True multimedia presentations: A case study

Abstract This paper describes work undertaken as part of a three-stranded project. The main deliverable will be a suite of software tools, classes and components, as well as teaching resources and methodologies to facilitate the production of intelligent multimedia tutoring systems. The three strands of this project explore differing aspects of multimedia, and while they stand as separate pieces of work in their own right, they also form the building blocks of the final deliverable, which is an intelligent tutoring system. Intermediate outcomes include a multimedia shell and the Manley Group Demonstrator. This paper focuses on the design and development of the “true multimedia” demonstrator that has now reached the stage of being a fairly mature prototype. It is used commercially by a communications company to illustrate the varying levels of sophistication which can be achieved in presentation systems and provides an exemplar demonstrating the varying degrees of functionality possible using current technology. The main requirement in the design and implementation has been usability both for end users and content developers. Real-time control of the multimedia devices is achieved using sophisticated software which is tightly integrated with dedicated control hardware. The software can be used to produce canned presentations or highly interactive systems. The system is installed in a dedicated presentation suite, thus allowing the true nature of multimedia to be demonstrated. It is scaleable in that it can be used to produce stand-alone portable solutions, highly interactive touch-screen controlled applications or complete multi-device high end presentations. This is achieved using the appropriate combination of software tools and hardware for a specific application. Macromedia Director is used to produce visual and creative material for the system, while Macromedia Authorware can be used to provide interactivity. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.