dlabs, ATI, Eyematic, OpenWorlds, Out of the Blue Design, Shout Interactive, Sony, Uma, and others.
In particular:
RM3D
The Web3D Consortium initiative is fueled by a clear need for a standard high performance Rich Media format. Bringing together content creators with successful graphics hardware and software experts to define RM3D will ensure that the new standard addresses authoring and delivery of a new breed of interactive applications.
The working group is active in a number of areas including,
for example, multitexturing and the integration of video
and other streaming media in 3D worlds.
Among the driving forces in the RM3D group
are Chris Marrin and Richter Rafey, both from Sony,
that proposed Blendo, a rich media extension
of VRML.
Blendo has a strongly typed object model,
which is much more strictly defined than the VRML object model,
to support both declarative and programmatic extensions.
It is interesting to note that the premisse underlying the
Blendo proposal confirms (again) the primacy of the TV metaphor.
That is to say, what Blendo intends to support
are TV-like presentations which allow for user
interaction such as the selection of items or playing a game.
Target platforms for Blendo include graphic PCs, set-top boxes,
and the Sony Playstation!
...
11
requirements
The focus of the RM3D working group is not syntax
(as it is primarily for the X3D working group)
but semantics,
that is to enhance the VRML97 standard to effectively
incorporate rich media.
Let's look in more detail at the requirements as
specified in the RM3Ddraft proposal.
requirements
- rich media -- audio, video, images, 2D & 3D graphics
(with support for temporal behavior, streaming and synchronisation)
- applicability -- specific application areas, as determined by
commercial needs and experience of working group members
The RM3D group aims at interoperability with other
standards.
- interoperability -- VRML97, X3D, MPEG-4, XML (DOM access)
In particular, an XML syntax is being defined in parallel
(including interfaces for the DOM).
And, there is mutual interest and exchange of ideas between the
MPEG-4 and RM3D working group.
As mentioned before, the RM3D working group has a strong
focus on defining an object model
(that acts as a common model for the representation of
objects and their capabilities) and suitable
mechanisms for extensibility
(allowing for the integration of new objects defined in Java or
C++, and associated scripting primitives and declarative
constructs).
- object model -- common model for representation of objects and capabilities
- extensibility -- integration of new objects (defined in Java or C++), scripting capabilities and declarative content
Notice that extensibility also requires the definition of
a declarative format, so that the content author need
not bother with programmatic issues.
The RM3D proposal should result in effective
3D media presentations.
So as additional requirements we may,
following the working draft, mention:
high-quality realtime rendering, for realtime interactive
media experiences;
platform adaptability, with query functions for programmatic
behavior selection;
predictable behavior, that is a well-defined order of execution;
a high precision number systems, greater than single-precision IEEE
floating point numbers; and
minimal size, that is both download size and memory footprint.
- high-quality realtime rendering -- realtime interactive media experiences
- platform adaptability -- query function for programmatic behavior selection
- predictable behavior -- well-defined order of execution
- high precision number systems -- greater than single-precision IEEE floating point numbers
- minimal size -- download and memory footprint
Now, one may be tempted to ask how the RM3D proposals
is related to the other standard proposals
such as MPEG-4 and SMIL, discussed previously.
Briefly put, paraphrased from one of Chris Marrin's
messages on the RM3D mailing list
SMIL is closer to the author
and RM3D is closer to the implementer.
MPEG-4, in this respect is even further away from the
author since its chief focus is on compression
and delivery across a network.
RM3D takes 3D scene description as a starting point
and looks at pragmatic ways to integrate rich media.
Since 3D is itself already computationally intensive,
there are many issues thatarise in finding
efficient implementations for the proposed solutions.
...
12
timing model
RM3D provides a declarative format formany
interesting features, such as for example texturing objects
with video.
In comparison to VRML, RM3D is meant to provide more temporal
control over time-based media objects and animations.
However, there is strong disagreement among the working
group members as to what time model the dynamic capabilities
of RM3D should be based on.
As we read in the working draft:
working draft
Since there are three vastly different proposals for this section (time model), the original <RM3D> 97 text
is kept. Once the issues concerning time-dependent nodes are resolved, this section can be
modified appropriately.
Now, what are the options?
Each of the standards discussed to far
provides us with a particular solution to timing.
