Glossary write up

Gareth Gorvin

ND1 Media: Interactive media report

Interactive media refers to products and services on digital computer-based systems or an interactive screen which responds to the user’s actions by using content such as text, graphics, animation, video, menus and sound. Interactive media has become an increasingly popular method in advertising and education. Interactive media is now used to promote a product or service in a way that regular advertisement cannot. Interactive advertising also has some properties that can expand the range of potential objectives and that improve advertisements effectiveness. Interactive media also improves the potential to decrease the losses caused by poorly coordinated advertising, to reduce the difficulties commonly encountered in clearly communicating an advertising message and to help overcome consumer rejection. With the invention and growth of interactive media sources like television and the internet, people can now gain access to information and view specific content whenever they please from their own home, which they could not before. In this report I will be exploring a range of interactive media platforms that have contributed to the expansion of user access to media.

The World Wide Web is certainly at this point in time the easiest way to access and host interactive media. The majority of people today have some way of accessing the World Wide Web whether they have their own computer with internet compatibility or can go to an internet cafe. The World Wide Web is basically a system of interlinked hypertext documents contained and displayed on the Internet. With a web browser, anyone can view web pages that may contain text, images, videos, and other interactive media and may navigate between them by using various hyperlinks and search engines. Websites like YouTube are popular sources of interactive media, be this through advertisement or hyperlinks. YouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos. YouTube is also a good source of viral advertising. The World Wide Web also allows access to internet television services like BBC iplayer and 4OD; these interactive services allow users to watch any television show or series at anytime of the day. Internet television was a huge leap in the growth of easier access to interactive media. The downside to internet television may be that they may eventually lead to a decrease in people just sitting down to watch television or maybe discourage people from buying a television series box set because they will be able to access that series at anytime through websites like BBC iplayer and 4OD. The World Wide Web also allows access to interactive media platforms such as QuickTime player. QuickTime was created by Apple and is a media player capable of playing various formats of video, images, audio, text and animation.
Spam is an example of interactive media that is only access able via the World Wide Web. Spam is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately. While the most common form of spam is e-mail spam, although the term is used in other multimedia texts like instant messaging. Spam e-mails contain interactive false accusations, propositions or offers that may result in the victim receiving a virus or handing over details.
Email attachments are files that are sent along with an e-mail message. The file is not a separate message, but now it is almost universally sent as part of the message to which it is attached. Worms and viruses are often distributed as attachments to e-mail messages. With vulnerable e-mail programs the virus may be activated by viewing or previewing the message; more robust programs only allow infection if the user opens the attachment. Unexpected e-mails with attachments should always be considered suspicious and dangerous, particularly if not known to be sent by a trusted source. Although, not all e-mail attachments are dangerous, images and videos can also be sent as attachments to be viewed by the receiver of the message safely.
DVDs or digital versatile discs are an optical disc media storage format, and were invented and developed by Sony and Philips in 1995. Their main uses are for video and data storage. DVDs are of the same dimensions as compact discs (CDs), but store more than six times as much data. DVDs are a form of interactive media. If you were to buy a television series on DVD you may find a type of interactive media stored secretly in the DVD menus, these are known as virtual ‘Easter eggs’, these can also be found in films and video games. A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message, in-joke or a feature. DVD series’ like ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘The Simpsons’ are well known for containing hidden virtual Easter eggs in the menus. This type of interactive media is often hunted for when buying television series’ on DVD. Other forms of interactive DVDs include DVD board games and Quiz’s. these DVDs simply play through an ordinary DVD player allowing the user to interact as they would if they were using a games console. DVD games may be spin offs of popular television Game shows like ‘Deal or no deal’ or ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’. DVDs were a huge advance in technology after the video cassette as they provided a larger memory, better picture quality and interactive menus.
Another popular interactive media platform is CD ROM. CD ROM is an acronym of ‘Compact Disc Read-Only Memory’. A CD ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. CD ROMs contain interactive content like guided tours for educational purposes and games. CD ROM discs are identical in appearance to audio CDs, and data are stored and retrieved in a very similar manner the only difference is the way Audio files are stored and accessed on a computer. CD-ROMs are popularly used to distribute computer software, including interactive games and multimedia applications, though any data can be stored up to the capacity limit of the disc. Some CDs hold both computer data and audio with the capability of being played on a CD player.
