Showing papers on "Digital media published in 1996"

Abstracting Craft: The Practiced Digital Hand

Abstract: From the Publisher: The love of making things need not be confined to the physical world - electronic form giving can also be a rewarding hands-on experience. In this investigation of the possibility of craft in the digital realm, Malcolm McCullough observes that the emergence of computation as a medium, rather than just a set of tools, suggests a growing correspondence between digital work and traditional craft. Chapter by chapter, McCullough builds a case for upholding humane traits and values during the formative stages of new practices in digital media. He covers the nature of hand-eye coordination, the working context of the image culture, aspects of tool usage and medium appreciation, uses and limitations of symbolic methods, issues in human-computer interaction, geometric constructions and abstract methods in design, the necessity of improvisation, and the personal worth of work. For those new to computing, McCullough offers an inside view of what the technology is like, what the important technical issues are, and how creative computing fits within a larger intellectual history.

Information and Communication Technologies: Visions and Realities

Abstract: From the Publisher: Information and Communication Technologies - Visions and Realities illuminates the social and economic implications of advances in information and communication technologies. It has been written and edited to reach a broad audience across the social sciences interested in constructive ways of thinking about the social dynamics of the revolution in digital media. Based on a decade of research, this book explains how social factors influence technological innovation and convergence; why organizations seek to transform work, services, and management; ways in which households domesticate new media; and how public policy and regulation shape the impact of technology on employment, media concentration, privacy, and access in an information society.

Insertable/removable digital memory apparatus and methods of operation thereof

Abstract: Each device of a family of removable digital media devices (310, 320, 330, 340, 350 and 360) may be plugged into a host to permits the host to store data in it or to retrieve data from it. The form factors of the digital media devices in the family and the connector system used by the digital media devices are compact for minimizing the volume of space occupied in portable devices and for easy storage. Some embodiments (310, 320, 330, 350 and 360) provide an elongated compact form factor that provides easy and firm grasping for insertion and removal. The digital media devices of the family have respective body portions (312, 322, 332, 342, 352 and 362) preferably of a rigid or semi-rigid material. Preferably, the digital media devices of the family use serial memory requiring few power and signal lines, so that few electrical contacts are required. In particular, a small number of durable contact pads form the contact arrays (314, 324, 334, 344, 354 and 364) on the digital media devices, which in conjunction with corresponding contact pads mounted into a suitable socket provide for easy and convenient insertion and removal and for robust and reliable electrical contact over a long insertion lifetime. Preferably, the digital media devices of the family incorporate flash memory, which permits low voltage operation, low power consumption, and high capacity non-volatile data storage. Preferably, the digital media devices of the family are fabricated using surface mount techniques (310 and 320) or particularly inexpensive "Chip on Board" techniques (330, 340, 350 and 360).

An introduction to digital media

Abstract: In this clear and highly accessible book, Tony Feldman provides an account of the evolution and application of digital media. Clarifying its underlying technologies, he identifies its immense commercial and human potential. Using as a starting point a simplification which considers new media in two distinct sectors; packaged 'off-line' media such as CD-ROMs; and the world of transmitted media which includes digital broadcasting and interactive online services, Feldman provides a comprehensive overview of the digital media landscape. Focusing on multimedia and the entertainment media he describes and analyses the spectacular rise of CD-based information and the equally revolutionary development of the Internet and online services. Set within a commercial context, readers can identify the potential to generate revenue and profit from the new media. An Introduction to Digital Media concludes with a strategic assessment of the implications of going digital for individuals, companies and corporations.

Techniques for the Creation and Exploration of Digital Video Libraries

Abstract: The Information Age is fully upon us. A recent article noted that there are perhaps 50 million people using the Internet on a regular basis, and That “the current growth rate is about 15% per month (!) and this could well continue until almost all of those in the ‘developed world’ are connected” [FM94, p. 30]. In addition, the digital domain consists not only of text but increasingly of other media representations, from graphics images to audio to motion video. As the amount of information and number of users exponentially escalate, more attention focuses on the basic problems of information management: How do you digitize information? How can you then visualize it and find what you need? How do you use and manipulate it effectively? How is it stored and managed? The proliferation of technical articles and special issues addressing these questions underscore their importance; see for example the special issue on Content-based retrieval [Nar95] or digital libraries [F+95]. This chapter will survey some of that work, especially that which relates to the treatment of video and the use of digital video libraries For education.

