Multimedia Design

Multimedia Design Introduction

Contact Details Dr Judy Robertson Judy.Robertson@hw.ac.uk 0131 451 8223 Rm EM G29 Second Life name: Jxr Greenwood

Overview • Definition of multimedia and active research areas • Structure of module – what you’ll learn • Assignment information

What is multimedia? • The combination of different media into one application: • Text • Still images • Sound • Video • Can involve multimodal interfaces (speech, gesture, touch) • Can involve ubiquitous computing (computing in the environment beyond the desktop) • Can involve interactivity, remote distribution, collaborative working • Focus is on user’s Quality of Experience (QoE) rather than Quality of Service (QoS)

Your experience? • What sort of MM stuff have you done before? • Using MM? • Creating MM? • At uni? • As a hobby?

Multimedia Grand Challenges • ACM SIG MM identified three grand challenges for multimedia researchers to solve: • Make authoring complex multimedia titles as easy as using a word processor or drawing program; • Make interactions with remote people and environments nearly the same as interactions with local people and environments; • Make capturing, storing, finding, and using digital media an everyday occurrence in our computing environment From Rowe and Jain (2005)

Challenge 1: make authoring complex multimedia titles easy Researchers need to develop tools to make it easy for average users to make compelling multimedia with different types of content, e.g. • A physics teacher could make simulations and animations to illustrate dynamic behaviours; • A travel agent could make material advertising tourist destinations including pictures, videos, sounds, live link to people at a remote location; • A family member could create a timeline of an important event such as a wedding, documenting the proposal, engagement party, wedding. • Of course, tools already exist for authoring in particular media, but: • They don’t support different types of media; • Professional tools are too hard to learn, but end user tools are too restrictive • All data types should be first class citizens

Challenge 2: Make remote interactions the same as local interactions This involves: • Distributed collaboration • Multimedia meetings between more than 2 remote participants are still hard to set up, expensive and frustrating; • It’s hard to remotely work with the same tools (e.g. view & co-construct diagrams remotely) • Immersive 3D virtual environments • Challenge is to sensitively integrate novel input and output technology to make the experience seem real (or hyper real) • Could be better than being there!

Visiting virtual worlds “I always look at the game worlds we build as other places for us to go. … Most of them are hell and almost none of them are heaven. We’re creating hells for our children to live in.” Henk Rodgers (Edge, 1999; p75) • Double Life play station advert

Challenge 3: Make manipulating digital media as an everyday occurrence • It should be an every day occurrence to: • Capture √ • Store √ • Find • And use √ digital media. • We have huge capacity to capture and store data. But how can we easily make sense of this huge heap of content? • We need to be able to search audio and video content from archives – the problem is automatically identifying what is stored in non-textual media.

The vision for this class • The class will terraform the HeriotWatt Second Life island ?

What is Second Life anyway? • It’s a massively multiplayer immersive 3D virtual environment • Population: 11,175,710 (Nov 2007) • Total hours spent: 24,625,902 (Nov 2007) • Thriving arts and educational communities • Growing business opportunities • Demo

Second Life economy • 250$ to 1 linden dollar • You get 2000 Linden dollars to start with • You can sell and buy virtual land and objects/services US$ exchanged on Lindex (in millions)

Who uses Second Life: age

Who uses Second Life: gender

Why are we using Second Life for this module? • There’s something for everyone – you can specialise in different aspects of MM • It lets you build in-world – you see immediate consequences of what you do • Everyone in the class can work together on the same big project • It’s an expanding, current development in user generated content and social networking • Maybe you’ll become SL millionaires and give me a cut 

Second Life and MM grand challenges As you get to know Second Life, think about this. Does it: • Make authoring complex multimedia titles easy as a using a word processor? • Make interactions with remote people and environments nearly the same as interactions with local people and environments? • Make capturing, storing, finding, and using digital media an everyday occurrence in our computing environment?

SL mature content • Second Life has many areas which have mature content • If you want to avoid them, stick to regions which are rated PG • Please share only snapshots from PG areas on the class website • I have given you a list of safe educational places to visit • The HeriotWatt island where you will work is rated PG and your practice areas will be private to this class

What you will learn • …about the current research issues in multimedia • …how to design and evaluate multimedia • …how creativity works • …how to take charge of your own learning • …how to evaluate your own learning • …how to evaluate your own work and that of your peers Remember: it’s an open ended topic; there are seldom “right” answers Think of the lecturer and tutors as mentors

Technical skills you will learn • Second Life: • Content creation • Terraforming • Scripting • Photoshop: • Texturing • Premiere • Movie making

Module activities • Lectures • None! – It’s a practical course • Tutorial • Everyone has one hour of tutorial with me a week. • Mostly group work and hands-on activities • Labs • One hour face to face lab • One hour lab in Second Life with help from tutors • When would suit you to have this? Please fill in the survey on the Vision page • Reading/homework exercises

You’ll like this module if... ...you like: • Exploring • Building • Creating (drawing/sounds/music/video/programming) • Finding things out for yourself • Coming up with your own ideas • Things that are open ended

You won’t like this module if... • You like step by step instructions • You like assignments to give exact specifications • You like to be told exactly what to do • You don’t like trial and error • Your favourite programming environment is emacs with a command shell :-)

Learning resources • “Creating your world: the official guide to content creation in Second Life” Weber, Rufer-Bach and Platel • http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_Portal • Countless video tutorials and in-world tutorials

Learning resources online This module will use the Vision learning environment. https://vision.hw.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp (Use university login and password) • Course announcements • Lab worksheets • Class wiki • Blogs • Discussion forums

Assessment: 100% coursework Submit an individual portfolio containing: • An area of land in the Heriot-Watt Second Life island (group work) (25%); • A multimedia tutorial to help other students learn about Second Life (25%); • A fun interactive Second Life exhibit for visitors to the Heriot-Watt island (25%); • A learning log (15%). • A review of other students’ multimedia work (10%);

Homework • Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life • Read about the SL community standards: http://secondlife.com/corporate/cs.php

Any questions?

Multimedia Design