A Multimedia Primer

In ancient Greece and Rome, citizens enjoyed elaborate plays performed in outdoor theaters. In Elizabethan England, rich and poor alike flocked to all manners of theaters to enjoy the works of renowned playwrights like William Shakespeare. Native Americans would sit around fires in the evening recounting tales of bravery from wars with other tribes. Millions of individuals watched as Neil Armstrong took "one small step for man" on the surface of the moon. What did all of the participants in these events have in common? They were participating in the oldest form of communication – multimedia.

Most people think multimedia is a recent invention because they do not understand what multimedia is. Multimedia is a combination of media delivered to an end user in an engaging and informative fashion. Actors presenting a play on a stage are using sound, visual imagery (costumes) and motion as their media to convey a message to the audience. A movie or a television show is a multimedia event that acts in much the same way as a play. Multimedia has existed since the very dawn of human communication. As soon as a caveman picked up a stick and pointed towards a waterfall, he was using multimedia to educate his companions about their surroundings.

However, in the 21^st century, most people associate multimedia with computers. The media elements used to construct and deliver multimedia on a computer are text, graphics, audio, video and animation. A few examples of computerized multimedia are:

• Video conference with European subsidiaries on your desktop
  
  
• Biology lesson for 5th grader at home
  
  
• Kids playing a Star Wars game on a Sony Playstation
  
  
• World Wide Web Pages
  
  
• Interactive Encyclopedia on CD-ROM

Computerized multimedia has revolutionized the way we learn about our world. When I was a lad (back in the 1960's), encyclopedias were printed books that were relatively static and boring. If I looked up lions in my trusty Compton's Encyclopedia, I was likely to find a couple of pictures of lions accompanied by a great deal of text. Look up lions in an encyclopedia on CD-ROM today and you will have much of the same text and graphics that probably appeared in my printed encyclopedia. But, in addition, you are likely to have the following:

• Sound clips of lions roaring
  
  
• Video of a lion making a gruesome kill
  
  
• World maps that use animation to show the shrinking geographic range of lions
  
  
• Hyperlinks to other relevant material related to lions (such as information on Kenya where lions still roam the savannah)

It almost makes me wish I were a kid again! Well, that is a bit extreme. Nevertheless, preparing research papers today is much more enjoyable since you can make use of multimedia.

There are two main types of multimedia – interactive and non-interactive. Multimedia such as movies or television shows are examples of non-interactive multimedia. Non-interactive presentations are linear – meaning every user views them straight through in the same fashion. Interactive multimedia allows the end user to control what elements are delivered and the order in which they are delivered. Most web sites are designed as interactive multimedia. Users can navigate through them at will and view the pages in any almost order. Interactive multimedia is more engaging for the end user and studies have shown that it is a more effective learning tool.

Multimedia is used almost everywhere today. Especially in the United States, it is difficult to go through a day and avoid contact with multimedia. Below are examples of current uses for multimedia.

Business

• Training – Provides a cost effective way to train employees.
  
  
• Presentations – You just cannot do a presentation any longer without a PowerPoint slide show!
  
  
• Marketing and advertising – In addition to television and the web, many companies use interactive demos on CD-ROM to promote products.
  
  
• Catalogues – Interactive catalogues are becoming extremely popular on web sites.
  
  
• Video conferencing – Saves travel time and expenses.

Education

• Distance learning – Effective means of reaching remote students.
  
  
• Classroom presentations – Augments learning by addressing various styles of learning (textual, auditory, visual).
  
  
• CD-ROM-based learning – Portable lessons that people can view when it is convenient for them to do so.

Your Home

• Television – How many hours per day is your TV in use?
  
  
• Movies (VCR's, DVD's, downloadable cable movies) – A trillion dollar entertainment industry.
  
  
• World Wide Web – Surf's up!
  
  
• Gaming – Not just for children any longer. Many sophisticated games are designed to appeal to adults (such as Myst).

Public Places

• Hotels – Information kiosks can act as virtual concierges. They are available 24/7 and you do not need to provide health benefits or paid vacation!
  
  
• Grocery stores – Attach a printer to a kiosk and you can let customers print coupons for relevant items you are promoting.
  
  
• Museums – Interactive kiosks are great for providing additional information about exhibits and making history come alive.
  
  
• Malls – Having trouble locating a store or product? The virtual directory kiosk can help you!

Why is multimedia so popular? Aside from gaming, which is for entertainment purposes, the majority of multimedia products and services are designed for communication. Multimedia is an effective means of communication because it effectively addresses more than one style of learning at a time.

People learn in different ways. I am primarily a textual learner, which means I learn best when absorbing written information. Other people are visual learners who need effective visual aids (charts, diagrams, and pictures) to grasp ideas. Many people are auditory learners, learning readily from spoken words and other sounds. Well designed multimedia, because of its variety of media elements, addresses many types of learning styles.