Student Perspectives on the Future of Content

8/14/2019 Student Perspectives on the Future of Content

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Disclaimer

This document does not necessarily represent the opinion of the European Commission.

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for commercial purposes must be preceded by written permission from the authors and the European Commission.Information in this document does not necessarily engage the responsibility of the European Institutions. While the goalis to keep this information timely and accurate, neither can be guaranteed either. If errors are brought to our attention, wewill try to correct them.

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Produced under contract byTECHSERV, Boite Postale 1078, L-1010 Luxembourg

cover design: antonio fdez.coca 1998 http://dmi.uib.es/people/acoca e.mail: [email protected] University Balearic Islands. Spain
http://dmi.uib.es/people/acocahttp://dmi.uib.es/people/acoca


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Welcome to "Student Perspectives on theFuture of Content". In 1997, the ElectronicPublishing sector of DGXIII/E-4 published

through Techserv a discussion documentcalled "The Future of Content". It encapsula-ted the views of strategists, academics, rese-archers, industrialists and users. It containedinput from people at all points of the contentvalue chain: creators, publishers, managersand consumers. Its purpose was to assist theEuropean Commission to determine theorientations that a research and develop-ment programme in multimedia contentshould take.

The document has been very successful butit is clear that discussions on the future ofcontent are to a certain extent sterile withoutthe energy and honesty of those who willherald the new wave of content. This is howthe idea of acquiring a students view wasborn. On the occasion of the InteractiveMultimedia Student Forum in Palma inJanuary 1998, we invited the participatingstudents to provide us with their vision state-ments. To heighten interest in the initiative,we offered some prizes for the most creativeentries.

The result was a very dynamic, almost orga-nic interaction, during which the studentsenthusiastically seized the opportunity torecord their views. I do not necessarily agreewith everything they say and you the readermay find some of their opinions challenging,but I fully support their right to say them.

The contributions included vision statements,scenarios and commentaries, published herein a way that we hope retains the vitality and

spontaneity with which they were submitted.What is the future of content? On the basis ofthis interaction, the answer is quite clear. Thefuture of content is people.

Kieran O'HeaTechservFebruary 1998

e-mail: [email protected]://elpub.ml.org
http://elpub.ml.org/http://elpub.ml.org/


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As main organisers of the Forum of the EuropeanMaster of Arts in Interactive Multimedia (MA IMM),which was the setting against which vision state-ments on The Future of Content were collected, wewould like to tell the readers a little more about it.The Forum gathers the Master students and stafffor one week every year, together with guests from

Universities and Companies across Europe. It is astimulating event full of exciting discussionsamongst students, staff, guests. About 60 masterstudents of 17 different nationalities, 20 lecturerscoming from The London College of Printing of theLondon Institute of Higher Education Corporation,the cole Nationale Suprieure de la CreationIndustrielle (Paris) and the Dublin Institute ofTechnology and Universitat de les Illes Balearstook part this year. Guest speakers were fromSpain, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugaland UK.

Universitat de les Illes Balears hosted the Forum inPalma from 26th till 30th of January 1998, whichwas partially sponsored by the RegionalGovernment of the Balearic Islands. In previousyears the hosts were HKU (1994, Hilversum, TheNetherlands), LCP (1995, London, UK), ENSCI(1996, Paris, France) and DIT (1997, Dublin,Ireland).

The Web address of the European MAIMM Forumis http://o2a.uib.es/maimm/forum/index.html

Josep Blat and Antonio Fdez.CocaDpt Matematiques i Informatica,Universitat Illes Balears,E-07071 Palma de Mallorca (Balears) SpainPhone: + 34 71 173243/2991; Fax: + 34 71 173003http://dmi.uib.es/people/jblathttp://dmi.uib.es/people/acocae-mail: [email protected]: [email protected]

UIB
http://dmi.uib.es/people/jblathttp://dmi.uib.es/people/acocahttp://dmi.uib.es/people/acocahttp://dmi.uib.es/people/jblat


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Student Perspectives on the Future of Content

Juan Miguel Bauz

Martin Casey

Anne Courtois

Garret Dalton

Sandra Guedenzi

Tyrone Hannick

Kamol Khunvitayapaisal

Altan Koraltan

Owen Kelly

Eric Lachaud

Alan Lambert

Alan McLeod

Conor McMahon

Renate Minoga

Colm Murphy

Gary Nolan


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Joachim Pietsch

Tania Ruiz

Lisa Salem

Matthew Sharwood

Claudia Torres

Chris Timmerman

Johnson Tsui / Adam de Linde

Lam Wai

Judith Whittaker


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Titulo del ensayo

nombre del autore.mail del autor


The question for the future of content is, How canwe stratificate content.

In the context of the commercial world time ismoney. With this in mind there seems to be far too

much time wasted finding the content that we requi-re.

Recently I was required to write a paper on theFrench thinker Baudrillard. I though that the WWWwould be the best scource reference available tome. I was bombarded with 365 218 references tothis French thinker.This obviously blew my mindand right away I knew that I would infinately neverhave enough time to sift through this information.This was a problem and a problem that I feel isbeginning to destroy the WWW.

We are reaching a point where we cannot distin-guish between good and bad content. There is not-hing worse than searching for something andhaving to wait for the search engine to find yourspecific request. When the engine find the requestwe are bombarded with thousands of interpreta-tions or pages which relate to your request.Considering that time is money, there is only somuch time to read all this information. We need amodel to categorize this content.

For examaple, Should the service providers berequired to catagorise relevent and irrelevent infor-mation, or is this the responsibilty of the user ? Thisis not an issue of resources, but an organisationalissue.

I do not advocate censorship, rather I do not equa-te organisation with censorship. I am not advoca-ting the introduction of modes of restriction, essen-tially the beauty of the internet is the freedom toexpress yourself. And this freedom would be facila-

tated with the easy navigation of content. This con-tent does not have to be impersonal. The personalsoap box should have the capacity to reflect thepersonality and the eccentricity of the user .What isrequired is the development of an organisational

model. This catagorisation can be based on manydifferent metaphors. Possibly through the introduc-tion of colour coded sections on the internet.

Addressing the question of rescources, it is more todo with the funding of explorations of models ofcatagorisation , than with control of content. Withthis stratification of content there would not be thatfeeling of information overload. This catagorisationof content would not restrict the web but rather freeit up. In this case looking at traditional models oforganisation and applying them to interactive digital

media may be the way forward. This as I have sta-ted is about access to information. Currently goingto the library seems to be the better alternative,hopefully through the stratification of information(content) we will be able to harness the benefits ofdigital media. We do not have the time or patienceto sift through thousands of page of URLS to findexactly what we want. In other words if we do notcategorize the internet it will become nothing morethat a waste bin.

The Wastepaper BasketAKA The World Wide Web

Martin Casey. [email protected]


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La notion essentielle en matire d'dition multim-dia est l'interactivit. Cependant, actuellement, l'in-

teractivit des produits multimdia se rduit a despropositions de thmes sous forme de table desmatires, parmis lesquels le lecteur fait son choix.Ces thmes sont pr-crits et les cheminements dulecteur dans l'information lui sont imposs.Ainsi, malgrs tous les avantages apports par cenouveau support, savoir, les liens hypertextes, leson, l'image anime, la cintique typographique...,cette soi-disant interactivit est limite.Ne peut-on pas imaginer qu'un tel media puisseprendre en compte le comportement des individus?

En effet, l'interactivit, ce n'est pas faire un choixentre diffrents thmes de manire entrer dansl'information comme c'est le cas dans un livre.L'interactivit, la relle intractivit, ce ne doit pasuniquement tre le lecteur qui s'adapte au contenucomme c'est encore le cas avec les CD-Rom et lessites internet o il suit les voies qu'on lui a trac. Lecontenu doit lui aussi pouvoir s'adapter au lecteur.Ainsi, on peut imaginer que l'avenir de l'ditionlectronique peut tre de proposer des contenusd'informations, des dveloppements de raisonne-ments ou des concepts qui puissent se gnrer enfonction du comportement de ses lecteurs, de ce

qu'ils sont et de ce qu'ils savent.