Summarizing, we have a time model based on a spring metaphor in MPEG-4,
the notion of cascading time in SMIL (inspired by
cascading stylesheets for HTML) and timing based on the
routing of events in RM3D/VRML.
time model
- MPEG-4 -- spring metaphor
- SMIL -- cascading time
- RM3D/VRML -- event routing
The MPEG-4 standard introduces the spring metaphor
for dealing with temporal layout.
MPEG-4 -- spring metaphor
- duration -- minimal, maximal, optimal
The spring metaphor amounts to the ability
to shrink or stretch a media object within given bounds
(minimum, maximum)
to cope with, for example, network delays.
The SMIL standard is based on a model
that allows for propagating durations and time manipulations
in a hierarchy of media elements.
Therefore it may be referred to as a
cascading modelof time.
SMIL -- cascading time
- time container -- speed, accelerate, decelerate, reverse, synchronize
Media objects, in SMIL, are stored in some sort of container
of which the timing properties can be manipulated.
<seq speed="2.0">
<video src="movie1.mpg" dur="10s"/>
<video src="movie2.mpg" dur="10s"/>
<img src="img1.jpg" begin="2s" dur="10s">
<animateMotion from="-100,0" to="0,0" dur="10s"/>
</img>
<video src="movie4.mpg" dur="10s"/>
</seq>
In the example above,we see that the speed is set to 2.0,
which will affect the pacing of each of the individual
media elements belonging to that (sequential) group.
The duration of each of the elements is specified
in relation to the parent container.
In addition, SMIL offers the possibility to
synchronize media objects to control, for example,
the end time of parallel media objects.
VRML97's capabilities for timing
rely primarily on the existence of a
TimeSensor thatsends out time events
that may be routed to other objects.
RM3D/VRML -- event routing
- TimeSensor -- isActive, start, end, cycleTime, fraction, loop
When a TimeSensor starts to emit time events,
it also sends out an event notifying other objects
that it has become active.
Dependent on itsso-called cycleTime,
it sends out the fraction it covered
since it started.
This fraction may be send to one of the standard
interpolators or a script so that some value can be set,
such as for example the orientation,
dependent on the fraction of the time intercal that has passed.
When the TimeSensor is made to loop,
this is done repeatedly.
Although time in VRML is absolute,
the frequency with which fraction events are emitted depends
on the implementation and processor speed.
Lacking consensus about a better model,
this model has provisionally been adopted,
with some modifications, for RM3D.
Nevertheless, the SMIL cascading time model
has raised an interest in the RM3D working group,
to the extent that Chris Marrin remarked (in the mailing list)
"we could go to school here".
One possibility for RM3D would be to
introduce time containers
that allow for a temporal transform of
their children nodes,
in a similar way as grouping containers
allow for spatial transforms of
their children nodes.
However,
that would amount to a dual hierarchy,
one to control (spatial) rendering
and one to control temporal characteristics.
Merging the two hierarchies,
as is (implicitly) the case in SMIL,
might not be such a good idea,
since the rendering and timing semantics of
the objects involved might be radically different.
An interesting problem, indeed,
but there seems to be no easy solution.
...
13
example(s) -- rich internet applications
In a seminar held by Lost Boys,
which is a dutch subdivison if
Icon Media Lab,
rich internet applications (RIA), were
presented as the new solutions to present
applications on the web.
As indicated by
Macromedia, who is one of the leading
companies in this fiwld,
experience matters,
and so plain html pages pages do not suffice since they
require the user to move from one page to another
in a quite unintuitive fashion.
Macromedia presents its new line of flash-based products
to create such rich internet applications.
An alternative solution, based on general W3C recommendations,
is proposed by
BackBase.
Interestingly enough, using either technology, many of
the paricipants of the seminar indicated a strong preference
for a backbuuton, having similar functionality as the
often used backbutton in general internet browsers.
research directions -- meta standards
All these standards!
Wouldn't it be nice to have one single standard
that encompasses them all?
No, it would not!
Simply, because such a standard is inconceivable,
unless you take some proprietary standard or a particular
platform as the defacto standard
(which is the way some people look at the Microsoft win32
platform, ignoring the differences between 95/98/NT/2000/XP/...).
In fact, there is a standard that acts as a glue between
the various standards for multimedia, namely XML.
