Understanding Multimedia Elements

• Multimedia is a term used by individuals such as home entertainment sales representatives and technology vendors
• Multimedia today refers to all computer-related products and services
• Multimedia is derived from "multi" (many, multiple) and "media" (distribution tool and information presentation)

Multimedia Elements

• Text consists of words, letters, or sentences that appear on titles and menus, used for navigation and providing basic information
• Sound involves vibrations traveling through air or another medium, picked up by the ear or generated by electronic devices vibrating in frequency
• Video refers to a visual recording of moving images, with or without sound, saved digitally or on disks, functioning as an electronic medium for recording, playback, copying, broadcasting, and displaying moving images and graphics
• Animation is figures and graphics in continuous motion. It is the simulation of movement created by a series of illustrations or graphical elements displayed in rapid succession of frames
• Interactivity is the ability of users to interact with an application through displayed images, icons, and menus
• It is a fundamental feature, allowing users to navigate applications non-linearly through keyboard inputs, mouse clicks, hovers, voice commands, touch, and digital pen use

Classification of Media Types

• Continuous or time-based media discloses information over a duration or specified time, such as sound and video
• Discrete or space-based media deals with still elements dependent on space dimension, like images
• Captured media refers to information from the real world, such as photographs
• Synthesized media is computer-generated elements like 2D and 3D images, visual effects, and animations

Characteristics of a Multimedia System

• It must be computer-controlled, allowing users to view, hear, and see using an electronic device like a PC
• It is integrated, combining at least one discrete and one continuous media for information presentation and sharing
• The information handled must be digitally represented, consisting of various forms of media created, stored, processed, and transmitted digitally
• The interface must permit interactivity, enabling users to navigate, interact, create, and communicate

History of Multimedia - The Early Camera

• The history of multimedia starts with newspapers
• Before still-image cameras, pictures and graphics were hand-drawn by artists to express ideas
• The first pinhole camera (camera obscura) was discovered by Ibn al-Haytham, preserving color and perspective
• Nicéphore Niépce invented a small camera obscura in 1816, adding silver chloride-covered paper
• In 1826, Niépce captured a natural, non-fading image from a window, considered the first photographic image
• Louis Daguerre used a silver-plated sheet coated with silver iodide; in 1839, exposure to light produced an image called the daguerreotype
• Richard Leach Maddox created the first gelatine dry plate, leading to handheld cameras
• In 1988, the first digital camera was developed but not sold to the public until Kodak released the Kodak DCS in 1991

Sound Recording History

• Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, the first device for recording and reproducing sound, stored in a tinfoil sheet phonograph cylinder
• Alexander Graham Bell enhanced phonographs with wax-coated cardboard cylinders and a cutting stylus that moved in a "zig zag" pattern
• Emile Berliner converted phonograph cylinders to gramophone records with a spiral groove
• Gramophone records were dominant in the 20th century, declining in the mid-1980s due to audio tapes and digital formats

Motion Picture History

• A motion picture is a series of pictures creating the illusion of movement, projected on a screen
• In the 1830s, toys were invented to create the illusion of motion through quick sketches
• Sketches were placed on a twirling disc called a phenakistoscope
• William George Horner created the zoetrope, a motion picture projector with drawings in a turning drum
• In the 1870s, Eadweard Muybridge used multiple cameras to capture successive images, creating the first motion picture
• The Scientific American published these pictures in 1878 with instructions to display them through a zoetrope
• Stanford supported Muybridge, inventing the zoogyroscope in 1879
• In the 1880s, Etienne-Jules Marey invented the chronophotographic pistol, a rifle-shaped camera taking 12 images per second
• Marey's chronophotography is the basis for projectors and the first motion picture camera
• Louis Le Prince invented the first motion picture camera in the 1880s
• In 1888, Dickson, commissioned by Thomas Edison, created the Kinetograph
• Edison and Dickson also designed the Kinetoscope
• In the 1890s, Louis and Auguste Lumière introduced the first commercially viable projector/camera/printer called "The Cinématographe"
• In 1910, Edison invented the Kinetophone synchronizing the Kinetoscope and phonograph
• In 1927, The Jazz Singer was the first feature-length talkie
• Audiences could see motion pictures with color in 1935
• DVD took over for video cassettes in 2003 onwards
• 3D films became popular with IMAX facilities and larger format displays

