NASA Technical Memorandum 108982 ho NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program Multimedia Initiative G. Cotter and K. Kaye (NASA-TM-I08982) NASA SCIENTIFIC N93-19900 AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION PROGRAM MULTIMEDIA INITIATIVE (NASA) 10 Uncla$ G3/82 0150550 SCIENTIFIC TECHNICA INFORMATION Z STI PROGRAM MULTIMEDIA INITIATIVE Gladys A. Cotter Sckntific and Teclmical Information Program Director Karen Kaye Multimedia Initiative Project Manager National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical lnfmunatiou Program Wasldngtoa, DC 20546 Abstract canbe gained throughthe use of multimedia. The NewMedia magazine information visionaries have ThispaperrelatetsheexperiencoeftheNASA summarized mulfimedia's impact inthe following ScientifaincdTechnicaIlnformatioPnrogramin terms:"roday thepower tofundamentally change the introducinmgultimediwaithintheSTIProgram way we communicate andlearn isatour fingertips. framework. A discussioonfmul_mediatechnology is Multiple media - text, graphics, sound, and motion - included toprovide context forthe STIProgrameffort. have beenintegrattehdroughdigital technology to The STIProgram's Multimedia Initiative isdiscussed deliver acommunication experience thatdramatically in detaiL Pmallels anddifferences between multimedia aitexs the way people give and receive information." andwaditional infommtion systems projectdevelop- They go onto emphasize the "dawning of the age of ment arehighlighted. Challenges facedby the program multimedia - forthe people andby the people. In in initiatingitsmultimediparoject aresummarized business, govenunent, education, and social realms, along withlessons learned. Thepaperconcludes with a ueraendons brealahmeghs incommunication and synopsis of thebenefits the programhopes toprovide interactive information re_evai arebeing achieved itsusers throughthe introduction of multimedia every day." 4 illustrated byexamples of successful multimedia projects. There isno shortage of commentary on how multimedia will revolutionize Ourexistence. The STI Program Multimedia Initiative potential impact of multimedia hasbeen compared individually tothatof the personal computer, the NASA's Scientific andTechnicaIlnformation television and theprintinpgress.IBM hascalled (ST1r) Program isresponsible forproviding "the widest multimedia arevolution incommunications that practicable andapi_pdate dissemination" of informa- combines theaudiovisual power of television, the tionconcerning NASA activities and_ results. publishinpgower of theprintinpgressandthe interac- However, the currentSTIProgram isbasedupon a tivepowerofthecomputer. Intchlascalledmultimedia technology infrasmJcun_assembled inthe mid1960's themarriageof the personal computer andthe televi- to late 1970's. Today, the Program's customers within donthatwillresult ina system thatisasrealistically NASA areutilizing multimedia indocumenting their visual and easy to useasTV, withall theresponsive- scientific and technical endeavors. Thus, faced with the hessandprocessing capability of today's most powerful needtocontinue toserve the aerospace community in deslaop computers. Intelgoes on tosay that today's information environment, NASA°s STI multimediarelxesents anew communications medium Programis currentlyrevamping itsproductsand thatwill dramatically affect how we process anduse services tokeep pace withtechnology. The STI information, andmultimedia also represents amajor ProgramMultimedia Initiative isrepresenmtlve of the business opportunityfor those preparedtoembrace the Program's re-engineering effort. technology anddeliver itinto the handsof the users. Background Infact, multimeditaechnologiehasverecendy converged atapricepoint thatmakes multimedia a Since multimedia hasbecome thecomputer realisticoption forscientific, technical and engineering bm_word of the 1990's, most people have heardabout information presentation. Inacknowledging the ever- multimedia, butnoteveryone hasadea_"ideaof what increasing use of multimedia forthepresentation of constitutes amultimedia presentation orwhat benefit information, the STIProgram isworking to integrate multimedtiaechnologiienstoitsproductasndservices. whose origin predatedthatof multimedia, could WithinNASA, multimedia infatuation _mlion is correctly bedescribed usmultimedia. The distinction needed toadequately dcliv_ scientific andtechnical most often made between older technologies like infommfion