Use of E-mail by College Students and Implications for Curriculum

Abstract: This study is an exploratory survey of current electronic mail (E-mail) use, attitudes toward E-mail and likelihood of future E-mail use among freshmen university students. Increasingly, universities are giving students access to their campus E-mail systems. In this case study, the administration of the college of communication in a Northeastern university was interested in implementing an E-mail system as part of a larger organizational shift toward electronic communications. As digital media become a reality, it was deemed important that students become familiar with electronic communications. An E-mail system would be the first entry for students into the production and receipt of digital information. This study was carried out prior to and in preparation for the implementation of a college-wide E-mail system into the curriculum. By exploring students' current E-mail use patterns, attitudes about Email, and a few correlates, this study hopes to shed some light on the factors that facilitate adoption and use once the system is formally implemented. Describing E-mail E-mail is a subset of computer networking. Along with other computer-mediated communication applications like individual and group scheduling, and collaborative workgroup software, the purpose of E-mail is the facilitation of information exchange between members of an organization, whether an office, a university community, a real or "virtual" collaboration, or a commercial information service like CompuServe or Prodigy (Rapaport, 1991). Basically, electronic communication technology combines computer text processing and communication tools with the speed and reach of a computer network. The result of this is that anyone with a computer account or "address" can send and receive information to any other members of the network (Sproull and Kiesler 1993). The importance of introducing students to E-mail is highlighted by the growing number of studies reporting on using Email as a means of university teaching, and the growing use of E-mail among corporations and businesses. D'Souza (1991) studied the impact that E-mail has on the instructional process. In this study, students in a class went on-line with E-mail. Class material dissemination, discussion and paper collection were performed on-line. D'Souza (1991 ) found that the E-mail system helped the shy or passive students overcome communication anxiety that might be present in the classroom setting. They expressed themselves more freely (both positively and negatively) to the instructor and classmates. Another benefit of the system described by D'Souza (1991) was more efficient completion of group projects through E-mail. Students could collaborate with other class members, ask questions, share data and keep up on events through the svstem. The one negative result of the system was that it lacked the traditional non-verbal cues of face-to-face communication. Some students found this system to be too impersonal, and felt awkward communicating electronically. The possibility for a "virtual classroom" was also explored by Hiltz (1986). Her study wondered if an interactive learning experience could be created within a computer system that would be as effective as traditional classroom education. Hiltz (1986) taught two sections of a class; one traditional and one on-line. Students taking the on-line class didn't feel inhibited about taking part in "discussions" over the E-mail system, and felt that the system provided good access to their instructors (Hiltz,1986). Graduate students were more negative about the course than the undergraduates, a fact Hiltz (1986) attributes to the greater presence of undergraduates on campus where terminal access is more convenient. This study focuses upon describing and assessing variables that predict student use of E-mail. Its purpose is to study non-curricular E-mail use patterns among students before implementing a college of communication-wide E-mail system. …

System for using media content in interactive digital media program

Abstract: A system for allowing media content to be used in an interactive digital media (IDM) program has Frame Data for the media content and object mapping data (N Data) representing the frame addresses and display location coordinates for objects appearing in the media content (50). The N Data are maintained separately from the Frame Data for the media content (fig. 2). The IDM program has established linkages connecting the objects mapped by the N Data to other functions to be performed in conjunction with display of the media content (41). Selection of an object appearing in the media content with a pointer results in initiation of the interactive function (44). An authoring system for creating IDM program has an object outlining tool (51b) and an object motion tracking tool (51d) for facilitating the generation of N Data. In a data storage disk, the Frame Data and the N Data are stored on separate sectors (60). In a network system, the object mapping data and IDM program are downloaded to a subscriber terminal and used in conjunction with presentation of the media content (30).

The role of intermediary services in emerging digital libraries

Abstract: The conception of a library has evolved over the past 200 years from a plsee that houses a collection of information resottrees to a process of facilitating knowledge trsnsfef from source to user. The fseiiitstor role of the iibrsry encompasses the concept of a change agent, where the iibrsry acts as a proactive participant in the diffusion of appropriate knowledge to users. Today’s Iibrsries aim to provide not oniy access to and &livery of information but have increasingly incorporated proactive services aimed at assisting in the interpretation and application of information to fulfill user information requirements.

Motion picture recording device using digital, computer-readable non-linear media

Abstract: A digital media recorder including a video camera digitizing circuitry (35) and a digital computer readable and writable random access medium (39), such as magnetic or optical disk, in which sequences of digital still images are stored directly on the recording medium. Audio recording capabilities may also be provided. This system eliminates the need for video tape for recording video information, thereby providing the capability for a purely digital video system for capture, editing and playback.

