Monday, April 8, 2013

Theories in Multimedia: What is Multimedia?

MULTIMEDIA COMMUNICATION

Electronic Media By Joham.Zakai (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Multimedia is an ubiquitous term that is widely used today, and it would be interesting to dig deeper on what is the meaning of multimedia.

In simplest terms, multimedia can be summarized as “media in multiple form or type” (multi + media). However, this definition alone wouldn’t suffice to describe what multimedia is as we define it today. Multimedia definition can be expanded into “the use of several different types of media (e.g. text, audio, graphics, animation, video, and interactivity) to convey information” . The term multimedia is further expanded, to include the use of computers to “present text, graphics, video, animation, and sound in an integrated way”.

From these definitions, we can summarize multimedia to be the integration of several different types of media to convey information. Individually, each media is an effective communication vehicle. Combining media enhances the effectiveness; the outright result is not additive but synergistic . The combined effect of media is much greater than the sum of their individual effects. This inherent trait of synergy is what makes multimedia powerful.

HYPERTEXT AND HYPERMEDIA 

Hypertext is “the organization of information units into connected associations that a user can choose to make”. Hypermedia, on the other hand, is “a multimedia system in which related terms of information are connected and can be presented together”. Both hypertext and hypermedia allow the user to interactively take charge with regards to navigating the multimedia product. The user has the control, making the interaction with the multimedia system non-linear and non-sequential. In Wikipedia, references (both internal and external) are hyperlinked, making it easier for the user to conduct research. YouTube viewers can choose to start viewing the video from any part of it. This is similar to what Jon Udell demonstrated in his article “Marrying Hypertext and Hypermedia”, wherein hyperlinks are used to link to specific parts of the video. He used the C-SPAN video of presidential debate, which is in RealVideo format (.rm), compared to YouTube, which is in Flash Video format (.flv). Hyperlinking to specific parts of a video sequence can be compared to the “chapters” feature in the menu of videos for DVD Players. The benefit of hyperlinking in hypermedia can be illustrated by giving an example.  

Here is a video of Julian Marc Makilan, discussing gender equality in community development.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu_5TP0Epb8

Here is a video of Julian Marc Makilan, discussing the importance of Reproductive Health Bill in the context of gender equality in community development.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu_5TP0Epb8#t=10m32s

By directly linking to specific parts of a YouTube video, the viewer does not have to buffer the entire video and jump to the specific frame. A properly-formatted hyperlink is enough, making the entire user experience coherent, fluid, and integrated. Jon Udell gave an excellent example on how to use hypertext in hypermedia in his article in 2004, and this is still true in the era of YouTube.

INTERACTIVITY AND USABILITY 

What makes a multimedia product interactive? Interactivity is “the two-way interaction with a multimedia course material, another computer, or another user with direct response to the input, as opposed to one-way communication from TV, video, and other non-responsive media”. It is worth noting that certain technologies and characteristics assist in fostering interactivity, which include “mouse input, touch screens, voice commands, video capture, and real-time interaction”. Anything that comes from the user, e.g. mouse clicks and typed commands, is a form of input. Displayed images and texts, printouts, motion video sequences, and sounds are the output forms of interactivity. Interactivity is necessary for a multimedia product to be usable because control is given to the user to navigate and find the way around.

Interactivity in the context of learning is further described by Rod Sims as “a necessary and fundamental mechanism for knowledge acquisition and the development of both cognitive and physical skills”. Interaction should not be trivialised by simple menu selection, clickable objects, or linear sequencing. He emphasized that it is critical for the developers “to understand what makes an application interactive, instructional, and effective”.

This means that interactivity does not correlate to usability. Usability, as what Jakob Nielsen said, is “a quality attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use”. Usability can be defined by assessing its five components: learnability, efficiency, memorability, errors, and satisfaction. These five components should be incorporated in any multimedia product as indicators of its functionality. Is it easy to use? Can I do tasks quickly? Would it be hard to familiarize with it after a period of non-usage? Is it prone to user error, and can the user recover from errors? Is it bringing satisfaction to the whole user experience? An example of a multimedia product with good interface and usability is the Apple iPad, even a two-year old baby can use it. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGMsT4qNA-c)



MULTIMEDIA TECHNOLOGY 

Multimedia technology refers to both the hardware and software used to create and run (multimedia) systems. Multimedia technology is continually-evolving for the development of multimedia products. Thus, multimedia is a dynamic term, encompassing all the multimedia technology developed at the time. Innovations in storage (CDROM, DVDROM), networking (World Wide Web and the Internet), audio production and synthesis, video capture and reproduction, and computer hardwares and softwares are all working together for the improvement, modernization, and advancement of our definition of multimedia.

Some of these technologies are now available, such as Speech Recognition (like Siri in iPhone), Virtual Reality (used in military training, flight simulation, and gaming), and cloud-based storage and application (such as the Amazon Drive). In the future, enhancements in multimedia technology like in these area will bring multimedia experience to a new level.  

Works Cited 

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