that isrichinpragnuuic content. The television and cmTent-daymultimedia takes into pragnm_ information aspects might include items such account the fact that multimedia applications canbe as data,computer models, scientific visualizations, classified into several types basedupon the user's level software, a video recordof an experiment, formulae, of interaction withthe appfication. In thisway, one text, andgraphics. Key toadequatedcllvc=yof such realizes thatthe more advanced forms of multimedia, information isitsintegration intoaunified multimedia whichallow greater userinteraction, requirecomputer whole from which the usercaneasily getthe infmma- suppc_ These computer-supported applications, listed don wanted in the form wanted. Thus, themost us theinteractive andparticipative application types in obvious beaelit tomultimedia information presentation Table 1,arethose thataremost often thought of as islhe ability mdeliver information initsmost effective multimedia. formatsothattbexcarenobarriersto information Table #1 understanding. Terminology ApplicationType User Interaction Example Narrative Watch & listen Television In 1978, Nicholas Ncgroponte, ascientist atM1Ts Media Laboratory,envisioned the fusion of the broad- Interactive Choose &do Columbus cast,printpublishing, andcomputer industriesas the Participative Contribute & BritishFilm direction of futurecommunication. Since thenthe create Institute information industry hasloosely used!he texmmulti- media toreferto those often computer-driven npplica- tionshaving auserinterface allowing access tounified Although the above definitions areprecise enough content including video, audio, photographic images, todistinguish between types of multimedia applica- graphics, numbers,and text. By thisdefinition, early tions, some confusion remains because multimedia and television, which did notemploy computer lechnology otherterms suchas hypermedia, intermedia, and Table #2 Umbrella Project STI Program Multimedia Initiative Focus: Coordination &trackingofmultimedia activities Future: Information seton NASA STI Programmultimedia projects Subprolect Subproject Subproject Non-print GlobalChange Performance Support System Focus: Handling Focus:Grade Focus: Provide multimedia and dissemination 13andabove performance supportat of non-print Interactive the desktop for STI staff multimedia presentationof NASA GiobalChange Data and Information (Prototype) Future: In-house Future: Joint Future: Provide multimedia reproduction Govemmerd/ performance support atthe facilityfor Industryproject desktopfor NASA scientists multiple formats inaspecificdiscipline interactive multimedia areoften used intca'changnbly, TheSTIProgramMultimedia Initiative wig even thoughanargumentcan bemade todiffenmtiate provide the mechanism forthe coordination and thc terms based upm theirodgiml meaning. For trackingof STIProgrammultimedia activities. The instance, hypermedia was originally thoughtof asa Multimedia InitiativeProject hasbeen defined to subset of multimedia thatwas defin_ by thewesence supportthe following STI Programstrategic planning of anonhierarchical, nonlinear linkstnJctm_. 6 goa Brown University's Institute forResearch inInforma- tionScholarship (IRIS) multi-user "hypermedia" , Expandparticipacnomtmunity. system was named"In_" Interactive multime- • Improve currentoperations. diaoriginated in theinteraative videodisc field asan • Become integral toNASA Research & interactive trainingtenn. Interactive was used to Development. I indicate thatthe applicationresponds inrealtime tothe user's direction. Although the te_n "multimedia" is Inaddition, the Multimedia Initiative recognizes used mc_ often thantheother terms,tbe 1993 these objectives: Microsoft InternationalConference on Multimedia and CD-ROM will becalled "Intennedia." • Vez_y the economic and technical feasibility of delivering multimedia information within the Tk ProJect sTtPmgramframewoe,. • Makeapositiveeducationalandinformational TheSTIProgramMultimedia Initiative isauser- impact. drivenumbrellaproject thatcurrently includes three • Developanexploitable capability. subprojectTsh.esubwojectasretheNon-wintProJect, theGlobal Change Project and thePerformance All of the Multimedia Initiative projects must SupportSystem. Project relationships and objectives follow standardtop-down information projecdtevelop- arcspelled ontin Table2. All three projects address mentprocedures beginning withadesign phase which STI Programareas.'