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Will Video Surfing Become Reality?
alinv writes "Australia's CSIRO has developed a multi-media browsing tool callled CMWeb, which makes surfing audio and video content as esy as text (view a screenshot here). The tool, called Continuous Media Web (CMWeb), enables user to activate a link within a video or audio file,and be taken to a related clip in another file, and then return to the original or follow further links into other subject areas, in much the same way they currently do with Web pages."
I don't wanna come across all slashdot or anything but thats....
CSIRO (see www.csiro.au)
not CISRO (see www.cisro.com.au)
'Syro', not 'Sisro'...
um, the latest flash (well, it's only been out for over a year) can embed video, and from external sources.
so, um, i see no real benefit to this tool.
nalfy
-- Despair is an operating system that ANY human being can run, sort of a psychological JAVA --
You probably want SMIL by w3c.
And it has been a w3c standard since 1998, so nothing new there...
Not by the way that I really rated Microcosm, it was really quite buggy and was overtaken by HTML, which of course turned out to be the category-killer in the hypertext arena.
It is already on the w3.org (the people who brought you HTML and XML standards) website, and it is called SMIL.
Had that idea a few years ago too. Never tried it, even though it would have been quite simple: Cram together a Text-to-Speech engine, Dragon Dictate and an old infocom adventure. Next step: Replace the TTS with prerecorded text from a professional actor.
bickerdyke
Which is why it'll probably never become common on the web. It doesn't really seem to be a replacement for static content, but it could provide some added value to applications where video is already used. Having said that, I still don't think it'll become common on the internet.
It *would* be a really great way to handle keynote speeches from conferences, etc. Like, if Lessig is lecturing, and mentions an historic copyright incident you hadn't heard of, you could click a link and it would pause the video while you read up on it.
A technology like this, however, could be a boon for info-kiosks in places like malls, theme parks, universities, etc. As long as you're storing video locally or transmitting it over a fast intranet, you're in business. Production costs shouldn't be any higher than for other ways of integrating video into a presentation. Plus, you're no longer limited by the embed tag.
--Jasin Natael
True science means that when you re-evaluate the evidence, you re-evaluate your faith.