Fractal Dreams: New Media in Social Context

Abstract: From the Publisher: CD-ROM, CDI, VR... the digital media revolution is upon us - or so, this book argues, we are being led to believe. The essays in Fractal Dreams set out to explore what is new about New Media, mapping the territory of the mediasphere and distinguishing what is actual and what is virtual in these new worlds. In these specially commissioned pieces, practitioners of New Media and cultural critics from Britain and North America grapple with key issues such as: who has access to technology? Is consumerism the same as access? Will art and everyday life finally merge in the shopping malls rather than the revolution?

Evolution of the Filmless Cardiac Angiography Suite: Promise and Perils of the Evolving Digital Era

Abstract: Although cineangiography has been in use for 35 years, it has important limitations. Films are expensive to produce, cannot be readily copied or transmitted electronically, are bulky, and require a large storage space. Digital angiography will soon replace film for archiving cardiac catheterization images, ultimately offering powerful new capabilities at a reduced cost. The transition toward the filmless angiogram is characterized by both great promise and important risks. Current nonfilm archiving systems (such as super-VHS videotape or analog optical disks) have not met the needs of the cardiovascular community, owing to poor image quality and resolution inferior to that of cine films. Analog storage media can result in a standard error in lesion measurements exceeding 1 mm and have a suboptimal signal-to-noise ratio. While digital media record adequate image detail, proprietary formats preclude the universal compatibility supplied by cine film. As a consequence of incompatibility, referred patients must undergo repeat catheterization prior to surgery or intervention. To resolve the compatibility problem, a committee established by the American College of Cardiology in conjunction with manufacturers (DICOM) has developed a standardized digital recording format using CD-ROM to transfer images between medical centers. The availability of this standardized interchange medium will have a positive impact on research as well as on patient care by eliminating barriers to image exchange throughout the cardiovascular community. Support for the DICOM approach by practitioners is vital to the transition to digital future.

A man for all reasons

Abstract: This paper reports on the development of G‐MING (Greater Manchester Inter Network Group), an ATM‐based Metropolitan Area Network set up as a high performance multi‐service telecommunications infrastructure for the educational community within the Greater Manchester region, UK. The paper discusses the initial roll out of the network and its expansion to include connection of local business, technoparks and student residences. The paper serves to highlight the issues associated with a shared infrastructure in supporting strategic digital media applications in library, education and business sectors.

Digital Transformations of Time: The Aesthetics of the Internet

Abstract: CURRENT DISCUSSION OF DIGITAL CULTURE IS DOMINATED by the metaphor of space-beginning with the very term “cyberspace.” Time is, however, not merely an inconvenience online, but constitutive of digital experience. The digital culture of time is transforming our sense of the aesthetic, as documented in sections on the museum click-visit, where the focus is not on the images but on the time-based activity of the visit; and on the time-based aesthetics of downloading. In encouraging digital artists, let us expand our notion of what the new medium in fact is and shift from digital art objects to digital art activities. Examples are taken largely from the collective online work of Blast , in which the author participates.

Fashion Source Book

Abstract: This output is the result of research which sought to map the relationship between the fashion design process and illustration techniques. It comprises a reference work with over 1750 drawings of garments, accessories and details. The drawings are historical, classical, ethnic or inspirational examples and are described in the extensive glossary. The book was originally published in 1996 but has been completely re-worked using contemporary digital techniques, as described in the preface. The book includes illustration techniques new to a reference book of this nature. It combines dictionary and specification styles and is referenced by companies such as Worth Global Style Network. References are made to fabrication, colour use, period detail and function. This book is the first in a ‘trilogy’ of publications by McKelvey, published by Blackwell, aimed at providing a resource base to begin designing and communicating garments, whether initial ideas, production drawings or promotional illustrations. The 1st Edition was translated into Greek - by Blackwell Publishing in 2005 – ISBN: 960-411-531-6. and the rights were also sold to Australia. This 2nd Edition has sold 1160 since its publication in 2006. Blackwell have now been acquired by John Wiley & Sons, creating the potential for American distribution. McKelvey trained as a fashion designer but her Readership and teaching practice has altered the focus of her research towards the utilisation of digital media to develop and communicate design knowledge. This aligns with her growing pedagogic research interest in the relationships between learning processes and outcomes and the contexts in which they occur, specifically collaborative design project based learning contexts.