XML allows for the interchange of data between various
multimedia applications, that is the transformation of one encoding
into another one.
But this is only syntax.
What about the semantics?
Both with regard to delivery and presentation
the MPEG-4 proposal makes an attempt to delineate
chunks of core fuctionality that may be shared between applications.
With regard to presentation, SMIL may serve as an example.
SMIL applications themselves already (re)use
functionality from the basic set of XML-related
technologies,
for example to access the document structure through
the DOM (Document Object Model).
In addition, SMIL defines components that it may potentially share
with other applications.
For example, SMIL shares its animation facilities
with SVG (the Scalable Vector Graphics format recommended
by the Web Consortium).
The issue in sharing is, obviously, how to relate
constructs in the syntax to their operational support.
When it is possible to define a common base
of operational support for a variety of multimedia applications
we would approach our desired meta standard, it seems.
A partial solution to this problem has
been proposed in the now almost forgotten HyTime
standard for time-based hypermedia.
HyTime introduces the notion
of architectural forms
as a means to express the operational support needed
for the interpretation of particular encodings,
such as for example synchronization or
navigation over bi-directional links.
Apart from a base module, HyTime compliant architectures
may include a units measurement module,
a module for dealing with location addresses,
a module to support hyperlinks, a scheduling module
and a rendition module.
To conclude, wouldn't it be wonderful if, for example,
animation support could be shared between
rich media X3D
and SMIL?
Yes, it would!
But as you may remember from the discussion on the timing
models used by the various standards, there is still
to much divergence to make this a realoistic option.
...
14
a multimedia semantic web?
To finish this chapter, let's reflect on where we are
now with 'multimedia' on the web.
Due to refined compression schemes and standards
for authoring and delivery, we seemed to have made great
progress in realizing networked multimedia.
But does this progress match what has been achieved for the
dominant media type of the web, that is text
or more precisely textual documents with markup?
web content
- 1st generation -- hand-coded HTML pages
- 2nd generation -- templates with content and style
- 3rd generation -- rich markup with metadata (XML)
Commonly, a distinction is made between successive generations
of web content, with the first generation being simple
hand-coded HTML pages.
The second generation may be characterized as HTML pages
that are generated on demand, for example by filling
in templates with contents retrieved from a database.
The third generation is envisaged to make use
of rich markup, using XML, that reflects the (semantic)
content of the document more directly,
possibly augmented with (semantic) meta-data
that describe the content in a way that allows
machines, for example search engines, to process it.
The great vision underlying the third generation
of web content is commonly refered to as the the semantic web.
which enhances the functionality of
the current web by deploying knowledge representation
and inference technology from Artificial Intelligence,
using a technology known as the Resource Description Framework
(RDF).
As phrased in [Ossenbruggen et. al. (2001)], the semantic web will bring
structure to the meaningful content of web pages,
thus allowing computer programs,such as search engines
and intelligent agents, to do their job more effectively.
For search engines this means more effective information retrieval,
and for agents better opportunities to provide meaningful
services.
A great vision indeed.
So where are we with multimedia?
As an example, take a shockwave or
flash presentation showing the various musea
in Amsterdam.
How would you attach meaning to it, so that it might
become an element of a semantic structure?
Perhaps you wonder what meaning could be attached to it?
That should not be too difficult to think of.
The (meta) information attached to such a presentation
should state (minimally) that the location is Amsterdam,
that the sites of interest are musea,
and (possibly) that the perspective is touristic.
In that way, when you search for touristic information
about musea in Amsterdam, your search engine should
have no trouble in selecting that presentation.
Now, the answer to the question how meaning can be attached
to a presentation is already given, namely by specifying
meta-information in some format
(of which the only requirement is that it is machine-processable).
For our shockwaveor flash
presentation we cannot dothis in a straightforward manner.
But for MPEG-4 encoded material, as well as
for SMIL content, such facilities
are readily available.
Should we then always duplicate our authoring effort
by providing (meta) information, on top
of the information that is already contained
in the presentation?
No, in some cases, we can also
rely to some extent on content-based search or
feature extraction,
as will be discussed in the following chapters.
...
15
Resource Description Framework -- the Dublin Core
The Resource Description Framework, as the W3C/RDF site informs us
integrates a variety of applications from library
catalogs and world-wide directories to syndication and aggregation of news,
software, and content to personal collections of music, photos,
and events using XML as an interchange syntax.