Uses of Multimedia

• Online video games are on portable devices like laptops and smartphones
• These games range from basic to sophisticated 3D and augmented reality
• Smart TVs easily stream movies and videos on larger displays, no antenna or cable needed
• Digital cameras capture excellent pictures and have smile detection
• Online video editors allow users to create videos with editing, annotation, and remixing tools
• Cooperative learning environments allows students to share educational games with two controllers
• Searching databases is made easy with image scanners
• Creating hybrid scenes involves combining artificial and natural video with computer graphics
• Visual cues in video conferences capture attention and focus participants
• Customizable multimedia components allow users to change media elements on the screen

Effects of Visual Cues on Learning

• Visual cues guide attention, as eye movements reflect mental processes
• Visual cues increase attending time and participation
• Visual cues reduce extraneous load on working memory
• Visual cues improve efficiency and processing by orienting viewers to specific information in complex pictures
• Visual cues enhance learning and retention directing the eyes to focus on content
• Visual cues provide structure by adding captions, titles, and numeric values

Advantages of Multimedia

• Increases learning effectiveness
• Increases attention and retention through multimedia elements
• More appealing than traditional methods, attracting more people
• Improves personal communication
• Increases efficiency and effectiveness through graphics and media
• Reduces corporate training costs
• Allows self-paced training/pre-recorded videos, saving time and money
• Easy to use
• Provides customization, tutorials, and intuitive icons
• Provides high quality of presentation
• Enables embedding of interactive videos and animations
• User friendly: offers a simple, clean, intuitive interface
• Great deal of information achieved when simplifying complex ideas with infographics
• Multi sensorial experience achieved during participation is not limited to just reading and listening
• Integrated and interactive: can be integrated in almost all electronic devices
• Entertaining and educational: enhances movies and learning materials
• Creativity: improves student's creative performance
• Wide variety of support providing a variety of multimedia channels
• Trendy and modern: introduces learning through virtual reality and gamification

Disadvantages of Using Multimedia

• Misuse of multimedia Students that play games or surf the web for leisure
• Classroom management issues, classrooms may lack remote control software
• Distraction in cyberspace
• Non-interactive
• Tend to be mechanical and non-interactive due to pre-programmed convos
• Text intensive content
• Too much info that can be overwhelming
• Impractical and unreliable
• Can be Impractical and unreliable due to large files of video and audio recordings which may not load
• Time consuming
• Takes skills and time to create multimedia content
• Expensive
• Software and app licenses are expensive and are specific to certain hardware

Importance of Multimedia in Various Fields

• Advertising industry: Multimedia plays a great role when used on the internet.
• Education and training: Multimedia is important to students. A PC for instance can provide a display screen, a microphone and audio system
• Mass media and journalism: Designs for magazines and newspapers contain clickable Images
• Gaming industry: The combination of visual and sound effects makes it more entertaining and exciting
• Science and technology: Beneficial for surgeons
• Film making: Animations, dubbing, and more are usually done using multimedia technologies
• Fine arts: Digital artists can create illustrations and paintings
• Engineering and architecture: Modeling in order to construct buildings and other structures
• Research: Used for scientific research, and modeling
• Fashion design: Fashion design colleges use computers and electronic devices to teach design techniques

Multimedia on the Web

• Webcast includes activities such as rock concerts, baseball games, and keynote speeches at conferences broadcast in real time over the internet
• HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is used to create webpages. "Hypertext" refers to hyperlinks that might be used on an HTML page
• HTML Tags are like keywords which determine how the content will be formatted and displayed by the web browser
• Animations attract visitors to a web page of product or e-commerce site

Multimedia in Educational Applications

• Edutainment has a combination of education and entertainment
• Immediate feedback: learners are able to preview results and review
• User-controlled learners can proceed at their own pace, stop the process and continue at any given time
• Non-linear learners may jump to another section of a book or a learning material
• Information on-demand multimedia can facilitate students accessing course materials and information at any time