_atcanbere-mgineeredatreason- includes userrequirements. However, inaddition tothe ablecost throughthe introduction of multimediato programming andtesting anddocumentation phases provide needed services tothe ese_"community. commontoinfarmationsystemsprojects, the J IIOCUDENI'AllGM Figure 1. Phases of Multimedia Application Development multimedia contentmay necessitate aproduction phase November of 1992. This projectwill enable the STI duringwhichaudio and video areproducedorcol- Programtoeffectively handlenon-printinanopera- lected. tionalWototype mode inthe first quarterof 1993. The Non-wint projectfollowed a standardinformation During thedesign phase, majorfactorsaffecting system design methodology. User requirements were design decisions areanalyzed including target audience, gathered throughatelephone survey and setting, and subject. Itisin thisdesign phasethatthe videoteleconferences withanadvisory group with problems involved incurrentattempts toconvey the NASA-wide representation. The project hasbeen information areaddressed intea_u of how multimedia proceeding according toplanandisaheadof projected can solve thecommunicafim problem. Thesetting or cvmplelion datefor several milestones. The initial wherethe application will beused isalso addressed in focus of the Non-print ProJecitsvideomaterial. As a termsof where andforhow long use_ arelikely to result of thiswoject, The STIProgram's Center for interactwiththe application. During thisstage, afront- Aerospace Information (CASI) will become thecentral endanalysis document thatissimilartoarequirements repository forNASA-produced videos. TheCASI will analysis document isproduced toguide design deci- beabletoarchive andreplicate videos forProgram sions. Thesubject of the application determines the users ona mass basis asearly asfirst quarter1993. The content anddrives some of thedesign decisions suchas NASA STIProgramwill provide handlingand dissemi- theresolution necessary forimages orthequality level nationof othervarieties ofnon-print onamore limited of theaudio. basis. TheProgram will alsobegin to serve asthe source forvideotapes of NASA Select television Theprogramming, testing, anddocumentation programsin 1993. Inconjunction withthe Non-print phases of applicationdesign can follow information Project, STIProgram staff members haveparticipated system development procedures. Inaddition, the same intheCENDI Interagency StandardsWorking Group productionpmccdmcsusedbymevideoindusu'ymay for theHandling of Video andOtherNon-print STI. beneeded forthe video component of themultimedia This grouphasrecently completed asetof guidelines appficatkm. Since stm3,_g, shooting, andediting fornon-printinformation thatdetailsitems such as of video materialisalien tomost information system minimal acceptable quality, packaging, etc. specialists, the multiple types ofmedia thatmust be produced andintegrated intoa multimedia application Performance SupportSystem necessitate the _ ofaproject development team withexpertise from different disciplines. ThePerformance SupportSystem Project Plan was completed inJanuary,1992. ThePerformance Support Accomplishments to Date System will utilize arapidprototyping methodology to provide comprehensive information supportatthe Although the ST[ProgramMultimedia Initiative deskmptoSTIProgramstaffmembers.Asdefinedby Project Planwas written in Juneof 1991, the woject GloriaGefy, apeff(mnance supportsystem authority, lost aninitial battle forscarce wogram aneaectronpiecrformance supportsystem isaninte- resulting intheproject's being placedon holdfora gratedelectronic environmentthatisavailable toand periodof over one year. Theprojectwas revitalized in easily accessible by each staff member andisstr_tured Januaryof 1992 when itbecame apparent thatthe toprovide immediatei,ndividualizone-dline access to NASA scientific communiWwas moving rapidlyinto thefullrange of information, software, guidance, multimedia publishing. Thisled the STIProgramto advice andassistance, data,images, took, and assess- recognize thatitneeded torapidlydevelop a meritandmonitoring systems topermitjob perfor- multimedia capabilities base inordertoeffectively mance withminimal suppo_ and intervention byothers. perform itsmission of disseminating information. The TheSTI Pedcrmance SupportSystem projectextends projectplanwas updatedtoreflect curremPtogrmn thisdefinition toinclude animatedimages, fullmotion direction, andthree introdect_ seblrojects we_ video, the pre,sentalion ofinformation from different iden_'_d and__ perspectives, andsimulation thatcanportrayandtest conflicting theories. Thisproject iscurrendy entering Non-PrintProject the design stage where thedetails of carrying outthe projectplanwill bedefined. Central tothe concept of TheNon-print Project was given highest priority the STIProgramPerfcrmance SupportSystem isthe andconsequently hasreceived the most attentionto fact thatfew people prefertoreadtext from the current date. TheNon-print ProjectPlan was finalized in generation ofcomputer screens. Thus, the project 4 emphasisisbaseodn tbe fact that_eing images md value tobeadded bymultimediadeliveroyfselected hearingsounds is thenaturalway forpeople toreceive global change infm'mafionT.hefollow-on phase could information. 1"hisproject will provide aninitial proof- address acomwebe_ive globalchangesystemthatwill of-cocgept fordelivery ofmultimedia information to benefiutniversisttyudmtsandprofessionraelsearchers. users within the STIProgramframework. Thetimeline Thisprojecwtouldutilizaeglobalchangecontent fortheproject will begin aftertherevivalof the advisor andus_ outreach specialists in addidon tothe development hardwareandsoftware thatwill be regularproject team members. Discussions with discussed later. A laterphaseoftbe project will extend indust_ multimedia developers who haveexpressed theinitial prototype toprovide performance SUl_Onfor inter_ inajoint venture forthisproject ale underway. NASA scientists ina specific discipline. Thediscipline ofchoicewillbedetermineidnconjunction with the Multimedia Project Development Team STIProgramUser's Group. TheNASA STIProgramMultimedia Project GlobalChangeProject Development Team todate includes two individuals with expertise invideo production, one individual with TheNASA STIProgramGlobalChangeProjecits graphicsproduction expertise, one withcommunica- thenewestoftheSTIProgramMultimediaInitiative tionsandmarketing expertise, andone withproject projectsT.hecurrenptroJecatctivitiyscentereudpon management andcomputer programmingexpertise. userdiscussioannsddevelopmentofacomwehensive Althoughoneoftenreadsofthedifficulmtuyltimedia projectplan. Although thisprojectisstillon the projectteamshaveincommunicatingwith each oth_, drawingboard, italso hasthe grealest poumtial for thishasnotbeea aproblem thus far. However, it is benefit throughmultimedia information delivery. interesting tonote thevastly different perspectives that isbecause global change dataincludes _ents the team members bringtotheeffort thatclearly arises Dom multiple instruments both simultaneously andover fromthedifferednitsciplinaensdbusinescsultures time. Researchezs saythatthese disparatedataeach from which they come. As isoftenthecase, the video revealsome aspect of aphysical phenomenon. Further people clearly emphasize content, which isof primary studyof suchdatamay involvceombiningthedatawith importaw,e in amultimedia g_pik.afion, whereas the empirical models or numerical simulations. Inaddition, comlmtm"pmgrmmner may be overheard mentioning correlative dataanalysis both implies looking at time-based video data. Thegroup isworking to make different datasets inthe same way andrequires their diffc_ringbackgrounds an asset to theprojecsto multiple ways tostudy the sameordifferent data. thattheycanpull togeth_ todeliver effective STI Visualization of earthscience datasuchasglobal Programmultimedia applications. changedatasetspmvid_ theresearchewrithakey to understanding multiparameter datasets.v Such Clmllen_es information can befurtherenhanced through the useof multimedia. Rather thanviewing one or several videos, As withmost new information technology applica- dealingwith simulationsoftwarev,iewing images and theNASA STIProgram Multimedia Initiative is dam,andreading a teclmical relx_ theresearch_ can facing anumber ofdifficult challenges thatcan impact bepresented with the infot_aation asaunified whole the success ofthe projecL To date, some of the throughtheuse of multimedia. Alternately, astechnol- challenges havebeen ovew,ome, butothers still present ogy advartcus,the researcher could beprovided witha difficulty. comprehensive fully immersive virtualreality system. CulturalandOrganizational TheSTIProgram Global Change projects goal isto provide global change information inmultimedia Themost immediate challenge to theinuxxluction formattouniversity level andbeyond w_earcher_ The of multimedia technology