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


•

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

•

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

•

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
.