No. 35

July 8, 2001

 

Technology:

HotMedia

When facing the task of putting multimedia content on the Web most of us would probably look to the giants of the field for tools: Macromedia (Flash, Director), RealNetworks (Presenter, Producer), Microsoft (Windows Media), and few would consider visiting IBM's Web site. Big mistake, because when price, learning curve, and versatility are jointly considered, nothing beats IBM's HotMedia. That is, unless you're a demanding professional and don't mind the steep learning curve and high price tag of products like Macromedia Director in order to channel your creativity into stunning, high quality multimedia products. Let's make this clear from the start: HotMedia sits on a blurry line between a toy and a tool and so it works best for amateurs, who are less interested in dazzling their audiences and more in producing rich multimedia quickly, cheaply, and with minimal effort. Another thing one needs to keep in mind is that HotMedia can be used only to assemble existing content - it simply lacks tools for  creating individual components of a multimedia product from scratch. These components have to be scanned, recorded, digitized, ripped, "borrowed" from the Web, etc. before one can take advantage of the power of HotMedia. But then, it is just a matter of adding those files to a HotMedia workspace and using the supplied selection of transitions, links, jumps, timers, and behaviors to stitch them together into one, relatively smooth whole.

Yes, despite its limitations, it is still a pretty powerful tool, with plenty of likable features. Let me list some of them for you:

  1. HotMedia is free and can be downloaded from IBM's site
  2. It runs on Mac OS and Windows NT, 2000, 95, and 98
  3. It accepts an impressive range of components, including images, animations, audio, video, and 3D models
  4. Its file format compatibility is somewhat limited (e.g. does not accept MP3 audio), but a lot can be accomplished with the formats it does support
  5. It does not require special server extensions - any Web server will suffice.
  6. No client or plugin are required to play HotMedia files; wrapped in a Java applet they will play in any browser that properly interprets Java

Rather than devote another long paragraph explaining the things one can do with HotMedia, I'd like to recommend visiting the Customer Gallery with multiple examples of HotMedia end products, or taking a look at a "multimedia scrapbook" created by ACT. In the latter case please play with the controls to zoom in and out of scrolling images, stop the background music, or change the direction of scrolling - all this interactivity was achieved with very little effort, thanks to HotMedia. Not bad, not bad indeed.

 

HotMedia workspace (click on thumbnail):

Online reading:

Virtual Reality - a new therapeutic medium
by Frances A. Pagdin and Ian C. Taylor
A group of mental health professionals from The Flinders Medical Centre, the largest mental health clinical service in the Australian Outback, launched a truly groundbreaking experiment. Using ActiveWorlds technology (reviewed in No. 13 of ACT Spotlight) they are testing the feasibility of conducting therapy sessions with remote patients in a 3-D virtual world, accessible via the Internet, where both the therapist and the patient are represented by "avatars" - puppet-like inhabitants of  cyberspace capable of communication, movement, even nonverbal expression of simple emotions. This brief paper describes this innovative therapeutic approach and the virtual reality in which it is being tested.

Conference:

GROUP 2001
  • International Conference on Supporting Group Work
  • Held September 30-October 3, 2001 in Boulder, CO
  • GROUP 2001 provides a forum for researchers and practitioners who are interested in topics related to computer-based systems that have an impact on groups, organizations and social networks. Relevant issues include design, implementation, deployment, evaluation, methodologies, and effect of these systems. GROUP 2001 attempts to integrate two themes of research: the organizational and behavioral issues and the modeling or implementation issues associated with group work.


She said, he said:

"Connectivity is productivity, be it in a modern office or an underdeveloped village; connection enables, disconnection disables." -- Thomas L. Friedman"


© 2001 Vlad Wielbut and the Alliance for Community Technology