into the STIProgram was projectconcept isbased on thepremise thatmultimedia encouate_! at the Multimedia Initiative project's birth. canaddvalue andfoster understandingof global Inordertobegin work on theprojectafter itwas change data. Inaddition, the huge volume of global _ the project hadmbe markea_dwimin changeinformatioanvailablceanbemademore the5"1'IProgrambecause staff who were oriented to accessible to_ throughaneasily navigable work with patx='-basedinformation needed torecon- multimedia user interface. Tbelust phaseof this sidertheirjob functions. Staff members ranthe gamut projectwill deliver aWoaxyl_ multimedia global fromearly adoptersof new technology tothose who changeinformation system that will demousuate the wm not yettruly comformbie wilh the oft"_ automa- tionnetwork thathadbeenintroducedseveral years alsoaddressing compatibility issues. However,in ago. In themiddle was alargegroupthatwas quite today's marketplace, thepurchaser of multimedia comfortable withthe way things were andwasnot able equipment cannot expect toplay applications developed tosee the value of committing programresources to on othersystems. Them hasbeen ahistoryof the suc-ce.ssfulportingof applicalions by developers Dora something thatappearedtobeafuturistic technology l_c multimedia. The_ efforts atmarkcting the MAC toPC,andthere area few interactive multimedia application authoringsystems thatfacilitate such Multimedia Initiative internallydid notsucceed end the transfea',butin thecune_t marketplace, one cannot resources necessary togo forwardwiththe woject were expect tointerchange multimedia infornmtion. notallocated. However, the early Multimedia Initiative staffmembers wereconfident thatmultimedia technol- Thestandardsissue became amajorchallenge for ogy would berequiredby theProgramin theshort-term the STIProgramMultimeAia Initiativebecause lackof andcondnued tomake thecase. Eventually after standards meant thatthedevelopment platform choice muldple documents, confctcw, e lXesentadons, and would also dictate the delivery platform choice. attemptastrobustcost-benefaniatlyses, the project Results of theNASA STIProgram usersurvey indi- appearedtobegaining momentum. Thereal keys m catedthatproviding initialapplications thatcould run gaining staff supportwereptqesenmdonsfromseveral onboth Macintosh systems (MACs) andIBM orIBM NASA Centersshowingthattheyweremovinginto compatiblPeersonaClomputerSystems(PCs)wouldbe multimedina_dly coupledwithademonsuationofthe for theProgram usercommunity,withlater very s_ multimedia application, "Columbus." development plannedtobeavailable on SUN systems Theseilems markedaturningpointandduringthenext as welL Although thestaff developed acapabilities budget iteration,limited funding was madeavailable for matrixf_"the systems available atthe time, the theproject. impmlant issue of which system would gain the most usersov_ timecould notbe_ because there As theMultimediaInitiativeanditssubwojects wasnoway topredicwtithcertaintwyhich competing haveprogressed, theavailability ofproject implementa- mulfimeAiaformat would become the defacto standard. lion plansandstandardinformation system life cycle Even so,lhe STIProgramdevelopment platform was documentation fitting the design framework reference chosen showy after theproject was revitalized in model hasserved tolendcredibility totheMultimedia Januaryof 1992, At thattime, there were multiple InitiatisvueiteofprojectsI.tisasthoughem presence multimedia platform development choicess,omeof of familiar documentation made these somewhat which were geared toward vm'ydifferent end-us_ markets. Apple hadnot yetreleased itsQuickTune unfamiliarprojects acceptable totraditionalsystem extension tothe Macintosh system software, andthe designers. Motion Picture Experts Group(MPEG) compression standard was stillbeingdefined. New productreleases Standards andproductretiremmts were theo_kr of the day.In the eyes of theMultimedia Initiative project staff There iscurrentlyno standardformultimedia since members who were choosing thesystem components, a it istheblending of many differenttechnologies more volatile marketplace would be impossible tofred. provided byadiverse group of vendors fzom the very differeat marketareasofcomputers andhome elecuon- Inspitoefthevolatile marketplace andthe lackof ks. Howcvcz, theInteractive Multimedia Association standardtsh,eMultimediaInitiatisvteafafppfieda (IMA)begananInteractiMvueltimediaAssociation