Introduction to Concept and Form in Architecture: an Experimental Design Studio Using the Digital Media

Abstract: This paper describes the use of digital media in a first year undergraduate architectural design studio. It attempts to address the importance of developing a design process that is redefined by the use of computing, integrating concept and perception. Furthermore, it describes the theoretical foundations and quasi-experiments of a series of exercises developed for beginning design students.

Building a Digital Library: Concepts and Issues

Abstract: INTRODUCTION WHAT IS A DIGITAL LIBRARY? This report will try to explain the issues that need to be considered when building a digital library. It is intended to fill in the information gaps between merely knowing digital library concepts and having a sense of the kind of digital libraries already being built by large library organizations and understanding what is involved in their creation and functioning. Digital libraries are not exclusively the concern of large institutions or large research universities. Every library in any kind of organization that begins to move beyond bibliographic citations to providing online content for its patrons has begun to build a digital library. Thus, digital libraries can be built by public libraries, school libraries, and university and college libraries. For a long time electronic collection building efforts have centered around information which is a step to other information. Whatever the value of this information, its online presence can not be said to constitute a digital library. These resources are simply tools to find content. It is this final content and its availability in digital form that distinguishes a digital library. Actual digital library holdings, not just digital pointers to print resources, are what it takes to involve libraries in digital library building. The intended holdings need not be vast or managed by sophisticated software. A library that maintains a Gopher or WWW page with pointers to Internet resources (whether those be images, text, or other forms of information) has begun to build a digital library: it is evaluating and selecting among available digital resources and their delivery systems. The resources in a digital library may be local or maintained remotely by a vendor like OCLC. They may be widely held like the popular periodical databases created by EBSCO, UMI, and IAC, or newer types of complex information resources like the geographic data files maintained by only a few institutions. WHAT KIND OF DIGITAL LIBRARIES WILL BE DISCUSSED? This report is about Internet digital libraries, not resources mounted and made available on a local LAN. It discusses digital libraries that use the Internet and standard Internet protocols, TCP/IP and HTTP, for communication. The report is primarily about digital library services provided over the WWW and accessed through a WWW browser like Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. But the next generation of web software systems, which will move beyond browser and HTTP protocol use, are also described. Some kinds of systems will not be included in this report, such as CD-ROM LANs, Gopher servers, VT100 interfaces, and proprietary Windows clients. All these fall outside of the scope of this discussion. DIGITAL LIBRARY BUILDING IS AN ART Since digital library building is new to most librarians, it is a skill that must be learned in order to make intelligent decisions-even if the only decision made is not to begin. This report will attempt to teach some of the arts of digital library building by describing the human and technological ingredients that are needed, including staff, networks, and communications mechanisms, as well as the particular kind of technologies used to manage digital content, including images, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data, text, and numeric data. In a way, this report is akin to the genre of library science books that for years have attempted to prepare librarians who will have some responsibility for the building of physical libraries. Those books will not make their readers capable of designing a plumbing system for a library, but they may alert the reader to some important concerns and the goals for such a system. They prepare librarians to undertake building projects by giving them the language to be able to deal with specialists and a sense of the questions to ask. …

Media matters: nudging digital media into a manual design process (and vice versa)

Abstract: This paper reports on a media class offered during the 1995-96 academic year at the University of Oregon. This course, a renovation of an existing 'manual' media offering targeted intermediate Ievel graduate and undergraduate students who, while relatively experienced design students, were relatively inexperienced users of digital media for design. This course maintained a pedagogical emphasis on design process, a point of view that media are powerful influences on design thinking, and an attitude toward experimentation (and reflection) in matters of media and design process. Among the experiments explored were fitting together digital with manual media, and using digital media to collaborate in an electronic workspace. The experience offers opportunity to consider how digital media might be more widely integrated with what remains a predominantly 'manual' design process and media context for many architecture schools and practices.

Method and apparatus for preparing, on demand, a selected information package, including digital and print media, from a catalog of information packages

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for preparing, on user demand, a selection from a catalog of information packages. The information package selection includes digital media bearing a digitized first body of information and print media bearing a printed second body of information. In the method, the catalog of information packages is displayed. A user takes an action that generates an input signal corresponding to the information package selection. The input signal is received and a digital file group for the information package selection is provided. The digital file group includes information necessary to write the first body of information to digital media and information necessary to print the second body of information to print media. An identification marking is allocated to the digital file group. Digital media and print media are allocated to the digital file group. The first body of information and a digital representation of the identification marking are written to the digital media. The identification marking is printed on the print media. The second body of information is printed on the print media. The media bearing the identification marking are sorted together.

