Transcript Multimedia Application Design

Multimedia Application Design
Introduction
• Electronically stored information, is useful only if it is well
managed and easily accessed.
• Not only it is important to manage storage and access, but
to determine the most efficient use of mechanisms for
input, manipulation, indexing, and distribution of this
electronic multimedia information.
• We will see design issues related to distributed
applications.
Multimedia Application Development
• The process of creating a multimedia application can be sub
divided into three steps:
1. Planning the Application Development
2. Content Acquisition and Storage
3. Content Delivery
• Application design contains both user interface design and
system design.
Multimedia Application Development
• Once the concept for the application has been finalized, the
creator must decide what multimedia data will be used for
application.
• This multimedia data is commonly termed as content.
• Content is generally acquired from a source such as video
camera or microphone.
• Once content is acquired and stored, the application creator
must decide how the data will be delivered to the user.
Planning the Application Development
• Before beginning any task, one must decide what is to be
accomplished, and what the end product should be.
• A set of specifications is created for most applications.
• These specification will serve as a base for the application
development.
• Each application will have different specifications.
• The degree of detail in the specifications will depend on the type
of application being created and on the time allotted for its
completion.
Planning the Application Development
• Prototypes of final application are also created.
• Example: Story boards, Authored prototypes and Visual
programming.
• Storyboards can be hand drawn or computer generated
visual presentations of an application’s user interface and
program flow.
• An authored prototype will provide a detailed example of a
user interface but will only support a limited amount of
programming logic.
• Next step would be to use a visual programming tool such
as Microsoft visual Basic that will include programming.
• Prototype help in validating application.
User Interface Design
• Design of user interface is important, it affects user’s
satisfaction and understanding of the application.
• All interaction with application should be done with simple
interface.
• Devices such as touch screens are used for inexperienced
users because of their uncomplicated design.
• Input devices such as mice and keyboards are not used
when the application is aimed at inexperienced users.
• Using a mouse to double click an icon, in a windows icon
mouse pointer ( WIMP ) interface, requires more handiness
and skill than simply using one’s finger to push a button on
a touch screen.
System Design
• When designing an application creator has to look beyond
the user interface.
• The creator must consider the underlying technologies
which will be used to deliver the media to the user.
• Time Vs Space trade off need to be considered : that is
available bandwidth to the available storage space.
• What to use for higher bandwidth: Ethernet LAN, an analog
telephone line, a high speed network connection such as
ATM, or a WAN such as the internet.
• The storage space may consist of primary, secondary
storage.
• For storage access time need to be considered.
System Design
• How to provide security when multimedia application is
connected to network?
• Password protection, encryption etc need to be considered.
• Limiting the users who can write data to your storage
resources and limiting the users who can view the data on
your storage resources are two different problems.
• Hardware independence and Scalability need to be
consider.
Introduction
• Workflow is an important application area that uses multimedia
objects in widely distributed operations.
• Workflow involves the automation of a business process in order to
support and complement the transition of information and tasks
between organizational actors.
• Workflow becomes important in those sectors or industries that have
to deal with vast amounts of information and, in particular, where
timely receipt of information is of the essence
• Workflow is broadly defined as the automation of work among users
where the system is intelligent enough to act based on the definition
of document or work type and users, and the re cognition of dynamic
processing conditions.
• Workflow allows business process management in a predetermined
organized manner and allows the flow of information from a desktop
or a system to another desktop or a system.
Work Flow
• For example, an insurance claim received by e-mail is
routed automatically to a claims investigator.
• At that time, a picture or a video of the accident scene is
linked using OLE to create a case.
• The case is then coded and routed to an adjuster if there is
no injury.
• If there is an injury, the case is routed to a health inspector.
• The health inspector then checks the complete medical
record for the person involved in the accident.
• The case is then coded accordingly by the health inspector
and the case is routed to the adjuster.
• The adjuster’s role is to examine the code and apply
financial rewards to the case.
Benefits of Work Flow Management
• Processing hundreds of daily letters and inquires that took
several weeks can be addressed in a matter of hours.
• Keeping track of the status of the customer’s inquiry, which
was a lengthy manual process, can become fully
automated.
• Scanning applications, invoices, contracts, and claims
provides rapid access to information.