The RDF specifications provide, in addition a lightweight ontology system to support the
exchange of knowledge on the Web.
The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
is an open forum engaged in the development of
interoperable online metadata standards that support a broad range of purposes and business models.
What exactly is meta-data?
As phrased in the RDF Primer
meta data
Metadata is data about data.
Specifically, the term refers to data used to identify, describe, or locate information resources,
whether these resources are physical or electronic. While structured metadata processed by computers
is relatively new, the basic concept of metadata has been used for many years in helping manage
and use large collections of information. Library card catalogs are a familiar example of such
metadata.
The Dublin Core proposes a small number of elements, to be used to give information
about a resource, such as an electronic document on the Web.
Consider the following example:
Dublin Core example
<rdf:RDF
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.dlib.org/dlib/may98/miller/05miller.html">
<dc:title>An Introduction to the Resource Description Framework</dc:title>
<dc:creator>Eric J. Miller</dc:creator>
<dc:description>The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is an
infrastructure that enables the encoding, exchange and reuse of
structured metadata. rdf is an application of xml that imposes needed
structural constraints to provide unambiguous methods of expressing
semantics. rdf additionally provides a means for publishing both
human-readable and machine-processable vocabularies designed to
encourage the reuse and extension of metadata semantics among
disparate information communities. the structural constraints rdf
imposes to support the consistent encoding and exchange of
standardized metadata provides for the interchangeability of separate
packages of metadata defined by different resource description
communities. </dc:description>
<dc:publisher>Corporation for National Research Initiatives</dc:publisher>
<dc:subject>
<rdf:Bag>
<rdf:li>machine-readable catalog record formats</rdf:li>
<rdf:li>applications of computer file organization and
access methods</rdf:li>
</rdf:Bag>
</dc:subject>
<dc:rights>Copyright © 1998 Eric Miller</dc:rights>
<dc:type>Electronic Document</dc:type>
<dc:format>text/html</dc:format>
<dc:language>en</dc:language>
<dcterms:isPartOf rdf:resource="http://www.dlib.org/dlib/may98/05contents.html"/>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>
Items such as title, creator, subject and description,
actually all tags with the prefix dc,
belong to the Dublin Core and are used to give information about
the document, which incidentally concerns an introduction to the
Resource Description Framework.
The example also shows how rdf constructs can be used together
with the Dublin Core elements.
The prefixes rdf and dc are used to distinguish between
the distinct namespaces of respectively RDF and the Dublin Core.
The Dublin Core contains the following elements:
Dublin Core
- title -- name given to the resource
- creator -- entity primarily responsible for making the content of the resource
- subject -- topic of the content of the resource
- description -- an account of the content of the resource
- publisher -- entity responsible for making the resource available
- contributor -- entity responsible for making contributions to the content of the resource
- date -- date of an event in the lifecycle of the resource
- type -- nature or genre of the content of the resource
- format -- physical or digital manifestation of the resource
- identifier -- unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
- source -- reference to a resource from which the present resource is derived
- language -- language of the intellectual content of the resource
- relation -- reference to a related resource
- coverage -- extent or scope of the content of the resource
- rights -- information about rights held in and over the resource
In section 10.3 we discuss an application in the domain
of cultural heritage, where the Dublin Core elements are used to
provide meta information about the information available for the conservation
of contemporary artworks.
...
16
research directions -- agents everywhere
The web is an incredibly rich resource of information.
Or, as phrased in [Baeza-Yates and Ribeiro-Neto (1999)]:
information repository
The Web is becoming a universal repository of human knowledge
and culture, which has allowed unprecedented sharing of
ideas and information in a scale never seen before.
Now, the problem (as many of you can acknowledge) is to
get the information out of it.
Of course, part of the problem is that we often do
not know what we are looking for.
But even if we do know, it is generally not so easy
to find our way.
Again using the phrasing of [Baeza-Yates and Ribeiro-Neto (1999)]:
browsing & navigation
To satisfy his information need,
the user might navigate the hyperspace of web links
searching for information of interest.
However, since the hyperspace is vast and almost unknown,
such a navigation task is usually inefficient.