En effet, pour tout lecteur, la seule ralit qui soit,est la sienne et la seule interaction qui lui importe,est celle dont il a besoin. Ainsi, en termes d'inte-ractivit, le point de dpart d'une dmonstration, le

fil conducteur sont des archasmes et l'altration dela linarit est fondamentale. Il faut que le lecteur

puisse crer son propre cheminement, sa proprevoie.

Ainsi, lors de la consultation d'un contenu d'infor-mation, le parcours du lecteur ne doit plus se faireen fonction des choix, des liens qu'on lui impose.Le lecteur doit pouvoir crer lui-mme le contenuqui l'intresse en crant ses propres liens et nonpas suivant le contenu de l'information qui devratre crit, mais aussi les lois qui greront la faondont le contenu d'une publication se gnrera, demanire rpondre tout lecteur.

Il faut donc crer ces lois, dvelopper des pro-grammes informatiques, des agents intelligent quipourront rgir la gnse de tels contenus propres rpondre chaque individu. La puissance de plusen plus grande de nos ordinateurs et le temps rel,le gnie de nos informaticiens et l'intelligence artifi-cielle semblent pouvoir offrir un ensemble de re-lles potentialits en matire d'interactivit person-nalise. Le lecteur deviendra alors, aprs l'auteur,le principal acteur de la gnse de la publication.Les crits pourront s'adapter la ralit de leurslecteurs.

N'est-ce pas cela la vritable interactivit?

Utopie? Peut tre pas tant que a...

L'avenir ? des publicationsrelement interactives



Anne Courtois. [email protected]


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Future information

Garret Dalton. [email protected]

Today

is when the computer will know and understand us and willbe our mentor in our quest for knowledg: our agent>


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Tomorrow

In the 'postinformation' revo-lution the real cha-llenge is not havingaccess to infinite informa-tion, but rather, acquiringthe desired information in the

simplest and most direct man-ner. It could also be called a'control revolution' a radical shiftin who makes choices aboutinformation experience, andresources. It will now be the user, through hisdelegates, who decides when and what informa-tion to view and access. A form of object orienta-ted structure/environment, where all service ele-ments, not only work together, but help define andbuild each other.

Let's start at the start! A computer is defined as a"machine that stores and processes data".Obviously this bears little resemblance to ourrequirements of it. Lets just redefine it based onits new functionality: collection of digital 'ants'(anything is better than computer!), existing on anetwork medium, working together in an objectorientated manner.

These 'ants' will become our friends, interactionwith them will not be hygienically standard, but rat-her will be intuitional and they will learn our man-ners and habits. If we require one of our 'ants' toperform a task he/she will provide us with a perso-nalised service, we are their master after all.He/she knows us and wants to serve us and isprepared to do this relentlessly, based on theireusocial (inherent sacrificial makeup) character.

Their interaction is not just confined to us by anymeans. As a result of their altruistic attitude, wecan be guaranteed that once we send one 'ant' ona mission that he/she will, together with his com-rades, working in parallel, ensure the maximresults possible. These mobile 'ants' travel on anyexisting Web or communication channel gaining

information and simultaneously collaborating with`filtering ants located at the base, who based onour current state of mind/requirements, will rely onthe notification ants to present, or not, the fin-dings to us. These representatives will have thepower to bargain and swap information with otheragents, who belong to other clients. We will inaddition be guaranteed the best representationpossible, through our war ants.

The idea is that once the user has identified aneed for content then he/she sets up a communi-cation channel to manage the content. As the con-tent is changed at the source, the channel trans-mits or manages and updates the content on theclients machine. All content can thus be dynamic.The emphasis will be on user attention, with thetarget users paid to pay attention to any advertise-ment. Publicity will be tapered to the individual's

requirements and interests.


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Titulo del ensayo



The 20th century has invented the computer, the21st will have to deal with it.

When a question like the future of content arises,a lot of considerations can be made. Will digitalcontent force a convergence between the actual

medias, who will be the creators of this content(artists or technicians), will we have too much infor-mation, how will we select it, who will benefit fromit... but, to my eyes, all this is not the most interes-ting part of the debate. The content and its supportare intrinsically linked, and we cant speak aboutthe future of the first without analysing what willhappen to the second.If we translate print, video, film or sound into seriesof 0 and 1, what happens to it? Apparently nothing.We still have a word, an image or a sound... but thistime it appears through a computer screen. Hasthis changed the content of what we have impor-

ted? This is all to be discussed.

Lets come back to the link between the content andits support.Imagine a book. The book is the support (we couldalso call it media) and the content is the novel thatit contains. We could take a newspaper or a maga-zine (other supports that are using words) theywould result dramatically different in the content (anaricle is not a novel). If we step to television the linkbetween content and support is even more clear:the use that television makes of image is proper to

the medium itself (see the difference between tele-vision and cinema).So for the content creator (writer, director, musi-cian...) the first choice is the medium that will con-tain its message, the content will then find its wayof expression depending on the support that hasbeen chosen.

If we want to see how the digitalisation of informa-tion is changing our world we could start analysingthe new support that it has created. The computer

is a machine where supports such as CD-Roms,DVD, World Wide Webb are creating new ways ofexpression. But what is peculiar about these newsupports is that they are not adding a new code(words, images, sounds...), they are just mixingthem together in a different way. Our new support

could be seen as a remix of our old ones. Of cour-se the big novelty is that we can interact with themedium and, in this sense, we read and use it in acompletely new way. But has the content reallychanged? Not really. What has changed is the waywe assimilate it.

So, to come back to the original question, whatabout the future of content?Until we consider the digital revolution through thecomputer and its actual supports, the content willnot drastically change as such, what will change isits authors, its distribution and its public. What will

really change the content is the event of virtual rea-lity.

The day we will be able to immerse ourselves intoa virtual world that will contain all the informationthat is now available around us, then we will beco-me the support for it. The day we will not read anovel but live it, there will be no such thing as thebook or the intermediate between someones crea-tion and our perception. We will be in the novel andso we will also be part of the content.

This is the real revolution: when content will bespace, smell, life and not word, video, imagination.This is the future we cannot even imagine becausewe are used to interpretate or use a support; we arenot used to be the support ourselves and to crea-te the content while it is happening.

The future of content is to be life, and stop beingcontent.

The future of content

Sandra Guedenzi. [email protected]


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Future of Content



Tyrone Hannick. [email protected]

Where do we begin?

As we evolve we see patterns from the past being replayed, re-enacted before

us. In the same way, what will forge the future of content are patterns from itsown past.Where this all begins is when humans began to interpret their perception of theirnatural and social environment, be it faded paintings on cave walls or etchingson monoliths.As the necessity for communication intensified we developed symbols toexpress meaning in the form of language and then text.Finally as content increased in volume, and modes of expression, in order toallow us to manage and digest it, its form moved from the solid (paper, celluloid)to also encompass the fluid (analogue, digital).

What can we conclude?

Although the tools and means of production may change we will always createcontent, as it is intrinsically linked to our being, our expression of our existence.

What will change in terms of the future?

What will change in the future is reflected in the way we are transforming ourconcept of time. We evolve at an increasingly faster rate, the flux of informationhas intensified pushing our abilities to absorb it all to its limits.

As concerns the management of this glut of content we will require the develop-ment of artificial entities which mirror thought processes, to help us absorb.

The danger of this non-stop evolutionary acceleration is if we shorten or limit thetime we allow for the process of reflection. Reflection is what provides the crea-tive psyche with space which is essential, if the intention in the creation of con-tent is innovation and not imitation.


