Laura Teodosio

Salient video stills: content and context preserved

A new class of images called salient stills is demonstrated and a software development platform for their creation is discussed. These images do not represent one discrete moment of time, as do a photograph or single video frame. Rather, one image reflects the aggregate of the temporal changes that occur in a moving image sequence with the salient features preserved. By the application of an affine transformation and non-linear temporal processing, multiple frames of an image sequence, which may include variations in focal-length or field-of-view, are combined to create a single still image. The still image may have multi-resolution patches, a larger field-of-view, or higher overall resolution than any individual frame in the original image sequence. It may also contain selected salient objects from any one of the sequence of video frames. The still can be created automatically or with user intervention. A by-product of the salient still process is a structured representation of moving image data.

From generation to generation: multimedia, community and personal stories

Multimedia is rapidly proliferating into homes and schools. Tools for media creation are becoming more affordable and easier to use. Yet, the traditional models of centrally originated content — publishing and broadcasting — continue to dominate. Repurposed movie plots become the basis for adventure games on CD-ROM and television reruns have been promised “on demand” via 500-channel interactive cable systems, However, these panelists take an alternative view. The new medium enables the audience to create stories about themselves and their cultures and to share them through interactive networks as well as in face to face communities. Viewed in this fashion, we may be asking the wrong questions about the sources of content and ease of use in multimedia. Each panelist has participated in projects that embody personal and family stories, capture the experiences of endangered cultures, or provide a means for adults and chi Idren to create their own multimedia records, Drawing on examples from these projects, we will present the case that a new approach is necessary to unlock the potential of multimedia.

Transferring a designed user experience to product

How can interaction designers ensure that their work makes its way into the final implementation of a product? The language, tools and techniques for communicating design ideas within the interactive product development domain are currently emerging. This panel provides insight into promising approaches by examining the ways in which several practitioners have succeeded, and failed, at transferring their design ideas to current products.