The solution of the problem of getting lost in hyperspace
proposed in [Baeza-Yates and Ribeiro-Neto (1999)] is information retrieval,
in other words query & search.
However, this may not so easily be accomplished.
As observed in [Baeza-Yates and Ribeiro-Neto (1999)],
The main obstacle is the absence of a well-defined
data model for the Web, which implies that information
definition and structure is frequently of low quality.
Well, that is exactly the focus of the semanics web initiative,
and in particular of the Resource Description Framework discussed above.
Standardizing knowledge representation and reasoning about
web resources is certainly one (important) step.
Another issue, however, is how to support the user
in finding the proper resources and provide
the user with assistance in accomplishing his task
(even if this task is merely finding suitable entertainment).
What we need, in other words, is a unifying model
(encompassing both a data model and a model of computation)
that allows us to deal effectively with web resources,
including multimedia objects.
For such a model, we may look at another area
of research and development, namely intelligent agtents,
which provides us not only with a model
but also with a suitable metaphor and the technology,
based on and extending object-oriented technology,
to realize intelligent assistance, [Eliens (2000)].
For convenience, we make a distinction between two kinds
of agents, information agents
and presentation agents.
information agent
- gather information
- filter and select
Information agents are used to gather information.
In addition, they filter
the information and select those items that are relevant
for the user.
A key problem in developing information agents, however,
is to find a proper representation of what the user considers to be
relevant.
presentation agent
- access information
- find suitable mode of presentation
Complementary to the information agent is a
presentation agent (having access to the information gathered)
that displays the relevant information in a suitable way.
Such a presentation agent can have many forms.
To appetize your phantasy, you may look at the
vision of angelic guidance presented in [Broll et. al (2001)].
More concretely, my advice is to experiment with embodied
agents that may present information in rich media 3D.
In section [7-3], we will present
a framework for doing such experiments.
...
17
navigating information spaces
Having agents everywhere might change our perspective
on computing.
But, it may also become quite annoying to be bothered
by an agent each time that you try to interact with
with your computer (you know what I mean!).
However, as reported by Kristina Höök,
even annoyance can be instrumental
in keeping your attention to a particular task.
In one of her projects, the PERSONAS
project, which stands for
PERsonal and SOcial NAvigation through information spaceS
the use of agents commenting on people navigating information
space(s) is explored.
As a note, the plural form of spaces is mine,
to do justice to the plurality of
information spaces.
As explained on the PERSONAS web site,
which is listed with the acronyms,
the PERSONAS project aims at:
PERSONAS
investigating a new approach to navigation through information spaces, based on a personalised and social navigational paradigm.
The novel idea pursued in this project is to have agents
(Agneta and Frieda)
that are not helpful, but instead just give comments,
sometimes with humor, but sometimes ironic or even sarcastic comments
on the user's activities, in particular navigating
an information space or (plain)
web browsing.
As can be read on the PERSONAS web site:
Agneta & Frieda
The AGNETA & FRIDA system seeks to integrate web-browsing and narrative
into a joint mode. Below the browser window (on the desktop) are placed two
female characters, sitting in their livingroom chairs, watching the browser during the
session (more or less like watching television). Agneta and Frida (mother and
daughter) physically react, comment, make ironic remarks about and develop
stories around the information presented in the browser (primarily to each other),
but are also sensitive to what the navigator is doing and possible malfunctions of the
browser or server.
In one of her talks, Kristina Höök observed
that some users get really fed up with the comments
delivered by
Agneta and Frieda.
So, as a compromise, the level of interference
can be adjusted by the user,
dependent on the task at hand.
Agneta & Frieda
In this way they seek to attach emotional, comical or
anecdotal connotations to the information and happenings in the browsing session. Through an activity slider, the navigator can
decide on how active she wants the characters to be, depending on the purpose of the browsing session (serious information
seeking, wayfinding, exploration or entertainment browsing).
As you may gather, looking at the presentations accompanying
this introduction to multimedia
and [Dialogs],
I found the PERSONAS approach rather intriguing.
Actually, the PERSONAS approach is related
to the area of affective computing, see [Picard (1998)],
which is an altogether different story.
The
Agneta and Frieda
software is available for download at the
PERSONAS web site.
development(s) -- rethorics of change
Over the last couple of years, climate change has come into
the focus of public attention.