modifiedve_ion of the HighTechnologyMan- Committee Compatibility Project in 1988 todevelop Machine Performance Evaluation Plan (HTPE), recommendations thatwould permit multimedia developed atLawrence Live_ore National Laboratory, applications portabilityacross avariety of hardware/ tothe multimedia hardwareJsoftwafe selection process software platforms. Thecommittee beganby focusing andmade arecommendation thatspecific hardwareand on interactive video applications intheMS-DOS software beprocuredinitially with latexprocurements environment withthe objective of laterexlmndin8 their tofollow asthemarketplw.e settled. The initial initiatives toother operating systems andmultimedia hardwareandsoftwm'echosen isminimalbutfits within technologies. The IMA Compeu'oility Projecthas thebedset andisbeing _ with Iheunderstand- formed anumberof committees toaddress specific ingemt anadditional procurement will come later. In several cases, hardwareorsoftware hasbeenretireodr compau'oility issues. 3 superseded bynewer products. Insw,hinstances, the replacement item ispresented inthe table. All compo- Other groups inch asthe InstituteofElectronic and heats will notnecessarily res/de on thesame computer. Electrical Engineers ComputingSociety(IEEF._S)are r Table #3 Application _velopmmt wouldbeI¢Ipedbyallowing team memberstoshax¢componentsofthedevelopment STI Program Multimedia Components system. Aldmugh netwoddng multimedia atthe Local AxcaNetwork(LAN)levelhasbeenaccomplishebdy Hardware Key Software groupssuchasStarligNhettworks,,theSTIProoam's LAN isbuilutpon_ segmentsandsh¢,_l Apple Quadra 950 Macromind Suite of bandwidth.Thecutoutsystemcannotsupportmultiple with32 Mb RAM, Productsincluding streamsofvideoinformationA.lthoughtheproject 2 Mb VRAM, 1.2 Gb Director,Accelerator, team c_mdevelop initial applications without benefit of External Hard Disk 3-D, Mediamaker, etc. network information exchange, the success of the Performance SupportSystem will hinge upon the System 7.0 abilittyodelivetrheinformatioonvertheLAN. Since QuickTime thec_t LAN isscheduledtobereplaced in the next year,networkedmultimedia maybein the STI RasterOps "Authorware Professional Program's future. Although not mentioned previously, 24 Bit Monitor akey msuccessful ne_voAing iscomlxession of video dam. Even witha50:.1comlxesdonratiod,eliveroyf NEC Adobe Premiere 24 bitcolor at30fi'amesper second (NTSC fullmotion Double-Speed video) requires a 15Mbit/sec bandwidth. Ifmultiple CD-ROM Drive usersrequirveideoinformation,theLAN mustbeable tosuplmrttheaggregatbeandwidth.LANs now have Raster Ops Expresso greaterbandwidth thanavailable wide area networks. Professional Slide TI, for inslance, hasabandwidth of 1.544 Mbits/sec. Scanner Although theMultimedia Initiative would like to deliver multimedia information over wick area net- New Video EyeQ works, itappearsthatthe Initiative will have towait for Capture/ the NationalResearch andEducadon Network (NREN) Delivew System maccomplish this. vueospigot IntellectPuraolpertyRights NEC PC VCR TheST[Program Multimedia Initiative will Kodak Digital Camera heavily u"tdizeNASA andodmrC_vez_ment-produced System infommlion resources thatarenotcopyrighted. So, intellectual propertyrights arenotlikely topresent as MacSpeakem great aproblem asforode_ involved in multimedia. TheInitiative must stilldeal withthe fact thatcopyright * ChosenforapplicationportabilitybetweenMac&PC lawsapply tovisuals, sound, software, andany other flintbelongs tosomeom else.Theprocedures forgaining rights tomaterial such asvideo clipsor mu_c diffefrromthoseofsoftwaraendprinptubllca- ibm. Alsothereissomequestioanstod¢ scopeofd¢ Asthispaperiswritten,tie long-awaitedsystem rightsonce granted. Do the fights extend to"publica- cornpm_ts m'ejustbeginningmKrive attheST[ tion" inamultimedia application?Questionsregarding Programofl'ces. Theearlierobservationabout,the intellectual propertyrights andmultimedia arejust volatility of the marketplace hasbeenrealized since be_nnmg tobeaddressee According toCOMDEX/ most majorsystem components havebeen replaced Fall '91 "Intellectual Property:Issues andChallenges in withnewer items over the course of the procmcmcnL Multimedia" session panelist, _ Davis ITI, "Every lime anewtechnologcyomesalong, there's a Networkin_Multimedia periodof 10m 15yearswithlitigation. Ithat.ned with movies. There was awhole series of cases when TheMultimediaInitiatipvreojectteamrecognizes "IVcame along, thencable TV; now withvideodiscs