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'Euro Cult'



Kamol Khunvitayapaisal. [email protected]

The Euro Cult would be a digital weekly magazine about the Europeans' culture.For instance, art; music; cooking and sport. It would be published on the internet.The text would be in a mixture of languages. For instance, an article about Italiancooking for British readers would be in English. From place to place in the text thewords would be replaced by Italian words, i.e. (cooking instructions) put spaghet-ti in boiling water for 10 minutes. The word 'water' would be replaced by the Italianword, which is printed in a different colour from the English language, and therewould be a pop up dialogue box explaining the meaning and grammar, when theword is clicked (activated). Also, there would be sound teaching how to pronoun-ce the word. There would be several different levels of integration of the langua-

ge. The advance level will have more integration of the languages. For the profi-ciency level, the readers could choose to read purely written in Italian language.This integration of languages would apply to other languages which are officiallybeing used in the European Union. If the article is about England and publishedfor Spanish readers, it would be published in Spanish and mixed with Englishwords. This scenario would apply to other EU's official languages.

I believe language is living. The nations would integrate if their members adaptedone another culture and languages. This concept is a kind of melting pot and isthe one which once created the Afrikaans language.


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Recently, a friend of mine illustrated an old Chineseproverb in one of his presentations to explain mul-timedia. Two fishes, one fully grown and the other a

baby are swimming in the sea.The baby, asksWhat is water?The fully grown fish answers: you are surroundedby it son

Content, to me is a little bit like that. We aresurrounded by it. Immersed in it, and indeed we arethe content. Computers are not made in the imageof man, but the computer is the mind - set of man.Through out history, man evolved variety ofmediums for self expression.

xpression and representation: painting, text, print,photography, moving image, sound, video, anima-tion. Ever since Gutenburg printed the first Bible,our striving has been to advance the means bywhich we express and represent our selves. Thecontent that gives life and meaning to an otherwisean earthly and empty corps.Now, for the first time, these disciplines we createdhave been digitised. A new palette has been crea-ted for our self expression. It is, if you will, like man,the artist suddenly finding new colours. Thesecolours when mixed create what we have come tocall Interactive Multimedia.

Are they, these number crunching, cold, calculatingmonsters ready perhaps to obliterate humanity andcreate a new computational new order, perhaps, acheap thrill from a game, or a glorified typewriter?

Well, if the metaphor for the multimedia tools(image, text, video and animation) are colours andif we extend and continue with the same line ofthought and say, that the computer then becomes

the canvas, the paper, on to which we apply ourextended colour range in order to create content.There is how ever a problem here, computers arecreated and programed by techno' s to perform

multiple of tasks of which multimedia or electronicpublishing is only one. To greater extent computa-tion is still largely controlled by programmers whocreate the sofware to operate the computer.When computers were at an infant stage of deve-lopment, our expectations still, some how, out strip-ped their performance. It seems perhaps, thatsome of the targeting and specifications of compu-ters were to say the least underestimated. Themore we learn.earn about the computer and the software, thatoperates it, the more we demanded.

manded of the computer. Our dreams and ambi-tions, are infinate so when we come to find outletsfor these, we want to feel that what is on promise isrealised technically. For, with every advancement oftechnology our demands and ways of self expres-sion become even more ambitious.

Now, in the digital age, we are more mature asusers of computation and see more clearly how wewant to use computers to create this elusive dream,idea-content.

IInternet, for instance is more advanced as a busi-

ness, and its membership is growing daily. Millionsof people already access it everyday, for work,enjoyment or both.

We want, indeed demand, more user friendly, morepowerful computers and software from the manu-factures even though many of us perhaps only usea small percentage of the capabilities of the com-puters. But what's changed, we use a small per-centage of our brains.

Titulo del ensayo



Emancipated Computing

Altan Koraltan. [email protected]


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We want the ' techno' s to become more aware ofthe input of the users. It is not just purely the ergo-nomics of the hardware, but we seem to want tocreate the reflection of our souls on the computerscreen make it artifically intelligent with a heart,warm blooded, like us.We want to spend less time grappling with the ope-rating systems, with interfaces, and use the time toexplore and to realise the full potential of our crea-tivity.

That seems to be the way the future is going. Morepowerful computers built with voice recognition,

metaphoric bots to suit your taste. Give your com-puter a personality, make it part of the familly give ittasks to do while your are not present. Now, youcan perhaps be in two places at once? Sensors willbe regulating and controlling our domestic andbusiness environments. Intelligent buildings, cars,televisions more sophisticated communication sys-tems.Technology that will create integrated computatio-

nal systems with it' s own alphabet. Understood byus all. No chains of gobbeldy - gook programminglanguage, that you need to study for years in order

to write simple script, instruction to your artificalmate. Yes, may be a mate in all the senses of thatword. Of course, for every good thing there is a flipside. But, that is for another time. In short emanci-pating programming, take it out of the hands of thetechno's and give it to the crazy's as I heard someone say the other day. Don' t leave it cold and cal-culating, making it hot blooded, imaginative that'sthe way we prefer more pleasant interactions. Awarm colour perhaps a full blooded orange (metaphorically speaking) where our every day is anew dawn. That will empower people, give wideraccessibility to the computer and the tools with in tomore than fuel our imaginations to reach our fullpotential, realising ideas, our dreams in transit, toreality, virtual or not.For we are the future of content for any form ofexpression.


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J'aimerais que les Europens en gnral et leursdirigeants en particulier profitent de l'avnementdes "autoroutes" de l'information pour se dmar-quer du modle de civilisation dmesurment mer-cantiliste qui rgne de l'autre ct de l'Atlantique etdu Pacifique et qui occupe une place prpondran-te dans la production multimdia actuelle.Je souhaiterais que les Europens dmontrent, parleurs initiatives, que le multimdia peut tre gale-ment un vecteur de la dmocratie lorsqu'il rappro-che les citoyens du savoir et qu'il propose par cebiais des services d'intrt gnral accessibles

tous.L'exprience du Minitel en France constitue monsens un exemple prcieux du fait de la contradic-tion majeure qu'elle recle. L'tat franais s'estengag gnreusement au dbut de cette exp-rience fournir gratuitement un Minitel a tous lesabonns du tlphone. Cependant, comme Segaet Nintendo, l'tat franais fait payer l'accs auxinformations et aux service qu'il diffuse sur ce ter-minal. Cette conduite contredit le principe duService Public pourtant si cher aux franais quiassure tous l'accs aux informations et aux servi-

ces d'intrt gnral sans conditions de ressour-ces.

Afin de promouvoir un Service Public europen quidpasse l'exprience franaise, j'aimerais que laCommunaut europenne soutienne la productionet la diffusion d'informations et de services d'intrtgnral accessibles tous. Je pense notamment la mise en place:- de bibliothques en rseaux pour les coles et lesuniversits de l'ensemble des pays de laCommunaut- de bourses virtuelles du travail qui recensent lesopportunits de formation continue et d'emploidans les diffrentes rgions de la Communaut.

- de guichets virtuels qui permettent l'accs auxservices publics des diffrentes rgions de laCommunaut.- de forums virtuels (type IRC) sur lesquels pou-rraient tre dbattus des questions d'intrt gn-ral dans les diffrentes rgions de la Communaut.Il me semble que c'est en produisant des contenusde ce type et en permettant au plus grand nombred'y accder facilement que le multimdia europentrouvera une place part entire sur les autoroutesde l'information.

Pour des lendemains quichantent ... juste



Eric Lachaud. [email protected]


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Alan McLeod. D.I.T.

[email protected]



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Titulo del ensayo



We speak of content, of intellectual property, ofownership.We speak in the language of real estate. We definephenomena with a language which is only reallydesigned to describe an item or concept as it existsin real time and space.The wrong tools for the job.

