WHERE TO USE MULTIMEDIA
Multimedia is appropriate whenever a human interface connects a human user to electronic information of any kind．Multimedia enhances traditional text-only computer interfaces and yields measurable benefit by gaining and holding attention and interest；multimedia improves information retention．When properly woven，multimedia can also be profoundly entertaining．
1．Multimedia in Business
Business applications for multimedia include presentations，training，marketing，advertising，product demos，databases，catalogues，and.networked communications．Voice mail and video conferencing will soon be provided on many local and wide area networks（LANs and WANs）．
After a morning of mind-numbing 35 mm slide and overhead presentations delivered from the podium of a national sales conference，a multimedia presentation can make an audience come alive．Most presentation software packages let you add audio and video clips to the usual“slide show”of graphics and text material[1]．
Multimedia is enjoying widespread use in training programs．Flight attendants learn to manage international terrorism and security through simulation．Mechanics learn to repair engines．Salespeople learn about product lines and leave behind software to train their customers．Fighter pilots practice full-terrain sorties before spooling up for the real thing．
As companies and businesses catch on to the power of multimedia，and the cost of installing multimedia capability decreases，more applications will be developed both by themselves and by third parties to allow businesses to run more smoothly and efficiently．
2． Multimedia in Schools
Schools are perhaps the most needy destination for multimedia．Many schools in the United States today are chronically underfunded and occasionally slow to adopt new technologies，but it is here that the power of multimedia can be maximized for the greatest long-term benefit to all．
In March 1995，the White House challenged the telecommunications industry to connect every classroom，library，clinic，and hospital to the information superhighway by the year 2000．The White House has also taken steps to provide governmental support with a program of “Challenge-Grants for Technology in Education”，a ＄27-million effort to support state-of-the-art technology in about 20-low-income rural and urban school districts．Vice-President A1 Gore is often seen pulling wire in inner-city school labs，promoting installation of computers in schools[2]．
Multimedia will provoke radical changes in the teaching process during the coming decades，particularly as smart students discover they can go beyond the limits of traditional teaching methods．Indeed，in some instances，teachers may become more like guides and mentors along a learning path，not the primary providers of information and understanding—the students，not teachers，become the core of the teaching and learning process．This is a sensitive and highly politicized suhject among educators，so educational software is often positioned as“enriching”the learning process，not as a potential substitute for traditional teacher-based methods．
3．Multimedia at Home
From gardening to cooking to home design，remodeling，and repair to genealogy software，multimedia has entered the home．Eventually，most multimedia projects will reach the home via television sets or monitors with built-in interactive user inputs．The multimedia viewed on these sets will likely arrive on a pay-for-use basis along the data highway[3]．