A fairly recent output of interactive media comes from interactive kiosks. An Interactive kiosk is a computer terminal that provides information access via electronic methods, these can be found at certain bus, train stations and airports. Most kiosks provide unattended access to web applications that require the user to interact usually via touch screen technology. The first self-service, interactive kiosk was developed in 1977 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by a student and allowed students and visitors to the college to have access to maps and bus schedules. The first successful network of interactive kiosk used for commercial purposes was a project developed by a shoe retailer in America to help customers pick out shoes. Today's kiosks are used to bring together the classic vending machine with high-tech communications and complex robotic and mechanical technology. Such interactive kiosks can include self-checkout lanes like the ones in ‘Boots’, e-ticketing, information and way finding. A Photo kiosk is an interactive kiosk which allows users to print their own pictures straight from a digital camera. An internet kiosk is also an interactive media output which provides public internet access. These kiosks often resemble a typical telephone booth, and are typically placed in places like hotel lobbies and long-term care facilities. Reliability is an important consideration when using an internet kiosk, and as a result many specialised kiosk software applications have been developed for the industry to help prevent ‘hackers’ or spyware. These applications interface with the bill acceptor and credit card swipe to prevent users from changing the configuration of the software used or downloading computer viruses, and allow the kiosk owner to see what’s going on remotely.
A Presentation is the practice of showing and explaining the content of a topic to an audience or learner. Presentation can be created using a presentation program, such as Microsoft PowerPoint. PowerPoint is often used to generate presentation content. PowerPoint presentations consist of a number of individual pages or "slides". Slides may contain text, graphics, movies, and other objects, which may be arranged freely on the slide. PowerPoint, however, facilitates the use of a consistent style in a presentation using a template or "Slide Master". These presentations can be distributed via the internet or showed to a local audience using a projector. Online presentations are an important platform of displaying interactive media to a wide audience. Websites like ‘Blogger’ contain interactive presentations that people have created. Interactive Presentations are often used in schools and colleges for educational value or business purposes.
Television click through technology is a source of interactive media that is increasing in popularity. One of the more well known forms of click through technology is Teletext. Teletext is a television interactive information retrieval service developed in the UK in the early 1970s. It offers a range of text-based information, typically including national, international and sporting news, weather and TV schedules. Another and more recent form of click through technology is ‘The Red Button’. The Red Button is an interactive television service provided by the BBC. ‘The Red Button’ was created to replace Teletext and is only available through digital television services. The service was launched in 1999 as ‘BBC Text’. It was relaunched in November 2001 under the BBCi brand and operated under this name until 2008, when it was once more rebranded as BBC Red Button. The "Red Button" name refers to the red button on remote controls for digital televisions and set-top boxes, which launches digital Teletext services. During certain broadcasts, by pressing the red button you can access different elements of a program. For example, when the Olympics is on, you can gain access to a range of different events on demand. The Red Button is also used to interact with television commercials, also when Xfactor is on, you can vote via pressing The Red Button. An advantage of using the red button service is that you can access digital television services instantly. A disadvantage would be that the red button service is only available on digital television for specific services, and for example, my television remote doesn’t actually have a red button on it, although the service says it is available to me.
With the introduction of mobile devices to society, interactive media has become available on a much wider scale than before. Before mobile devices, it was much harder to access instant interactive media. A modern mobile device is typically a handheld computer, phone, games console or PDA (personal digital assistant). One of the earliest forms of a handheld device was a handheld games console.
A handheld game console is a lightweight, interactive, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, controls and speakers. Portable games consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them around and play them at any time or place. Unlike video games consoles the controls, speakers and screen are all part of a single unit. A well known brand of handheld games console is the ‘Gameboy’. Nowadays people can access a huge range of interactive media, on mobile devices, at any time of day with no inconvenience. An Ipod is a portable media player designed by Apple. An Ipod Touch allows access to audio, video and images formats through touch screen technology. Other similar mobile devices provide access to interactive media like the ‘Blackberry’ and the ‘Iphone’. A mobile phone is an electronic device used for mobile telecommunications which includes text and picture messaging over a cellular network of specialized base stations known as cell sites. Over the years mobile phones have decreased in size and increased in memory and interactive capabilities. Years ago mobile phones were used only for telephone conversations. Today modern mobile telephones have access to the internet as well as interactive applications.