Within the virtual, the digital, the codified ones andzeroes that manifest and drive web technology, wedeal in ideas, fluid and changing.An idea is a precious commodity, invaluable andutterly mutable.We move away from the physical manifestation ofideas; books, films, records and music cds.As we shake off the the parameters and codes ofthese analogue media, we must prepare ourselvesfor a new attitude to that which we currently refer toas content.

Out are the lawsuits for breach of copyright.Appropriation will become the norm and has alwaysfuelled and enlivened our arts.Corporate law may give up at the first fence, thechallenge isinsurmountable, and scapegoating can only reallygo so far.

We speak through the content of media peripheralto our lives. Often we hear ourselves speak of afragment of a film, a song, a book or a poem, as westrive to ultimately communicate some vital ele-ment of ourselves.

Softwares provide us with the tools of appropriationand we will use this technology as we do, to speakof ourselves.We will appropriate whatever it takes to do this andthe law cannot keep up.I write as an artist and this both excites and intri-gues me. I wonder how I can protect my work andyet I cannot let this hold me back. I must take thischance.The web provides a highly kinetic space for thecollision and interaction of ideas, and we ultimatelycannot control or regulate this kind of environment.

There are far to many variables.However, think of a city when the lights go out. Wecan run wild and ransack, plunder and appropriate,but we may find ourselves with nothing more thanthe useless results of a senseless looting.Resources and tools appropriated and used wit-

hout thought or any real regard for their potential.Guard against this.On the web, we may sit back and think about it.Think about respect, respect for diversity, opinionand feeling. Think about the ideals of etiquette, anda regard for other people.The web emerges, not as a technical resource, butas a tool for communication.In the absence of a legal structure capable of enfor-cing respect, we must value the ideas and thoughtsof others as the very fibre of communication, andthe future of web content.

We are not dealing with commodities, we are expe-riencing something which can only exist as virtualphenomena, and we must be gentle with this fragi-le material.We must tread carefully amongst each other in thisvirtual, charged space, as we move towards thegeneration of our own content on the web.

Our ideas express ourselves, they represent thefundamentals of who we are and the unique spaceand perspective we can each occupy on this earth.On the web this is our only real possession and thevirtual can never subsume this.

We can only protect this with respect, and for thetime being this is central to the future of digital con-tent, of any shape, form or origin.Maybe respect is the future of digital content.Maybe the web presently challenges our ability torespect the ideas, thoughts and feelings of others.These are the elements of our conciousness, ourconscience, which defines as nothing more thanthat which we are,a human race.

Vision StatementThe Future of Content on the Web.

Conor McMahon. [email protected]


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Impartial information XComments



Renata Minoga, [email protected]

Information now is provided in a large number of ways but all of it very partial.

Every time you get any kind of information you also get someone elses opinion orpoint of vew about it.

In the future, people should concentrate on finding a way of providing informationthat is absolutely impartial. Information chrystal clear, and as an extra, an analy-sis , or a point of vew of someone maybe interested on the subject, linked anywaywith it, or even in outside observer.

Impartial information, makes people reach their own conclusions. It should betheir own choice if they want or not to go deeper into the subject comparing theirconclusion with other points of vew , not being driven by someone elses conclu-sion or opinion.

When you make conclusions by your self, and then you discuss the topic youmake any conclusion more mature. People need to think more for themselves, thecontent should be more in real form, less worked out to make our life easy.

People deserve to think about information, not only swallow it as a tablet and wewill have to learn how to digest information again! That is a way to empower infor-mation, compelling people to think and consequently inspiring and enriching theirminds.


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Interacting with the latest on-line documentary youare interrupted by your brother in Australia callingvia video conference to remind you its mother'sbirthday tomorrow. You quickly order her presentafter an interactive database gave a selection ofnovel customised gifts and pay for it using digi-euros drawn on-line from your money manager ser-ver.

After the documentary you click on news and get acustomised multimedia presentation detailing whathappened in your locality, nationally, internationalllyand professionally today. Its drawn from differentsources in languages but presented by a singlevoice in the one tongue.

Its then down to work to do a half an hour moduleof the MA in interactive multimedia you are comple-ting through a Portuguese university.

While this scenario is technically feasible today theprohibitive hardware and telecommunications costshave meant few have developed the content tomake such a scene commonplace. In the future,the low distribution cost of electronic content willmean the information which for geographical andcommercial reasons it was not viable to communi-cate through a medium will become accessible to amass audience. Another significant change will bethat the on-line audience's profile - mainly male,white, computer literate, upper middle class, wes-

tern European and north American will also changebringing more universal and varied content.

The geographic location of the mass marketaudience, which previously TV, radio, newspapersand other traditional forms of media had to cater forwill, become much less important in future publis-hing. Special interest content, original content sho-wing all sides to the story and detailed coveragewith feedback may become the norm if the newmedium of digital media is harnessed creatively

and openly.

Technology such as instantaneous translationshould allow cultures that rarely communicatedbefore to begin to talk. The Anglo-American contentwhich dominates much of western European mediashould give way to a more diverse range of influen-ces.

Interactive on-line programmes and games inwhich the viewers must participate will partly repla-ce some of the time spent passively watching thesame television set. The range and choice will bediverse and not restricted by national or culturalboundaries.

For professionals, their precious time and constantneed for more micro information will be satisfied bypersonalised multimedia on-line content. Their

expensive and time consuming chores such aschecking an overseas company's credit rating, get-ting business leads from planning permissions andseeking trading links outside of their traditional mar-kets in other countries and languages should beco-me easier.

Life enhancement content will also feature. Nonprofit support groups can proliferate linking peoplewith similar problems or who have faced similardilemmas who would otherwise never have had theopportunity to communicate. Educationally, cour-

ses will be able to be provided more economicallyand in people's own homes. They can pursue cour-ses that geographically or financially had been outof their reach.

The most exciting content prospect is what we havenot been able to yet imagine. Putting new media inthe hands of people and allowing open accessshould bring new types of content not borrowedfrom traditional media into the new digital space.

Future of Content



Colm Murphy. [email protected]


24/40

The developments in technology and their bountifulcontribution to the development of an industry enti-rely based around the rearrangement of digital bitsof data is well documented. However, there is onearea, early in its stage of development , but nonet-heless of great impending importance, which isworth exploring in the debate about the future of

electronic publishing in Europe: that of the commonlanguage - not a language restricted by wordsalone but a language structured around a newsemiotic system which incorporates image, soundand user interaction.

"What is the use of a book?" though Alice,"without pictures or conversation?""Through the Looking Glass", Lewis Caroll, Author(1872)

The multitude of possibilities to directly process and

combine well-established media have coined theterm 'multimedia'. What this term fails to reveal isthat it is not actually the convergence of the variousexisting media which is most significant, but ratherthe unique opportunity to realise the age-old idealof common language a new language with no fron-tiers - a democracy of information within a frame-work of communication which acknowledge thevalue of the receiver and sender as equal, effecti-vely uniting them in a seamless transaction.Therefore the success of European electronicpublishing lies in its ability to simultaneously provi-de a strong foundation of a new semiotic, as well as

to fulfil its responsibility to the continual develop-ment of opportunity, democracy and economicprosperity.

As a consequence of this combination of technolo-gical developments, multimedia content will evolveinto a woven tapestry of integrated information,entertainment and services, available on-demandby any user, at any time. The resulting media willprovide users with a choice of sophisticated modesof communication which will stimulate understan-ding and communication across barriers, thus ope-

ning new channels to encourage the exchange ofknowledge, the simulation of education andemployment and the sharing of cultural experienceacross Europe.

"Language is not simply a reporting device forexperience

but a defining framework for it""Language, Thought and Reality", Benjamin LeeWhorh, US Linguist (1856

Importantly, content and design of this new mediaalso has to take on board the task of educating thepopulation to be able to understand the emergingcodes of communication: the new grammar orsemiology. Designers and content developers willhave to use the new tools to, not only shape infor-mation for optimum quality, interpretation, availabi-lity and delivery, but also to learn about the needs

of the population of Europe and ultimately straddlethe hurdles posed by the characteristic diversity ofthe countries involved.