Moved by television images of dislocated people in
far-away countries, ice bears threatened by the corruption of
their native environment, tsunami waves flooding the third world,
and hurricanes destroying urban areas, the general public
is becoming worried by what Al Gore has so aptly characterized
as an inconvenient truth: the climate is changing
and human affluence may be the prime cause.
Given all our new (multimedia) technology, what may we do to counter-act
this situation?
Creating a web-site, providing information about the climate and the
factors influencing climate change?
It is unlikely that this would be affective.
After all, there are already so many web-sites, about 1001 topics.
Adding another web-site would surely not be the way to effect a (real)
change of attitude. To enter the media circuls, we obviously need to
do better than that. How, this is the subject of this section.
In [Eliens et al. (2007b)], we wrote:
in response to the pathos of the media,
many civil groups do an appeal on the responsibility of
individual citizens and start campains for an ethos
of climate-correct behavior, by saving on energy-consumption
or driving CO2-friendly cars.
In the media, such campains are either advocated or critized
by authorities from public government, and experts
from a multitude of sciences, with conflicting opinions.
As a result, the general audience, initially with genuine
concern about the state of our world, gets confused and
looses interest.
And more worrisome, the adolescents, looking at the serious
way adults express their confusion and ignorance, take distance
and may decide that the climate issue is not of their
concern.
Together with the Climate Centre of the VU University Amsterdam,
we were not happy to observe that pathos and ethos
overtake the public debate, and we actively wished to participate
in the public debate bringing our multi-disciplinary
scientific background into play.
Moreover, since we borrow the earth from our children,
as the old Indian saying goes, which Al Gore again brought
to our attention, we felt that we must take an
active interest in bringing the climate issue
to the attention of the youth, in a form that is appropriate.
From this background, we engaged in developing Clima Futura,
a multi-disciplinary undertaking, bringing together
climate experts from a variety of backgrounds with
multimedia/game development researchers.
The Clima Futura game addresses the issues of climate change,
not altogether without pathos nor ethos,
but nevertheless primarily focussed on bringing
the logos of climate change into the foreground,
in other words the scientific issues that are at play,
and the science-based insights and uncertainties that
may govern our decisions in the political debate.
Given the state of our knowledge, the science of climate change
itself may be characterized as an inconvenient science,
and as such an interesting challenge to present by means of a
game.
In [Eliens et al. (2007b)], we observed that games are increasingly becoming a vital instrument
in achieving educational goals,
ranging from language learning games, to games for learning ICT service management skills,
based on actual business process simulations, [Eliens & Chang (2007)].
In reflecting on the
epistemological value of game playing, we further observed, following [Klabbers (2006)],
that the game player enters a magic circle akin to a complex social system, where
actors, rules, and resources are combined
in intricate (game) configurations:
game as social system
| actors | rule(s) | resource(s) |
|---|
| players | events | game space |
| roles | evaluation | situation |
| goals | facilitator(s) | context |
Leaving the interpretion of the elements of such a (game) system,
indicated in the table above, to the reader, we may wonder what meaning games have,
and looking at the fantasy items and visual effects of current day video games,
we may wonder not only what is the meaning of meaningful elements,
having a logical place in the narrative, but also what is the meaning or function of the
apparently meaningless elements.
The answer is simple, involvement and more in particular emotional involvement
due to the in-born playfulness of humans.
In oppositio to the common conviction that gaming is a waste of time,
many authors, including [Gee (2003)], express the opinion that gaming
and game-related efforts provide a form of active learning,
allowing the gamer to experience the world(s)
in a new way, to form new affiliations, and to prepare
for future learning in similar or even new domains.
More importantly, due to intense involvement
and the need to analyze game challenges,
gaming even encourages critical learning,
that is to think about the domain on a meta-level
as a complex system of inter-related parts,
and the conventions that govern a particular domain,
which [Gee (2003)] characterizes as
situated cognition in a semiotic domain.
Without further explanation, we may note here that
semiotic domain means a world of meaning
that is due to social conventions and patterns of communication.
An often heard criticism on educational games is, unfortunately,
that, despite the good intentions of the makers, they do not get
the target audience involved, or put in other words, are quite boring.
