Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!emory!att!cbnewsh!rkl From: rkl@cbnewsh.att.com (kevin.laux) Newsgroups: comp.multimedia Subject: Re: Multimedia, Hypermedia, Hypertext? Message-ID: <1991Feb5.140305.9957@cbnewsh.att.com> Date: 5 Feb 91 14:03:05 GMT References: <1991Feb04.124036.340@abblund.se> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 52 In article <1991Feb04.124036.340@abblund.se>, nick@abblund.se writes: > Our group is looking into multimedia, but we have found no good > definition of what multimedia really is. Also the terms "hypermedia" > and "hypertext" perhaps need defining properly. > > Our current working definitions are: > > MULTIMEDIA: Mixed media. In some way "integrated". Not necessarily > interactive. Media include text, graphics, animation, photographs, > video, and sound. Multimedia: Multiple medias. Systems with the capability to handle any of the above mentioned media. > HYPERMEDIA: Same as multimedia but interactive. Interaction is via > associative links. Hypermedia is a method of linking/organizing media. It does not have to interactive. Interactive should describe the relationship that occurs between the user and the application, not how the application is internally structured. > HYPERTEXT: Same as hypermedia, but text only. This is ok. Hypertext is a specific subset of hypermedia. > There are a couple of questions about these definitions: > > 1. Should other media be included? If so what? Sure. Any "media" that conveys information/impressions such as light shows, smells, motion (vibration/actual motion), etc. Basically, use all 5 (or 6 :-)) senses. > 2. Many people say "multimedia" when they mean "hypermedia". Should > we distinguish between these terms. Is non-interactive multimedia > even interesting? Definitely make a distinction. Non-interactive multimedia is definitely interesting. Consider a rock concert - lighting effects sync'd with music, flash pots, moving stages, lasers, etc. > 3. Are subjects like Virtual Reality (or Cyberspace) part of multimedia? Yes. In fact, on January 21st, Intel Princeton had a VR demo using DVI. -- ________________________________________________________________________________ R. Kevin Laux Email: rkl1@hound.att.com AT&T Bell Labs Voice: (908) 949-1160 Holmdel, NJ 07733 Fax: (908) 949-0959 Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com