Digital delivery channels such as fibre optic net-works and electricity grids capable of deliveringdigital data at many times faster than current spe-eds of transfer are characterised by an acceleratedrate of evolution. The industry also demands adynamism from its work force capable of matchingemerging opportunities within electronic publishing.Perhaps of even greater significance is the deve-lopment of wireless transmission networks, allo-

wing remote access to information through highbandwidth channels, therefore removing the geo-graphical restrictions of many industries and stimu-lating an effective matchmaking medium betweensupply and demand of skills. Other such catalystsin this process are the liberated and deregulatedtelecom companies in Europe and the race toachieve even higher rates of data compressionwhich, together, combine to satisfy a correlatingdemand for increasingly 'media-rich' presentationof information and service.

The Future of EuropeanElectronic Publishing



Gary Nolan. [email protected]


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Not only is there an increasing capacity for greateramounts of information (including large data ele-ments such as sound and video) to be embeddedinto data transfers, but there is also a capacity forfaster simultaneous access to a significantly largermarket base at any one time, effectively creatingthe ideal conditions for information on demand,and an all-important return-path channel, giving theuser options and input on their overall multimediaexperience.

The importance of the evolution in technology liesin its ability to create a new dynamic semiotic sys-

tem as well as giving the users the opportunity todefine the semiotic system itself. The implicationssuggested by such developments signify a traver-sing of all frontiers to connect individuals together.As a significance of geographical location diminis-hes, the importance of the role of content desig-ners, authors and access providers grows, definingtheir responsibility to ensure that electronic publis-hing remains a democratic and progressive media.


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Titulo del ensayo



All forms of information - from the human genometo Mozarts symphonies - are being digitzied.Binary code does not distinguish between differenttypes of information and allows for cross-referen-cing between media, i.e. film, music, print. It follows

that images, sound and text will become equal andintegral parts in electronic publications. This is thebasis of multimedia productions today but the inte-gration of the media will increase further.

Electronic content will start to replace traditonalmedia when an adequate content-player has beeninvented. This is neither the Desktop PC or the inte-ractive television set. They are both immobile andstrain the eye. In order to be successful the devicewill need to be cheap, small and battery-powered.It will be able to upload data into its in-built memory

and be able to display sound, text and audio.Simple controls through touch-screens or voicenavigation will allow the user to navigate throughcontent.

When such a device gains market acceptance elec-tronic content will replace traditional media asrapidly as compact discs succeeded vinyl. Althoughthe following discusssion is primarily concernedwith the replacement of print by electronic text thearguments about the logistics of digital media areequally valid for audio and video content. The gro-wing integration and customisation of digital mediaalso implies that future texts will contain a lot of dis-parate media.

Books (especially computer books) are often out ofdate as soon as they are on the shelves. Futurebooks will always be the most recent version. Also,titles will never be out of print. They will includehypertext indexing which points to internal or exter-nal information. They will contain audio and videofor additional explanation and allow for manual

annotation. These titles will improve French pro-nounciation in a language course or read bed-timestories to a child.

Because content is transmitted electronically

publishers will not have to worry about printing,warehousing, transportation and retailing costs andwill offer a wider variety of specialised, previouslyunprofitable publications. The range and definitionof titles of the future publishers will become the keyto their success. Since there are no other relatedcosts than content development and data-storagethe publisher of the future becomes a content pro-vider or a rental service: for a flat monthly rate or arental fee the subscriber to the Penguin InternetService could have access to all their desired book-titles . This distribution model completely bypasses

the retailer. Therefore, book, record and videoshops will become a thing of the past. They mightbe replaced by public unstaffed download stations.

The electronic distribution of content will also ena-ble publishers to consolidate their losses fromcopyright infringement. They will offer a much lowerpurchase price on their products in order to makecopyright violation less profitable.

Publications will be customised for individuals.Content will be assembled and edited by search-bots . The searchbot scans through all availableinformation and selects titles according to search-criteria and individual settings: i.e. interests, rea-ding habits, preferences of mediatypes. Thesearchbot would compile a customised hitlist. Thiscan be edited but once the searchbot is familiarwith a user profile this should rarely prove neces-sary. After accepting all or part of the selection thesearchbot initiates the transaction with the variouscontent providers and the user receives an itemi-zed bill for each subscribed/rented item.

Future of Content

Joachim Pietsch. [email protected]

Not to lie about the future is impossible and one can lie about it at will Naum Gabo


27/40


Referencing software automatically indexes andhyperlinks the items. The dossier is then transfe-rred into the display device. Should the user decideto buy this compilation the searchbot would initiatethe transaction. A purchase certificate would besent out and the dossier would be stored on theusers personal data-storage space. In this kind ofscenario any kind of content will be handled, mar-keted and sold like software.

Such information handling is vulnerable to abuse.Information would be easy to manipulate and sup-press. An authenticating mechanism should be put

in place whereby abbreviated or changed content isclearly recognisable. This could be in form of a digi-tal watermarking system for original content. Whenthe content is amended in any way the watermarkwould be broken or disappear entirely.

The molecular compilation method of the searchbotwill create a new type of content developer: themodular specialist. Film, literature and music willallow for the insertion of different modules to caterto the audiences individual tastes. (Multiple storyli-nes and endings in novels, different actors in the

same role for different audiences, or specialiseddirectors and writers for happy endings and actionscenes). Electronic content will not replace traditio-nal linear narration but it will stimulate cross-fertili-sation between the different genres and invite furt-her integration of media.

The progress of information technology in the 20thcentury has witnessed the dominance of the com-puter in many fields previously thought exclusivelythe domain of human operators (i.e. voice recogni-tion, automatic translation and behaviourist coun-selling software). This trend will continue. In futuresophisticated computer software will be able to imi-tate human creativity in special areas (i.e. compu-ter generated journalism , poetry software or com-puter generated music ) and be able to producecontent independent of human operators.


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Titulo del ensayo



Remarks on a digitalemerging media

Tania Ruiz. [email protected]

As soon as all that "cyber", "hyper", "virtual", "multi", "new" fuss will be over, and thehyperbolic astonished way to talk about contemporary technology ceases it will betime to create sense from it. The main danger of that Novelty worship is that it hasa strong subtext of scorn to history. It tends to omit the details that technology has,been always new, that hypertext consists of text , that the world has always beenpresented to us in a multisensorial way, and that the notions of Virtual and Real godeeper than those of simple simulation.

In that sense "multimedia" is in a prehistoric stage, but not because it is new, butbecause of the old tendency to believe it is new.

The word page comes from the Latin word "pagus", which means field, cultivationfield. There is not limit in digital media for the creation of Pages the size of a field.What comes to mind is what to sow on them.

Digital Media will certainly go further than the simple juxtaposition of multiple mediaelements. Since it occurs closer to the intersection between those media, it requi-res urgent consideration be applied to the development of its own language; whichis already probably germinating from the transmigration of concepts from the arts oftime and space.

Transmigration, extrapolation, and displacement of concepts between arts havealways contributed to their enrichment. Musicians and writers compose; rhythm isin the base of motion pictures and literature. The concept of Edition, which originallyreferred to the act of bringing text together, migrated in the spatial axis to magazi-

nes and news illustrative way to organize text and pictures and also in the time axis,to film and video, as a synonym of montage. The world can not wait longer to seewhat Editing will mean to Digital Media, when it get invented, but, for sure, it will befar away of the "cut" and "paste" unfortunated first approach

new

history

language


29/40


The fusion between text and images had its splendour in themiddle age, before text was shifted to margin. PeterGreenaway's "Pillow book" makes a remarkable attempt togive back (literally) Body to the text.

