Fox Presentation Spring 96 The Information HighWay and multimedia information resources for Goethe-Institut http://www.npac.syr.edu/users/gcf/goethe/index.html Annual Meeting of Goethe-Institut in North America German Cultural Center Goethe House May 22 1996 Geoffrey Fox NPAC Syracuse University 111 College Place Syracuse NY 13244-4100 Abstract of the The Information Highway and the Goethe Institute We discuss current Web with its emerging WebWindows environment We view Goethe-Institut as an "Enterprise" which can be supported by an IntraNet optimized for needs of the society. We discuss role of databases to store multimedia information with collaborative systems to link participants in Goethe programs We mention Java JavaScript VRML Digital Audio/Video and Web-linked databases as key enabling technologies Training in these technologies will be available on the Web itself Integration of Industry Sectors forming the NII -- Digital Super Information Highway Synergy of InterNet and IntraNets What will National Information Infrastructure(NII) give us? NII is/will be digital superhighway provided to you by ÒOptical FiberÓ : Phone and Cable Industry ÒServicesÓ: CNN, America On-line, Prodigy, Newspapers, Blockbuster and indeed YOU!! Current NII is InterNet and World Wide Web but IntraNets are rapidly becoming most important deployment Currently access NII through Internet directly or through an intermediary such as America On-line Currently consumers use a Computer and modem on POTS -- plain old telephone service In future Computers/TV set sets will ÒconvergeÓ and access will be dedicated cable/optical fiber which will be much faster and allow high quality video delivery (ISDN, ADLS or Cable Modem) ÒEveryÓ Business Office, Every doctorÕs Office, ÒEveryÓ school desk, ÒEveryÓ home (approximately any home on cable) will have such a two-way high speed link to the NII Examples of the Use of Java for Goethe-Institut I expect Java to be the the dominant implementation language for everything on the Web from Servers, Clients, MOO's, filters, Animations, Simulations etc. MOO's are example of customized Collaboratories where on builds Java servers and Clients Can build neat clickable images including Visible Human (biology education which won prize in Java Cup) and our 2D "Interactive Journey" clickable Geographical Information System for New York State This was designed for education but has obvious tourism and cultural applications Java could perhaps implement translation and other online services Possible Uses of VRML in Goethe-Institut VRML is Very good 3D GIS (Geographical Information System) technology and can be used to generate on the Web, German countryside with other information superimposed This information can specify cultural information either as an image/text overlay as a clickable interface to conventional Web sites VRML is currently and perhaps intrinsically (numbers ascii) inefficient and Java is alternative / augmentation technology We use Java client/server agents to generate VRML on the fly VRML 2.0 will allow one to produce collaborative televirtual environments where user is immersed in a computer generated world Aimed at Computer Gaming World but can be used to generate real worlds! Levels of Collaborative Services We have Postal Services, electronic mail/newsgroups/listservs which generalize to web linked database supported mail archives with suitable JavaScript framework We have Phone which generalizes to Chat Servers and Forums where "mail" (lines of chat) are in real time but logically equivalent to mail services Video Conferencing/Face to Face Meetings map into a set of interactive tools Shared White Board Shared Multimedia Information Talking Heads These need digital video, Java Servers and clients etc. Unclear performance and utility -- systems being deployed now Can have intutitive metaphors e.g. separate rooms in a Java Applet or the full (soon to be VRML 2.0) Televirtual Environment as provided by several experimental servers with many users in a realistic simulated world Uses of Databases for Goethe Institut Store information in databases and NOT Web Pages Generate Web Pages on the fly You can use structured databases such as Oracle to store resource data such as Glossaries in an organized fashion Note WebFoil illustrates that computer generated HTML allows one to track changes in standards and exploit new features quicker Can also store unstructured information as illustrated by Usenet computer and other relevant newsgroups Use the powerful Search engines with domain (i.e. particular courses) specific keywords . These can be attached to commercial (e.,g. altavista) or inhouse Web Search sites so search confined to subset of curricula material Object databases can be very useful for VRML and other data which is naturally of this form such as images and output of simulations Choices of Formats and Filters in Web Systems Original Form of Data is mapped in batch or real time and stored in a database. This can be Text Video/Audio 3D Objects Software (Java) etc HTML VRML etc. is NOT natural storage format -- rather it is universal display format! Local Client formatting to (HTML,VRML) needed for standard browser display standards Possible Uses of Digital Audio/Video for Goethe-Institut Clearly digital audio and video supports the type of collaborative environments needed for cultural exchange this is natural use by consultants in distributed computer centers as envisaged by NSF resolicitation for supercomputer centers Digital video (in fashion similar to VRML 2.0) can be annotated to provide much more interactive version of classic documentaries This is video equivalent of clickable 3D VRML scenes and is "academic" version of consumer interactive Movies where you can choose paths etc. Digital Audio and Video is currently less than 5% of web data but eventually it will be dominant (95%) form of digital information and serving will be major Web activity. Broad distribution requires ISDN-ATM speeds but can deliver from local WebServers as only needs Ethernet or less for each client This is "Education in a box " -- ship multimedia courses on a Windows NT server to remote sites Customized Media Services on the Web In our Living SchoolBook K-12 Experimental Resource, Spanish teachers were interested in Foreign Language (in this case Latin America) digital video so that they can engage student's interest by using today's news material in a foreign language The Digital Information delivery has no fixed number of channels and so one should be able of offer customized services Not such CNN Headline News but rather Headlines news in 30 minutes optimized for Central New York residents interested in Germany etc. This would be offered as a selection of URL's to a a Web online digital audo or video archive Possible Uses of JavaScript for Goethe-Institut There are some cases where JavaScript is a rapid prototyping alternative to Java (Java can in principle do anything!) Current use (demonstrated in WebWisdom) is for customized display's of information where base information, simulations, audio(video), and indices can be linked in a friendly fashion. Syracuse is extending to a set of WebTools (originally developed as Server CGI scripts) with which you can build customized front-ends with user defined configurations choosing between type of access (administrator and naive user would be different) and display capabilities (resolution, color) of terminal Note client side and so fast even though interpreted However does not yet have (but needs) text processing capabilities of Perl