4．Multimedia in Public Places
In hotels，train stations，shopping malls，museums，and grocery stores，multimedia will become available at stand-alone terminals or kiosks to provide information and help．Such installations reduce demand on traditional information booths and personnel，and they can work around the clock，even in the middle of the night，when live help is off duty[4]．
5．Virtual Reality
At the convergence of technology and creative invention in multimedia is virtual reality，or VR．Goggles，helmets，special gloves，and bizarre human interfaces attempt to place you“inside”a lifelike experience．Take a step forward，and the view gets closer，turn your head，and the view rotates．Reach out and grab an object；your hand moves in front of you．Maybe the object explodes in a 90-decibel crescendo as you wrap your fingers around it．Or it slips out from your grip，falls to the floor，and hurriedly escapes through a mouse hole at the bottom of the wall．
On the World Wide Web，standards for transmitting virtual reality worlds or“scenes”in VRML（virtual reality modeling language）documents（with the file name extension ．wrl）have been developed．
Using high-speed dedicated computers，multi-million-dollar flight simulators built by Singer，RediFusion，and others have led the way in commercial application of VR．Pilots of F-16s，Boeing 777s，and Rockwell space shuttles have made many dry runs before doing the real thing[5]．At the California Maritime Academy and other merchant marine officer training schools，computer-controlled simulators teach the intricate loading and unloading of oil tankers and container ships．
NOTES
[1] slide show指幻燈播放。
[2] pull wire在這里指網絡布線。
[3] pay-for-use指付費點播。
[4] around the clock意思是晝夜，一天24小時。
[5] dry run表示“演習、排練”。
KEYWORDS
information retention 信息保持力
genealogy 系譜，宗譜
convergence 匯聚，收斂
VRML（virtual reality modeling language） 虛擬現實造型語言
翻譯：
多媒體的用途
無論何時多媒體都適合于將一個用戶連接到人機界面上，以提供電子信息。多媒體增強了傳統上只有文本的計算機界面，并通過對注意力和興趣的獲得與保持而產生相當大的優勢；多媒體提高了信息的保持力。只要編排得當，多媒體也可以制作得深受歡迎。
1．多媒體的商業應用
多媒體的商業應用包括演示、培訓、市場、廣告、產品演示、數據庫、產品目錄以及網絡通信。在很多局域和廣域網上很快將提供語音郵件和視頻會議。
在全國性銷售大會上經歷了一上午來自講臺的令人頭昏腦脹的35mm幻燈和大量的陳述之后，一個多媒體的演示報告能令聽眾活躍起來。大部分演示軟件包可在圖像和文字材料的普通“幻燈播放”中加入音頻和視頻剪輯。
多媒體被廣泛地應用于各種培訓計劃中。航班服務人員通過模擬學習如何對付國際恐怖分子和處理安全問題；機械師學習如何修理發動機；銷傳人員介紹產品系列并用軟件來培訓客戶。戰斗機飛行員在真實事件發生之前學習全天候出擊。
由于公司和商業機構掌握了多媒體的功能，并且由于多媒體設施成本的降低，更多的能使企業更平穩更有效地運作的多媒體應用將由企業自己或第三方開發出來。
2．多媒體在學校中的應用
學校也許是最需要多媒體的地方。今天，在美國有許多學校長期資金短缺，且有點采納新技術緩慢。但正是在這里，多媒體的能力可以得到充分的發揮，并使其長期受益。
1995年3月，白官要求電信業必須在2000年時將所有的教室、實驗室、診所及醫院全部連接到信息高速公路上。白官還逐步為“教育技術基全“項日提供政府支持，一項耗資2700萬美元的投資專門用于為20個低收入鄉村和城市學區提供最先進技術。美國前副總統戈爾經常視察市內學校實驗室的聯網情況，并敦促學校安裝計算機。
多媒體在未來的幾十年將徹底改變教育模式，特別是對于那些優秀的學生，他們會發現自己可以遠遠超出傳統教育的束縛。的確在某些情況下，老師在教學過程中更像向導或顧問，而不是基本的信息和理解提供者。教學過程的核心不再是教師，而是學生。在教育家眼中，這是一個敏感和高度政治化的課題，因此，目前教育軟件通常只是“豐富”教學過程，而不是潛在地取代傳統的以教師為基礎的模式。
3．多媒體在家庭中的應用
從園藝、烹飪到室內設計、改造和修理，直到家譜軟件，多媒體已經進人家庭。最終，大多數多媒體項目將通過電視機或具有內置交互用戶輸入的監視器而走入家庭。在這些裝置上看多媒體很可能采取在數據高速公路上付費點播的方式。
4．多媒體在公共場所中的應用
在賓館、火車站、購物中心、博物館和雜貨店，多媒體將在終端機或服務亭里為人們提供信息和幫助。這些設施將減少對傳統信息服務亭和工作人員的需求，并且能全天候，甚至在工作人員下班之后的午夜繼續工作。
5．虛擬現實
虛擬現實（VR）是多媒體技術和創造性發明的集中體現。眼鏡、頭盔、特殊手套和奇特的人機接口可將你帶入一個逼真的世界。往前挪一步，景象則變得近一些；轉動頭，景象則跟著轉動；伸手去抓一個物體，手就在面前移動。當你用手指緊抓物體時，也許它會發出90分貝的爆裂聲，或從你手中滑落掉在地板上，并很快鉆入墻腳的老鼠洞中。
在萬維網上，用VRML（虛擬現實建模語言）文件（用．wrl為文件后綴）來傳輸虛擬現實世界或“場景”的標準已建立起來。
通過使用高速專用計算機，Singer、RediFusing和其他廠家建造的數百萬美元的飛行模擬器已使VR進入商業應用。F-16、波音777和Rockwell的航天飛機的駕駛員已能在正式飛行之前進行多次模擬飛行。在加利福尼亞海事學院和其他商業海運培訓學校，計算機控制的模擬設備用于復雜的油輪和集裝箱貨船裝卸教學。
文章來源于領測軟件測試網 http://www.kjueaiud.com/