This criticism, as we will argue later, also holds
for many of the climate games developed so far, and the question is how can
we avoid this pitfall, and present the impact of climate change
and the various ways we can mitigate or adapt to the potential threats
of global warming in an entertaining way, that involves the player not only
intellectually but also on a more emotional level?
Put differently, what game elements can we offer to involve the player
and still adequately represent the climate issue?
Looking at the games discussed in
Playing Games with the Climate,
we see primarily games that either focus on (overly simplified) climate prediction models (logos),
or games that challenge the player how to become climate-correct (ethos).
In our approach, we not only aim to include (well-founded) logos and ethos
oriented game-playing, but also wish to promote an understanding of the pathos
surrounding climate change, where we observe that the models taken as a reference are often
gross simplifications and from a scientific perspective not adequate!
To this end we will, as an extra ingredient, include interactive video as an
essential element in game playing.
This approach effectively combines a turn-based game-play loop, with
a simulation-loop based on one or more climate reference models,
with in addition exploratory cycles, activated by game events, which allow the
player to explore the argumentative issues in the rethorics of climate change,
facilitated by a large collection of interactive videos in combination with mini-games.
In this way
we can also contribute to the issue of
media literacy, or ``mediawijsheid''
as the Dutch Council of Culture calls it,
that is making students aware of the impact of the media
in presenting controversial issues.
In defining our game, we reflected on the following criteria:
criteria
- relevance -- what is our message?
- identity -- who are we?
- impact -- why would anybody be interested?
Actually, when we came accross a serious game in an altogether different domain,
we did find the inspiration we were looking for.
In the ground-breaking Peacemaker
game, we found an example of how to translate a serious issue
into a turn-based game, which covers both political and social issues,
and with appealing visuals, not sacrificing the seriousness of the topic.
By presenting real-time events using video and (short) text, Peacemaker offers
a choice between the points of view of the various parties involved, as a means
of creating the awareness needed for further political action.
Clima Futura is a turn-based game, with 20 rounds spanning a 100-year period.
In each turn, the player has the option to set parameters for the climate simulation model.
The game is centered around the so-called climate star, which gives a subdivision
of topics in climate research, as indicated below.
climate star
- climate strategies -- (1) emission reduction, (2) adaptation
- climate systems -- (3) feedback monitoring, (4) investment in research, (5) climate response
- energy and CO2 -- (6) investment in efficiency, (7) investment in green technology, (8) governement rules
- regional development -- (9) campain for awareness, (10) securing food and water
- adaptation measures -- (11) public space, (12) water management, (13) use of natural resources
- international relations -- (14) CO2 emission trade, (15) European negotiations, (16) international convenants
Of the topics mentioned, not all may immediately be represented in the simulation model
underlying Clima Futura, but may only be addressed in exploratory interactive video.
The climate star is actually used by the VU Climate centre as an organizational
framework to bring together researchers from the various disciplines, and in the Clima Futura
game it is in addition also used as a toolkit to present the options in
manipulating the climate simulation model to the player.
The result parameters of the climate simulation model are for the player visible
in the values for people, profit and planet, which may
be characterized as:
simulation parameters
- people -- how is the policy judged by the people?
- profit -- what is the influence on the (national) economy?
- planet -- what are the effects for the environment?
As an aside, the choice of models
is in itself a controversial scientific issue, as testified
by J. D. Mahlman's
article on the
rethorics of climate change
science versus non-science,
discusssing why climate models are imperfect and why they are crucial anyway.
...
|
|
| game play, model-based simulation, exploration |
In summary, see the figure above, Clima Futura combines the following
game elements
- game cycle -- turns in subsequent rounds (G)
- simulation(s) -- based on (world) climate model (W)
- exploration -- by means of interactive video (E)
Each of the three elements is essentially cyclic in nature, and may
give rise to game events. For example, game events may arise from
taking turns after 5-year periods, due to alarming situations in the climate simulation,
such as danger of flooding an urban area, or accidental access to confidential
information in the exploration of video material.
In addition, Clima Futura features mini-games, that may be selected
on the occurrence of a game event, to acquire additional information, gain bonus points
or just for entertainment. Examples of mini-games, are negotiation with world leaders,
or a climate-related variant of Tetris.
Clima Futura also features advisors that may be consulted, to gain information
about any of the topics of the climate star.