theneed toprovide networked multimedia applications. andCD."5 The Vislon provide au:ess toisrge databases of visml and andio infmmation on aLAN. TheSTI ProgramMultimedia Initiafive's goal isto havetheNASA users gain the benefits thatmultimedia IBM's "Columbus: A Journey toDiscovery" is information delivery c_mprovide. While we have better seen thandiscussed. However, we will presenta discussed theadvantages of aunified inte_ace to brief summary here forthose whowill nothave an multipletypes of information, the ability topresent oppommity toview the application. Columbus isthe information from different persp_fives, the ability to first inIBIWs Discovere_ Series. IBM descn'bes the _3mbine datawithempirical models ornumerical DiscoversSeriesofprograms as"seeking toprovide simulations, andotherbenefits, the Program_alizes navigational tools thatallow teachers and students to thattheMultimedia Initiative staffcannot anticipate all explore interrelated malefials from large databases of of theways throughwhichamultimedia information information." 2 IBMdeveloped Columbus in conjunc- delivery system canbeused toincmtse the effective- tim withRobert Abel of SynapseTechnologies. This hessof information dei/very toresearcherswithin multimedia application includes 180 hoursof interac- NASA andotherorgnnizatkms. That iswhy the five material According toRobert Abel, theprogram is Initiative isusing the rapidpmtotyplng method of notonly aboutColumbus, but"it usesColumbus as a development. This_h willallow ourusers to metaphorfora changing view of the universe." 2 perticipatein ourmultimedia systems design through According toPaul Evans of IBM, Columbus provides useandevaluation of theprototypes thatwill feed multiplepoints of view on itscontent anddemonstrates d_ign changes. Thus, the detailsof our "Multimedia "the complex inte_.onnectedm_s of knowledge."2 InitiativeVision" will bedefined in an evolutionary Inconsidering thisapplication, you cansee some ofthe fashion by ourusers. advantages of multimedia presentation. Join usinour vision by extending thisapplication of technology to Inclosing, there aresome successful multimedia see thepotential formultimedia in the incw_h'blyrich applications thatwe would like toshare toallow youto un/vefse of scientific andtechnical information. make apersonal _t of thepoUmfialfor multimedia. To date, therearenotmany scientific and References technical information applications of multimedia. However, one application of noteis theArctk Dam AStrategic Direction. NASA Scientific and l* Interactive (ADD CD-ROM prototype. ADI was Technical Information Program,Washington, D.C. produced by theU.S. Geok_ Survey (USGS) and 1991. includes dataprovided by Don Cavalieri of NASA Goddard. USGS calls thisapplication apromtYI_ 2. "IBM Presents Columbus and the Classics." hypermedia system. ADI includes animation andsold Multimedia &Videod_cMonitor, May, 1991. butno fullmotion video. TheADI disc was lnxxiuced 3. "IMA CompatibiliPtryojecPtroceedings." by theU.S. Geological Survey tostimulate discussion VolumeI,IssueI.September,1991. onnew andinnovative methods fordisseminating global change dataandinformation. Itisacompen- "lnvision Multimedia Awards 1993 Call for diumof interdisciplinary information end dataonthe . Enlries." New Media: Multimedia Technologies Arc_c regiou. We acquiredthisdisc inresearching our for Desktop Computer Users. November, 1992. Multimedia Initiative's Global Change Project. . "TmeractiveMultimedia WhitePaper: Promise and There memany othermultimedia applications that PiO_alls."Knowledge IndustryPublications, Inc. should besimted. We will mention afew of themany 1991. applications that cut across disciplines. There isthe interactive disc on theGulf Wartitled "Desert Storm" . Osborn, Hugh. "Media Computers, Motivation, thatwas produced by ajointventure between Wam_ andInformalEducationG:utenberg 20007" New Media andT'tmenmgazine. There ase also several Learning withlnteractiw Multimedia: Developing majorapplications supImcted by IBMincluding and UsingMultimedia Tools inEducation. "Ulysses," "Hamlet,""MartiLnutheKring,t"he Microsoft Press, Redmond, Washington. 1990. "DeclaratioofInndependencaen,d"the"American Indians.T"heSmithsoniaInnstitutihoansbeea Treinish, Lloyd. "Conelafive Data Analysis in the . workingon anetwoAed educational multimedia EarthSciences." IEEE Computer Graphics & application called "Classrooms WithoutWalls." Itwill Applications, May, 1992.