Being aware of the enormous expressive potential ofCalligraphy is one of the arguments to seriouslyreconsider the limitations of the ASCII, which somedare to call "new Esperanto" or the "new universal

language".

Pillow Book is also an anticipation film on the form, it presents both memories anddiachronic events simultaneously on the screen. It is probably an early example ofhow the choreography concept from dance is migrating to motion pictures; the ori-ginal single main figure screen body now has to share the stage with others, andmanage to harmonize internal and external rhythms of action.

Besides the undeniable influence of media, we must be aware of how far technicalissues are also generating language. For example, Infographic 3D works, from the

very bottom of their creation process; with such an analytical split that characterizecontemporary digital tools, ignore almost completely the sculptural tradition. As aconsequent implication, it often remains representing vacuity over vacuum. Its labconditions limit the concept of material to the application of makeup over an emptyskeleton.

That emptiness-make up point is crucial because it perfectly define the point wherethe limit is blurred between technical and aesthetical issues; and take us to thequestion of the moment where that decision was taken (and probably also to thequestion. Who made that "software"?). 3D is obviously influenced by the contem-porary concern about "look", "lite" and "clean".

body to text

body to screen

body to body

aestechnics

1. Biblia Pauperum. Bavaria, 1414. Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.2. The constellation of Sagittarius. Aratus, Phaenomena. Peterborough c. 1122. London, British Museum.3. King Ethelbald's visit to Guthlac's shrine. Guthlac Roll. Croyland, c. 1200. London, British Museum.4. Vivian Wu in Peter Greenaway's Pillow Book. England.1996.5. David Lynch's Lost Highway publicity poster.


30/40


Everything loses its weight and its scent. It is 'suggested' constantly to us to loseweight and scent. Digital media has nothing to lose.

Smell and taste seem so far impossible to digitize, at least until a "direct to brain"

interface is achieved. But what is possible is to synthesize, reproduce and delivertaste and smell. Whether it will come together or not to "virtual reality" as it is nowdefined depends on the moment where entertainment industry (or army) will be ableto seduce specialized chemical research teams to move from perfumes and ali-mentary industry. Then, we could talk about simulation.

The elements that allow us to make a part of a machine could be understood asProsthesis, but not to supplant a real organ but to extend the horizons of human per-ception, without the risk of mystical drugs.

In the same sense of mysticism, Digital Places seem to be trying to come to repla-ce those lost limbs that remain painful, as well as the 6th sense we supposedly have

left back in paradise. Or virtual worlds, like cave art was, are only akind of consolation for what was not trapped.

Reality had been losing credibility gradually, since actual instrumentssimulate simulators. Just like in modern planes where technical repre-sentation devices make real images less trustable. Just like on thenews.

In digital media the immediacy of construction and presentation will eventually castaside reconstruction and representation. If an architect can walk into a buildingsduring the design phase, there is nothing to prevent us to inhabit them. It will not befear that prevents a pilot to take off from a dark runway. If, for a doctor it looks thesame a patient a thousand km. abroad as a fictitious one, there is nothing to makeus more real.

Simultaneity, and how it came to break the unity of our sensorial being is a majorissue in concern to the merging of simulation and telecommunication. Since theinvention of vehicles (or maybe since the very first act of motion) our perceptualrelationship between space and time had gradually change by simply experiencingspeed.

Telephone made really a difference by splitting our perceptual apparatus in realtime. It is well exemplified in David Lynch's "Lost Highway". A man talking to a manin front of him, but "through" his own cellular phone, without opening his mouth andexplicitly pretending to be somewhere else. Going further from the very act of "tech-noventriloquist" performance, Lynch is making a remarkable analysis of contempo-

rary Ubiquity.

simulation

prosthesis

reality

simultaneity

ubiquity


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Unfortunately, Lynch did not stay away from the clich of demonizing technology.Technology can not, as the extension of us it is, be better of worse than we oursel-ves.

What is actually happening (and make that clich understandable) is that the coe-volution of men and machine (human and tool) is taking us to a different way to seetime and reality, which is nothing less than changing our Cosmology.

The myths, condemned to incessantly change their appearance resist such hiber-nation. Our awareness off lifetime is still merged in to the Greek myth of Chronus,the father who devours his children. This approach of what time means to beings isnot exclusive to "west", even Hinduism lays particular stress on the destructiveaspect of time. Everything dies in time: "Time ripens the creatures, Time rots them"

(Mahabharata 1.1.188). "Time" (kala) is thus another name for the God of death,Yama. Time seems to be for every culture an organizing parameter of the cosmo-logos discourse.Digital Reality, through simultaneous simulation and ubiquity, is taking us back (orfurther) to a completely different approach not only to reality but to Time Itself(Emit Selfit to Wim Wenders).As a possible model to those "new" cosmologicalviews, below are presented two examples coming from cultures we use to talkabout like if they where living in the past:

The Hopi Indians have two different concepts of space and time. The first is allthat is manifested. This time is objective and comprises all that is or had beenaccessible to the senses. The second is all that is manifesting. This is a subjective

concept and comprises all that will be acceptable to the senses. There is no exis-tence in the way that a painting-by-numbers waits only for a colour. Thus the onlytense which might be considered in the Hopi language could be called "expectati-ve- something about to be manifest or at the moment of inception. (Whorf quotedby Parkes in Times, Spaces and Places: A chronogeographic perspective)

At the stage of simulation, when dualistic concepts such as Simultaneity, Ubiquityan, also dual, Simulacra populate a double world.

"The Australian Aboriginalls envision the world through a cosmology called TheDreaming. The culture heroes who swell in the "dreaming" not only made thisworld and its creatures, but are still continuously concerned with its activities. Oninitiation the Aboriginal becomes a part of this experimental "time zone" and sha-res the life that comes from the dreaming. Trobriand islanders apparently concei-ve of all past events (real or mythical) as included in a "universal" present. .. Theircreative past is united with the present and the future. . (Parkes in op.cit)

Later, when we will get to a world where distances are abolished and total unityrestored.

cosmology

time

duality

unity


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When contemplating the future of content, one cantake on the function of either two roles - prophet ofvisionary. I choose the latter. The former is no morethan a glorified game of odds like that of guessingwhat the Christmas number one song will be. The

latter is a perspective of what is possible. This is amuch more honourable role to pursue as it is whenwe think deeply about what is possible that we canforget convention and forge stronger and broaderfoundations on which the future, in this case of con-tent, can be laid.

Content, in terms of electronic publishing, is thatwhich fills a space that isn't actually there. Of cour-se it is there in that we see, hear and believe that itis there, but in terms of the physical and actual it isnot. This entity which we call cyberspace is at last

a virtual reality where we can be the centre of theuniverse. In reality we try to convince ourselves thatthe worlds revolves around us on an everydaybasis, only to be put back in our place by the lawsof nature and the cold light of day. In cyberspacewe can hallucinate to our hearts content withoutever actually having been deluded, in fact, almostwithout ever actually having hallucinated at all!

In my mind, cyberspace is a cross between apotential Daliesque heaven and wild west America.Here we are pioneers, creators of content namedSalvador fighting for the surreal content of our livingcanvas like quasi Wyatt Earp's and bounty hunters.But like it was in the wild west, cyberspace is underconstruction. Its content will be created from whatwe know exists already and from what we think willexist in the near future. This means that our canvasis still morphing and that by guessing what the nextformation will be we are actually creating it andhence what will be its content.This canvas is alsodislodging itself from the computer and to whatextent it does this will influence how incorporated in

or separated from the real world this medium andits content will be. The accelerated advancement oftechnology has been paid for at the expense of theadvancement of content. We need to approach thecreation of content with a mind slightly dislodged

from reality and from what we conceive as beingpossible in order that we don't merely create areproduction of what has already been. By limitingour vocabulary to words that already exist we arestunting its growth. Like Dali we must be surreal,unconstrained by reality, in order to innovate in pro-portion with the advancement of technology.