Uses of video in interactive media
In this section of my report I will be explaining how each of the following factors displays the use of video in the interactive media. Short films are used in the interactive media to help promote a cause, argue a point or advertise. Short films can contain interactive content. For example, a pop up could display similar videos or a hyperlink for buying a product. Promotional material can be in the form of posters, flyers of leaflets, etc. Promotional material is also often displayed as video within the interactive media; interactive video advertisements exist on web pages and television. The red button can be an implement of accessing interactive content within a television commercial. Promotional material often contains forms of interactive media to help persuade and interest a potential buyer. Promotional video material exists mainly on the internet and television but can also be found in kiosks, cinemas, and public internet access points. Film trailers or previews are film advertisements for feature films that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema before, on whose screen they are shown, the use of film trailers is to give a brief understanding of the film they are advertising, and encourage people to watch it. User Generated Content is very useful for a aspiring director or anyone looking for feedback on video in the interactive media. User generated content maybe for example video responses or feedback to a submitted video. Viral marketing is used in the interactive media to advertise. Viral adverts are popular on websites like YouTube. Viral adverts tend to be comedic or concept based to attract attention. Advertising is a form of communication with the intention to persuade. Advertising is commonly used in interactive video with the intent to convince the viewer to buy a product. Virtual reality tours are also used in the interactive media as a simpler way to give information without having to actually go on a guided tour. People can buy virtual reality tours on CD ROM to play them at home on their computers. Virtual reality tours are a useful source of information. Video games are very popular in the interactive media and are used in video to reach a target audience. Video games despite their reputation, video games are a very social form of interactive media.
e-learning is basically learning using computer programs or pre recorded lessons shown to an audience. E-learning is useful because it doesn’t provide a teacher.
Video in interactive media technologies
A common form of interactive and useful media technologies is video compression. Video compression refers to reducing the quality of data used to represent digital images. Video compression changes file size. A CODEC is a device or computer program capable of encoding and/or decoding a digital data stream or signal. Which basically means it breaks down an incoming signal making it easier to manager. Video Streaming refers to transferring video data such that it can be processed as a steady and continuous stream over the network to receive data from somewhere.
A list of interactive media formats and definitions:
MPEG, Moving Picture Experts Group. MPEG files have the ability to contain audio and video.
AVI, Audio Video Interleave, AVI files also consist of playable audio and video,
MOV is a multitrack streaming programme associated with Apple while WMV is compression programme more associated windows.
Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred through a server or connection at one time, it is measured in megabytes (mb) per second bigger the mb the more information can pass through.
Frame rates are how many frames there are per second, so basically it how many frames appear on screen per second.
Screen resolution is how many pixels are on a screen, the more pixels the better picture quality.
File sizes are how big or small a file is, the larger a file the more space it takes up.
Picture ratio is the image ratio of width and height, you often have the aspect ratio on viewfinder when a film is being shot.
Digital right management is the copyright of digital and online content.
There are many types of media player some common types of media players are DVD, I player, QuickTime which an apple designed internet player, Windows media player, a Microsoft designed internet player and Real, a cross format internet player.
Embedding video is when you put a video on a website by copying the HTML and pasting it onto your website. sometimes this privelidge is disallowed by copyright.
Video tagging is used on Facebook to tag people in the video so that those people can see that they are in it, and are then able to follow a hyperlink.