Quality-of-service routing for web-based multimedia servers

Quality-of-Service is an important issue in multimedia applications; so far most of the research focuses on bandwidth guarantee, few pays attention to the server performance guarantee. In this paper we pay more attention to the server performance guarantee under the prerequisite of guaranteed bandwidth quality. We take advantage of anycast to find the "best" multimedia server among a distributed server group in terms of bandwidth, the request will be submitted to the selected server, moreover, the selected server's neighbours' (all the servers with feasible paths) addresses are delivered to the selected server simultaneously. If the selected server can not guarantee the QoS for the request in terms of server performance, then a proposed QoS-Aware Server Load Deviation (QASLD) mechanism wiII be employed, which will deliver the request to one of its neighbours until there exists a suitable server that can guarantee the server performance for the request. Our experiments show that the proposed QASLD algorithm works well.

Redesign of a multimedia course to reflect process not product

Universities are moving towards an environment of online teaching and learning. This is impacting the revision of degree programmes. A multimedia design course was revised to reflect and improve the design process inherent within multimedia production. The course was analyzed and revised using a critical reflection process. The outcome of the evaluation indicated that students were more satisfied but they had not grasped some of the fundamental concepts of design, and further revision of the course was needed for delivering materials and teaching in an online environment. The recommendation from the teaching team was to explore the range of research methods to formally revise the course again for future improvements to teaching practice and effective learning.

Poesis in diegesis : real-time interactive dance performance

This paper describes the processes of creating a hybrid experience of live performance and virtual imagery in 1 + x: Mid-range Projections, a dance work that uses real-time processing of live feed video to create a duet between dancers and their virtual images. 1 + x is about creating experiences of interiority and intimacy, ironically, through the juxtaposition of virtual images of performers with their real selves. This paper examines how the ideal of reinserting intimacy, humanity and 'presence' into a technologically generated image space, in the case of 1 + x, depends on the precise and delicate manipulation of live-feed video in collaboration with the audience's experience of interactivity. The result is a performance work that creates a poesis of 'presence', through a diegesis that melds real and virtual images on the same screen and the same conceptual and spatial plane - a 'becoming virtual'.

Studio - learning and teaching environment for multimedia

This paper is a case study of the introduction of a studio environment for the teaching of multimedia practice. This change is in the context of multimedia being placed within an information technology degree program, where the conventions and traditions of computer science prevail. The studio based teaching was accepted and now new studios are being built at the university and a research project is proposed with the Queensland University of Technology to explore further teaching and learning issues using studio
teaching methods.

Interactive television and the role of affective usability

This paper explores the importance of designing interfaces that evoke positive feelings in the user as they interact with the interface. The use of interactive television (iTV) and affective usability illustrate how usability paradigms shift as new technology is developed. Traditional television is a more passive medium than iTV and the role of the user (or viewer) varies significantly. iTV requires more of the user and to be an active contributor because of the more interactive interaction style. Interface designers need to constantly define better ways of developing interfaces that are not only usable, but also enjoyable to use.

The potential of a methodology for university-wide multimedia and educational technology evaluation

This paper reports on the methodology used for a review conducted at the University of Melbourne to determine the impact on teaching, learning and student study habits of multimedia and educational technology. Of particular methodological interest among the multiple components of the review was a quasi-controlled study of student attitudes towards and experiences of using educational technology. These were gathered using a targeted student sample comprising students known to have studied units in which well-established and highly peer rated IT products are deployed and a random student sample stratified to be representative of the typical student experience of the university. The paper reports the outcomes and effectiveness of this methodology.

A dimensionality reduction algorithm and its application for interactive visualization

Visualization is one of the most effective methods for analyzing how high-dimensional data are distributed. Dimensionality reduction techniques, such as PCA, can be used to map high dimensional data to a two- or three-dimensional space. In this paper, we propose an algorithm called HyperMap that can be effectively applied to visualization. Our algorithm can be seen as a generalization of FastMap. It preserves its linear computation complexity, and overcomes several main shortcomings, especially in visualization. Since there are more than two pivot objects in each axis of a target space, more distance information needs to be preserved in each dimension. Then in visualization, the number of pivot objects can go beyond the limitation of six (2-pivot objects × 3-dimensions). Our HyperMap algorithm also gives more flexibility to the target space, such that the data distribution can be observed from various viewpoints. Its effectiveness is confirmed by empirical evaluations on both real and synthetic datasets.

CIDB: Chlamydia Interactive Database for cross-querying genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics data

Chlamydiae are important pathogens of humans, birds and a wide range of animals. They are a unique group of bacteria, characterized by their developmental cycle. Chlamydia has been difficult to study because of their obligate intracellular growth habit and lack of a genetic transformation system. However, the past 5 years has seen the full genome sequencing of seven strains of Chlamydia and a rapid expansion of genomic, transcriptomic (RT-PCR, microarray) and proteomic analysis of these pathogens. The Chlamydia Interactive Database (CIDB) described here is the first database of its type that holds genomic, RT-PCR, microarray and proteomics data sets that can be cross-queried by researchers for patterns in the data. Combining the data of many research groups into a single database and cross-querying from different perspectives should enhance our understanding of the complex cell biology of these pathogens. The database is available at: http://www3.it.deakin.edu.au:8080/CIDB/.

An architecture of rewards: a new poetics to exhibition design?

This paper argues that the influence of multimedia on exhibition practices can be felt not only by the presence of multimedia interactives in the exhibition itself but more generally by the presence of similar structural principles. The argument is conducted by borrowing from Stephen Johnson’s (2005) thesis that contemporary forms of popular culture, particularly those found in video games, television and film, are based on an ‘architecture of rewards’. In taking this term across to exhibition practices, I use it to analyse an approach to the interpretation of a heritage site, which attempts neither to reconstruct its former uses nor to insert traditional forms of ‘contextual’ displays. Instead, I argue that the curatorial attempt to find ways in which the site could become the principal object of display resulted in the conscious production of narrative gaps which become the structural armature for the encouragement of game playing in a similar process to that discussed by Johnson in relation to video games.

Building an Interactive, Three-dimensional Virtual World

The movement of graphics and audio programming towards three dimensions is to better simulate the way we experience our world. In this project I looked to use methods for coming closer to such simulation via realistic graphics and sound combined with a natural interface. I did most of my work on a Dell OptiPlex with an 800 MHz Pentium III processor and an NVIDlA GeForce 256 AGP Plus graphics accelerator -high end products in the consumer market as of April 2000. For graphics, I used OpenGL [1], an open·source, multi-platform set of graphics libraries that is relatively easy to use, coded in C . The basic engine I first put together was a system to place objects in a scene and to navigate around the scene in real time. Once I accomplished this, I was able to investigate specific techniques for making parts of a scene more appealing.