• For example, in a typical work flow based system where
customers automatically receive a response in 24 hours.
Benefits of Work Flow Management
• Processing hundreds of daily letters and inquires that took
several weeks can be addressed in a matter of hours.
• Keeping track of the status of the customer’s inquiry, which
was a lengthy manual process, can become fully
automated.
• Scanning applications, invoices, contracts, and claims
provides rapid access to information.
• For example, in a typical work flow based system where
customers automatically receive a response in 24 hours.
Elements of Workflow System
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The information contained in document.
Forms or files
A set of tasks to be performed on this information
People assigned to perform those tasks.
Set of rules that define how the work is to be processed.
workflow automation refers to the use of information
technology to govern the routing of data to and from the
people performing workflow tasks.
Types of Workflow
• Production workflow or Transaction based workflow:
– It has to handle large volumes of transactions.
– It has set rules, and tracks work in progress, and can
generate report of the work in progress.
– The inputs are well defined and outcomes are generated
as a result of inputs. An example of this type of
workflow is insurance claim processing.
Types of Workflow
• Mail enabled or Adhoc workflow:
– It is low volume and has few rules.
– The rules are deigned by users.
– For example, a message received from a patient may be
routed to different doctors uses mail as the
infrastructure to route the information from one
desktop to another desktop.
– This type of workflow does not track work in progress.
– The message will be processed as the individual
processes the message.
Types of Workflow
• Document Based Workflow:
– This consist of document management in an organized
manner.
– For example, a draft person creates a drawing which
then gets routed to a checker for the checking process.
– Document workflow has rules, and information flow.
– In this type of workflow the document belong to an
owner.
Types of Workflow
• Knowledge Based Workflow:
– This is like self learning and builds intelligence as it gets
more work done. Like AI.
• Object Oriented Workflow:
• The workflow objects have properties and methods.
• The properties of an object define the attributes of a
process.
• The methods define processes.
• The inheritance of an object allows super or subsets of
workflow objects.
Sequence of events in Workflow system
• Capture of Multimedia information, including text,
database records, image, voice, audio and video.
• Organizing this information into proper order designed for
specific application.
• Retrieval of multimedia objects for manipulation under
application control as well as for display.
• Redistribution of multimedia objects to support the
sequence of steps in a business process.
• Short term as well as long term storage of information.
• Output of results consisting of multimedia objects.
Components of Multimedia Systems
• Multimedia Input Systems:
– It consist of image scanning as the primary means of non textual
input.
– It also includes user workstations.
– The input node can be listed as follows:
1. Scanning Node: It consist of a computer to which one or more
scanners are connected. The scanning node typically compressed
the scanned input for storage.
2. User Workstation: The user workstation can serve as input node
for voice or audio input. It must have high performance CPU, high
resolution display, enough storage to cache video input, camera
equipment and video capture hardware and software, sound
digitizing hardware and software and compression hardware and
software.
Components of Multimedia Systems
3. Video Capture node: A separate node similar to a user
workstation may be used for capturing video.
Components of Multimedia Systems
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Multimedia Output System:
Output systems are basically display systems.
User Machine : It can be used to serve basic requirement
like display of text, image and video.
Server Systems: Can have several dedicated servers like:
1. Print server: It will continuously publish the
availability of print server and facility for printing the
document centrally.
One negative aspect: Privacy of confidential document.
2. Fax Server: Facility for sending Fax centrally.
Components of Multimedia Systems
3. File Server: Facility for storing and retrieving documents
centrally.
4. Gateway Server: System that provide communication to
other node in different network.
5. Teleconferencing Studio: It will provide facility for
teleconferencing with multiple monitors and adequate
sound system.
Components of Multimedia Systems
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Multimedia Storage Systems:
Storage is one of the major and ever growing requirement
of multimedia system.
Server Systems : Following are the different mass storage
servers which fulfills demand of storage.
1. Database Server: A database server is a computer
program that provides database services to other computer
programs or computers, as defined by the client server
model.
Components of Multimedia Systems
2. Image Server: It’s a document management system. It
provides easy access to documents.
3. Audio and Video Server:
Video Server: A video server is a computer dedicated to
delivering video online, delivering course material in video
format, deliver music videos.
Audio Server: Manages digitized voice and audio objects.