After all, content in terms of the future of electronicpublishing, is like Alice falling down the rabbit holeinto Wonderland. Defying the laws of gravity, shefell slowly and for a long time, taking things out of

cupboards that shouldn't be there and putting themback in others as she went along, all the timeuncertain as to how, when, where and if she wouldland. Like Alice, we do not know where the future ofcontent will land but we do know that we need toembrace its creation while it is still falling withoutthe limited perceptions of what has gone before orwhat has been relevant before. Cyberspace, likeWonderland simulates our collective subconscious.We create it at the same time as it is beyond outcontrol.But every thought we have or action wetake has repercussions within it and in this is theessence of where our control lies. If we approach itwith a mind for the alternative and adventure, thatis what we will find ourselves with. If we confineourselves to what we think is possible, that is all wewill end up with. The future of content as the inven-tion of su-reality.

Future of Content



Lisa Salem. [email protected]


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The CPU has to be one of the 7 wonders of thespace age. The 'digital' revolution that it spawned inconvergence with other high end Information tech-

nologies, thrusted the transformation of traditionalcreative, media, and communications industriesinto the super dynamics of the digital STATE.Digitisation has produced an information meltdownof unimaginable scale. The result is what we nowcall interactive Multimedia, a convergence into inte-ractive digital Multimedia, probably one of the big-gest influences in contemporary lifestyle sinceApollo mission took a photograph of the earth.

Since the birth of digital IMM, a rapid evolutionaryprocess has taken place as new technological fron-

tiers are pioneered. Old boundaries are knockeddown so fast, that media producers are scramblingto satisfy the demand for quality production. It isindeed a gargantuan window of opportunity.

Greater media inter-activity adds a fresh dimensionto communication as we know it, and perhaps alsoa hint of promise to generation 2000+, and it is ourresponsibility to fashion these dazzling tools inwhatever way possible for greater dignity and civili-sation of mankind.

Approaching the Millennium, there is an accelera-ted development of component digital IMM techno-logies and this swell has produced a new andpotentially bigger and more exciting wave then CD-ROM or the net as we know it. The arrival of thehigh-end of IMM technologies will hail a new age indigital Multimedia, on a scale that will be giant incomparison to what we already know as the infor-mation highway.

Falling hardware prices and development in broad-band communications, frame relay, centralised

RAID data storage arrays, advanced remote andreturn path capabilities of digital technologies, andnew delivery platforms at the user-end ,(such asthe intelligent television and greater PC power), willallow sheer oceans of data, to river interactivematerials, into peoples lives whether at home,school, work or play.

Massive bandwidth, greater clock speeds, multi-channel processing, combined with expertise andadvanced authoring tools will undoubtedly producethe equinox necessary for true video on demand

and the simultaneous execution of many complexIMM tasks. The days of the internet as we know itare numbered.

Most importantly, the new high-end componentparts of digital data super highway, will allow digitalauthors to create on a new scale.

Greater volumes of digital material(s) will be stored,an ocean of information rich in video-stream, com-plex graphics and animation, will soon be able topour seamlessly through larger network compo-nents at real time. The bevy of choice should bringthe price of accessibility and availability down andusers will enjoy an orgy of choice.

Already, we have produced an array of theories andtools for the design authoring and creation qualityIMM material. But the trick during the next fiftyyears will be how to author quality material to scalefor the size of the proposed networks.

DIGITAL + COMMS + IT +ITV + MEDIA =IMM . IMM +

MILLENIUM =EQUINOX


Matthew [email protected]


34/40


User interfaces need to be developed to harnessthe sheer delivery power of the new generation2000: network giants. Contemporary and innovati-ve authoring methodologies and theoretical formu-las need to be developed further and proto-typedfor the greater challenge that lies ahead for advan-ced IMM networks. Models for producing edu-tain-ment productions, digital interactive fiction andgaming new types old story-boarding and script wri-ting need to be authored using the most up to datetechnologies so to facilitate the entire productionprocess from the concept to "interactelivery".

New types of user interfaces for news and archivedatabase navigation systems need to be tested andapplied so as to facilitate channel surfing. Similarlynew perspectives in sport, documentary and narra-tive inquiry based navigation systems, are all wai-ting to be explored. In so many ways its a wideopen field.

The nature of the digital communications industrywill allow innovative entrepreneurial / visionary pro-ducers and directors such as ourselves to developnew and exciting design methodologies and user

interfaces for these new technologies. So that wecan begin to learn how to mould them for the futu-re, it is important to test our theory even in a metap-horical sense to see where innovation succeedsand where it fails, and most importantly, we shouldnote that each time we fail we are one great stepcloser to success. With so much at stake and thesociological power of multimedia still very much anunknown quantity, much like a sleeping giant, wemust find ways to test its future and fashion it forthe future of the common dignity of civilisation. It isimportant to keep in mind that although techniquesexist for the authoring of materials it's no good re-inventing wheel, and using this analogy we need tofind ways to lift IMM off the ground. We must learnhow we can make it fly.

Recently, Gates has noted, that there is an alar-ming "lack" of quality edu-tainment games mate-rials, that takes advantage of the nature of the IMMand teach, entertain and facilitate our lives throughour natural process of inquiry, for which, interactivemultimedia is particularly suited.

The CD-ROM market, and the web-casting markettoday sport only a taste of the range of edu-tain-ment products and services to come, and thesemarkets have shown us that besides the funda-mental nature of content, the design of the userinterface is crucial in determining how well an IMMproduct works for the user.

Most importantly to me is how advanced IMM canchange the way we think and hence shape and pro-pel civilisation into the Millennium in its potentialpowerful capacity in the delivery of political, socio-

logical, philosophical and ideological messages.

The future of content is a crucial question that mustbe answered with quality answers to the responsi-bilities thrust upon us. We can make a difference tothe future values of society, and the pathway of civi-lisation. I believe that the inherent nature of inte-ractive Multimedia engages the minds of its captiveaudiences so effectively that we can use it to lay outthe philosophical foundations of a forward thinkingideology and philosophy such as a new approachto seeking new world order (goal of the UN) and

find humanitarian solutions to global problems ofmankind. Most importantly we can create emotionsthrough the media assets of work especially theiconitry that we create, and that through quality aut-hored materials for surf fiction, edu-tainment, archi-ve and news documentary / narrative surf beha-viour based archive systems and games, we caninspire renewed momentum towards the realisationof the humanitarian vision of a world that can mana-ge its own problems and a truly global civilisation.

The advent of digital IMM (especially across broad-band is in my opinion the equinox of the millenniumfor international society. Let's have the courage totake this opportunity to make a difference now,even if the effect is not felt for another thousandyears.


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Titulo del ensayo



Thesocks in one dra-

wer, the shirt in theother, the tooth brush in the

bathroom, the dishes in the kitchen,the pillow on the bed, the lettuce in the refrigerator,

the bread on the table and of course, the fly in the soup, theshoes on the table, the desert before the first dish, the lettuce

on the bed, the pillow in the kitchen, the tooth brush with the shirtand the socks...

did the picture get moved?

Order for eatingorder for sleeping

order for working, studying and loving.Order to write and to read the written.

Locker, drawers, recipies, boxes, containers, trunks, bags.

In side- out side, up- down, first- second.

Order that orders life, that orders what we see, what we feel, what we learn, what we do,what we think.Order: the ways to organise, the structures that let us apercevoir and learn what we are into.In particular, what is what we get and what we learn.Different for each religion, for each government, each economy, for each culture and foreach person. Also different throughout the history and the stories.

Did the picture get moved?

Claudia Torres. [email protected]


36/40


It formulates the frames of what we see and ourperception of it. We have always a camera in ourhands capturing what gets our attention. We carrynavigation instruments to identify directions tomove on, winds and oceans.