For the actual production, we decided to use the flex 2 framework, which allows
for the use of interactive flash video, as well as additional (flash) components, including
game physics,
a relation browser,
and an earch component.
In particular, both physics and in-game building facilities seemed to have contributed
to a great extent to the popularity of Second Life.
In creating digital dossiers for contenporary art, see
chapter 10, we have
deployed concept graphs, that is a relation browser, to give access
to highly-related rich media information about art in an immersive manner.
Finally, given the topic of Clima Futura, being able to visualize models
of the surface of the earth seems to be more than appropriate.
It is interssting to note that our technology also allows for the
use of flash movies directly
by invoking the
youtube API as a web service,
which means that we could, in principle, build mini-games around the evergrowing collection of
youtube, or similar providers.
From a more scientific perspective,
providing flexible access to collections of video(s) to support
arguments concerning controversial issues has been explored in
Vox Populi, [Bocconi (2006)].
The Vox Populi system distinguishes between the following types of argument(s):
argument(s)
- topic-centered -- common beliefs, use of logic, examples
- viewer-centered -- patriotisms, religious or romantic sentimentality
- speaker-centered -- the makers are well-informed, sincere and trusthworthy
These argument types are related to what we have previously characterized as,
respectively, logos, arguments based on logic, reason and factual data,
pathos, arguments that appeal to the emotion(s) of the audience,
and ethos, which in essence does an appeal on the belief in the
trustworthiness of the speaker.
In Vox Populi, video fragments are annotated with meta-information to
allow for searching relevant material, supporting or opposing a particular viewpoint.
based on the users' preference, either a propagandist presentation can be chosen,
epressing a single point of view (POV), a binary commentator,
which shows arguments pro and con, or an
omniscient presenter (mind opener), which displays all viewpoints.
Although a research topic in itself, we would like to
develop a video content module (3), that provides flexible access
to the collection of video(s), and is media driven to the extent that video-material
can be added later, with proper annotation.
Together with in-game minigame building facilities, it would be in the spirit
of a participatory culture, to provide annotation facilities to the player(s)
of Clima Futura as well,
to comment on the relevance and status of the video material, [Jenkins (2006)].
Yes, indeed, that is where the web-site comes in, after all.
...
18
questions
concepts
technology
projects & further reading
As a project, you may think of implementing for
example JPEG compression, following [Li and Drew (2004)],
or a SMIL-based application for cultural heritage.
You may further explore the technical issues
on authoring DV material, using any of the
Adobe,
mentioned in appendix E.
or compare
For further reading I advice you to take a look
at the respective specifications of MPEG-4
and SMIL,
and compare the functionality of MPEG-4 and SMIL-based presentation
environments.
An invaluable book dealing with the many technical
aspects of compression and standards in [Li and Drew (2004)].
- costume designs -- photographed from Die Russchische Avantgarde
und die Buhne 1890-1930
- theatre scene design, also from (above)
- dance Erica Russel, [Wiedermann (2004)]
- MPEG-4 -- bits rates, from [Koenen (2000)].
- MPEG-4 -- scene positioning, from [Koenen (2000)].
- MPEG-4 -- up and downstream data, from [Koenen (2000)].
- MPEG-4 -- left: scene graph; right: sprites, from [Koenen (2000)].
- MPEG-4 -- syntax, from [Koenen (2000)].
- MIT Media Lab web site.
- student work -- multimedia authoring I, dutch windmill.
- student work -- multimedia authoring I, Schröder house.
- student work -- multimedia authoring I, train station.
- animation -- Joan Gratch, from [Wiedermann (2004)].
- animation -- Joan Gratch, from [Wiedermann (2004)].
- animation -- Joan Gratch, from [Wiedermann (2004)].
- animation -- Joan Gratch, from [Wiedermann (2004)].
- Agneta and Frieda example.
- diagram (Clima Futura) game elements
- signs -- people, [ van Rooijen (2003)], p. 246, 247.
Both the costume designs and theatre scene designs of
the russian avantgarde movement are expressionist
in nature.
Yet, they show humanity and are in their own way very humorous.
The dance animation by Erica Russell, using
basic shapes and rhythms to express the movement of dance,
is to some extent both solemn and equally humorous.
The animations by Joan Gratch use morphing,
to transform wellknown artworks into other equally
wellknown artworks.
(C) Æliens
23/08/2009
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