2000 & BEYOND: INTELLIGENT ACCESS DEVICES FOR MULTIMEDIA IN TOMORROW’S TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS ABSTRACT:

Abstract

A new generation of interactive multimedia applications will emerge as an all-digital video signal becomes accessible via networked telecommunications channels. The issue of how we interact with newly available resources should depend on the nature of the intended experience or structured task. Over the past 10 years, some interactive multimedia projects have focused on the relation between task and input device, while others have extended the language of representation to include graphical cues. These prototype projects have established the desktop and conversation as paradigms for interactivity. This paper uses a thought experiment to explore devices which can extend these paradigms to encompass the complexity of tasks and operations which will define networked interactions for digital media. Today the range of overlapping dreams, predictable needs and expectations for "digital interactive multimedia " are expanding rapidly. Specific tasks which must be supported at a network level include directed information retrieval, creative multi-person exchanges, and document construction. Some applications will incorporate links to be accessed on a