But the travel is different if we bring an astrolabeor a sonar; and the image is different if we have apicture camera or a video camera. Because whatwe see, what we perceive, changes. Its affectedby the way we see it, by the structure we use toget close to it, by the order we impose on it.Does multimedia change our perception? does it

change our way to order what we see, our way tolearn?

JUMP. JUMP. JUMP.

It seems that jump will be the movement thatwould let us describe the ways we perceiveactually.You jump dancing tecno, you jump from one radiostation to another, you watch television jumpingfrom one channel to the other, comics and moviesjump with an editing style each time faster andfaster, you jump from CD rom, from the beginningto the end of a game and in internet frommuseums in New York to fast food places inSingapore with just a mouse click.

JUMP. JUMP. JUMP.

Can multimedia propose different perceptionorders? different ways to organise the world?

JUMP.

JUMP. JUMP.

Jump with different orders. Circular, triangular,square navigation; red, green, blue; from Japan toPeru, from Scandinavia to Congo. Hop scotchdoes not only go to 1 or 2, to heaven or to hell,

but rather we can jump to the infinite places thatexist in between.

Perhaps it has been like that. Maybe we havealways had the possibility to look through windowswere the frame is not restricted, neither are thedrawers in which we organise our knowedlege inwhat we learn are not distant. Now, we have atool, and its principle quality is to offer the possibi-lity of constructing different structures of thinkingand knowledge.Structures that let us jump and establish relationsbetween what we thought was not possible.

Structure to conceive the knowledge in a dynamicway, so global and so specialised as it has beco-me today.Usually all our body, all our senses are perceiving,sometimes less sometimes more. Colours, forms,meanings, smells, sensations, noises, sounds. Wetotally participate in the knowledge process andmaybe multimedia is one way of expression thatcould make this process explicit. But it isnt only toput sound and image together and the option tointeract with them, but the different sensations andaesthetics, emotions that could be related. We

could say our perception is a like multimedia andthat we try to create technologies, interfaces andways of expressions that look to enhance thatsituation, even if sometimes technology doesntlook human in any manner.

Multimedia and the possibilities which it offers the-refore appear related, not just in the technologicalenvironments, but also to different ways to seethe world, differents ways to get in touch with whatsurrounds us.

... the fly in the soup, the shoes on the table, thedesert before the first dish, the lettuce on the bed,the pillow in the kitchen, the tooth brush with theshirt and the socks...Did the picture get moved?


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Future of Content



Johnson Tsui / Adam de Linde. [email protected]

[email protected]

To view the file "inresmedia.dcr" please ensure your browser has the Macromedia Shockwave plugin forDirector (which can be found at: http://www.macromedia.com). Set your monitor to 800 x 600 pixels or gre-ater. Open up the browser to its fullest and drag and drop the file into an empty browser window.

This work was realised with Macromind Director and Shockwave, if you are interested in receiving the file-please contact Johnson Tsui at:

[email protected]

Thank you.


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"Multimedia" will be the future of electronic publis-hing of all kinds - CD-ROM magazines, web pageseven memoranda between colleagues in an office.At the same time, multimedia should no longer be"multiple medias" as we see it today, but should be

seen as one single media itself.

In the future, we would expect an electronic publis-hing user to connect to the publisher or other rea-ders at any time when he/she needs more informa-tion on the particular chapter or topic he/she is rea-ding. In other words the user will be the only personto decide what information "to get or not to get". Sowe should put more effort into the presentation ofdifferent medias presented to the user, in a clearand well-defined manner, rather than how to incor-porate a multiple of medias in one single topic as

we are doing today.

The following should be used as a general guideli-ne for the future of content in electronic publica-tions:

- easy to findIn the future of electronic publishing, we wouldexpect a user to be able to download multiple docu-ments of different nature; text, video, sound, etc.,from different locations into his/her local drives, eit-her through the internet or intranet. We must provi-de the users most "friendly" way to get whateverinformation he/she is looking for.

- easy to readAfter the user has downloaded all the necessarydocuments, the user should be able to arrangethese documents in the way suits his/her readinghabit. For example, some readers might prefer animage on the left margin with texts on the right andothers might prefer the image on the top centre withall the text below it. There should not be any limita-

tions on how a reader MUST read his/her docu-ment.

- easy to useSince a future electronic publication user will be

manipulating multiple medias at the same time inthe one document, the layout of these kinds ofdocuments should be made as user friendly as pos-sible. For example, a "pool" showing all the down-load documents; a "status field" showing activeconnection(s).etc.

- easy to transferAs mentioned above, the users will be connectedeither to the publisher or even other readers whilehe/she is reading an electronic publishing. So allthe concerned documents including text, images or

videos should be optimised to the smallest possiblesize to facilitate transference over a standard telep-hone line.

Future of Content



Lam Wai. [email protected]


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On the planet called Earth -

How far do we think in the future? 1000 years - amillennium? Is this a science fiction prediction as tothe world we are creating? Yes, in a way, as long as

these predictions can fit within the laws of physics.My predictions are based on work that is underdevelopment. To go far into the future we will belooking at earth from a 'ring' bridge built way outfrom earth at about the equator. The discovery byBuckinster Fuller of another form of carbon (C60)which is stronger than diamond would be a suitablebuilding material for this ring. It would be a greatsaving in rocketry and the cost of space missions.From this ring new space 'cities' would evolve asthe entire earth population could be housed in one'tower'. All present sources of power would become

obsolete as a new 'vacuum energy' would be sopowerful that the equivalent of one coffee cupwould be 'enough to boil all the oceans in theworld'. There would be no problem with travellinghuge distances as research into controlling inertia(object mass) would allow us to travel anywhere onearth almost instantaneously. Machine intelligencecould store the equivalent of 100 year old mansmemory into one petabit. Even todays opticalfibres can transmit this amount of information in amatter of minutes. We will be able to control ourmemories and even have somebodys elsesmemory implanted in our own brain.

Now we are experiencing an emerging digital agethat is in its infancy. What is certain about the futu-re of electronic publishing is that digital technologywill continue to grow and profoundly change, howwe express ourselves and communicate to othersand how we view and interact with the world. Themedia technologies are still crude, awkward andimpersonal and poorly matched to the humanneeds of the users, and we are finding computersless user friendly and cumbersome as a product

and too complex. So the future lies in addressingthese problems and designing to satisfy the needsof humans. This is the principle technical anddesign challenge of the emerging information age.

Electronically charged paper is being developedthat can display different images. It physicallyresembles paper but the 'printing' of text and theimages would not involve ink or any additionalresources, so a newspaper printed on electronicallycharged paper could be updated automaticallyeveryday without requiring the viewers to do anyt-hing. We would miss books and this is an interes-ting development in bringing the concept of paperinto the digital age. It would have the result of tre-mendously cutting down on waste paper and paperneeding to be recycled. We will increasingly have

vendor machine that can instantly give us legaldocuments on request. Domestic appliances will bedesigned with a computer based operating systemsuch as a vacuum cleaner that works as a robot -vacuuming the house by itself. Information will beaccessed totally by the interactive multimedia for-mat with unlimited choice between information anduser. CD-ROMs will probably become obsolete asinformation will be accessed by TV. Instead ofbeing 'told' the user will have choice, and all mediawill be designed to have interactively built in. Thefuture of educational systems will function from a'national grid' of linked computers that have educa-tional programs easily accessible at any time so theteachers role would become less time consuming.The future content of these educational systemswill be vital to our next generations knowledge. Theinternet will continue to become very big and moreintranets will be formed. The future of contentwould be vast in size compared with what is availa-ble now and we will be able to access and absorbmore information. Finally we won't die because ourmemories will be programmed into another per-son's body or a machine.

Future of Content


Judith Whittaker. [email protected]

Documents

Student Perspectives on the Future of Content