Tools for Developing Multimedia in Psychiatry

Abstract: Multimedia refers to the use of graphics, sound, animation, and video in the transmission of information. By accessing several sensory modalities instead of only one, multimedia allows greater communication than simple text or simple speech. Creating a message with visual and auditory elements increases the density of information sent and permits greater impact. Furthermore, the term multimedia has also come to suggest a media that allows interactivity. Unlike a movie that must be seen from beginning to end in a fixed sequence, multimedia productions directly elicit information from the audience and alter themselves accordingly. Although present and utilized within medicine and psychiatry for over 20 years (Baskett, 1978; Miller, 1972), recent advances in computer technology have propelled multimedia to a new prominence. Increases in central processor speed and storage capacity have enabled the rise of digital media where text, music, and video are created and distributed with the use of computers. With the help of computer tools, the technical expertise required to develop media is more easily mastered and dispersed. Previously, artisans and artists spent their lives dedicated to a single realm such as printing, photography, etc. Now, anyone can produce professional results with the help of a desktop system. These effects are becoming evident in almost all areas of communication, entertainment, and education. The “digital revolution” is leading the way for what is thought of as the most significant advance since the development of the printing press.

Total Communication: Cross-Examining the 'Universality' of Documentary and Digital Media

Abstract: Within the momentum of the information age and globalisation popular forms of documentary have acquired a particular currency. The types of agency imagined by the media and telecommunications industry are an important facet of these transnational processes. This essay examines the marketing of documentary and the discourse of interactivity in new media technologies in order to map the historical contingencies, cultural logic, and social dynamics which inform their notions of agency.

The UNIMEDIA Initiative - the Potential for Construction Information Integration

Abstract: Building design and construction involves different parties each having a specific view and model of the process. These models communicate through information exchange. The vast development in digital technologies reduced the idea of multimedia into uniform digital media. Consequently, as the technology continues to develop, digital information models will play a key role in practical construction information integration. This paper presents the recent developments that have lead to the possibility of 'unimedia' and demonstrates how this technology opens up possibilities for the representation and distribution of integrated construction information.

Deutsche Telekom’s Network Platform for Interactive Video Services

Abstract: The film business — or perhaps one should say the cinema — is one hundred years old this year. In October 1954, that is, some 40 years ago, TV entered the homes of our country with channel one’s first news broadcast, the “ARD Tagesschau”. The digital media age that is almost upon us will catapult the TV viewer into a new career: from a viewer to a programmer. The next few years will show how much use he makes of this opportunity.

Digital Libraries. Research and Technology Advances: ADL'95 Forum, McLean, Virginia, USA, May 15-17, 1995. Selected Papers

Abstract: Communicating NASA's science to the public.- The library of congress's national digital library program.- The Universal Library: Intelligent agents and information on demand.- Building a scalable America.- Video as scholarly material in the digital library.- Digital libraries for electronic news.- WebJournal: Visualization of a Web Journey.- Uniform structured document handling using a constraint-based object approach.- Digital software and data repositories for support of scientific computing.- Semantic hypermedia retrieval in digital libraries.- Fuzzy full-text searches in OCR databases.- Data discovery in large scale heterogeneous and autonomous databases.- An intelligent agent for the K-12 educational community.- Interface issues for interactive multimedia documents.- Searching and discovery of resources in digital libraries.- The Almaden distributed digital library system.- Alexandria digital library: Rapid prototype and metadata schema.- The ELINOR electronic library.- Dienst: Building a production technical report server.

Open digital media solutions using Windows NT

Abstract: This paper describes the processes and challenges which led to the development of the D-Vision PostSUITE range of on-line, broadcast quality digital non-linear editing (NLE) systems, the first such professional system to take advantage of Windows NT technology. It starts by briefly discussing the history of non-linear editing as we know it, and charts the early development of disk-based, computer controlled editing systems. It then continues by looking at the challenges faced in the early 1990s by companies active in that field. Technologies were changing rapidly, making equipment obsolescent sooner. This, linked to increasing end-user demand for technology which would deliver higher quality, integrate seamlessly and be more reliable, at a fraction of the cost of contemporary systems led to the development of the latest generation of NLEs, and the advent of OpenDML and ActiveMovie.