Bharat College CF 4th Unit

 

                                                                                                    Unit-IV

 Computer Application in Business-The first non-scientific use of computers concerned routine clerical work. Office administration had previously used such aids as punched -cards accounting machines and adding machines. It was natural progression to make use of computers. Computing procedures for clerical duties were relatively simple to develop since they were already well defined and the repetitive nature of many of the tasks made them very suitable for the computer.

            In the future, the impact is likely to be even greater. Microelectronic technology is enabling officers to function faster and more efficiently, and the cheapness of the technology means computing is within the grasp of even the smallest business. At a general office level, word processing systems and personal computers are already changing office practice and organization. Word processors are particularly useful for preparing reports that may need to go through one or more revisions and for producing standard letters and documents. They provide the capability to insert or delete words, lines or paragraphs, and to print out drafts and final copies at speed. System may include special purpose packages for specific applications such as merging address list, producing a range of documents for insurance quotations and purchase orders, and even dictionary packages which signal and correct mis-spellings. Specific hardware features may include specially designed terminals, personal computers or workstations.

            The computer is used for at least three basic corporate purposes:

1. Preparation of transaction documents
2. Control of operations
3. Decision-making

Preparation of transaction documents such as pay slips, invoices and receipts is the simplest task that the computer can be put to, the only requirement being that the process of preparation be standard, unchanging and easily specified.

            A great deal of routine business activity consists of effectively controlling various functions, plans and operations. The computer can assist in this process by automatically contrasting actual performance with planned performance, highlighting only the areas of discrepancy for reward or censure.

               It is said that management is decision making, and the manager spends his time making decisions. This is no doubt a limited point of view as the manager spends his day in many other important activities such as reviewing, persuading and investigating. There is no doubt, however, that decision making is his most important activity and it is here that the computer can give him the greatest and most significant help.

            The computer can be applied to almost every area of management. Its benefits will be depend on the importance of the area of application to the company, how conductive it is to computerization and how well the system has been designed and implemented.

Computer Application in Project Management: Project management which encompasses planning, scheduling and monitoring phases of a project assumes a very important role considering the present trends in modern projects. The process of project management which does not operate on a self regulation mechanism needs constant feedback on the occurrences at predetermined points for the events to conform to planned schedules. The basic need for effective monitoring depends solely upon timely, reliable, accurate and sufficient information on various aspects of a project, emanating from different agencies flowing through different operations levels and echelons(rank, authority) of management. The various interacting agencies could be clients, collaborators, consultants, vendors, contractors, financiers, statutory bodies, functional groups, who are geographically dispersed over the globe.

            The various phase of a typical project could be broadly identified as Feasibility study, Detailed Project Report, Process Design, Detailed Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning. To capture, process and analyse information for a quick and timely decision making in such a dynamic environment of projects ( large refineries etc) with investments to a tune of Rs 3000-4000 million, involving monitoring of 35000-40000 activities spanning a life cycle of 36-40 months in preparation prefabrication/construction drawings, procurements of equipment, bulk material allocation construction planning and material allocation etc., a tool with matching capabilities is inevitable.

            The integrated project management system encompasses the following subsystems:

1. Project Profile
2. Activity Networks
3. Engineering
4. Procurement
5. Construction
6. Commissioning
7. Human Resources
8. Cost/Finance

The computer finds application in project management area because of its speed, accuracy, memory and stored program features. The difference computer application categories are:

1. General and Clerical
2. Planning and Decision Models
3. Information oriented
4. What if, i.e., future scenario type

Computer in Personnel Administration: During the past several decades personnel function has been transformed from a relatively obscure record keeping function to a central and top-level management function in the organization. There are many factors that have affected this change- technology advances, recognition of human rights, professionalization, government legislations etc. Probably the most important  factor is the general recognition of human beings in an organization as one of the most important resources.

            The computer is viewed as the fourth greatest break-through in history to aid man in his thinking process and decision making ability. Even with the problems inherent with computer use, the fact remains that computers are increasingly accepted as an integral part of organizations. A carefully planned and implemented computerized personnel management system can provide timely and accurate information for numerous personnel decisions. Computers play a vital role in personnel management and administration functions. Computers along with word processing facilities are now very useful and edited outputs can now be produced. Various areas under personnel management have been explained, where computerization is used. The objective of the personnel management is to build and provide the right type of manpower at the right time to meet the business requirements of organization efficiently and effectively. Main activities carried out in personnel management are:

1. Manpower Planning
2. Human Resource Development
3. Selection and Recruitment
4. Compensations and Benefits
5. Industrial Relations and Grievance Handling
6. Establishment and Personnel Records
7. Collective Bargaining

Computer Applications in Marketing and Manufacturing: In many companies with extensive marketing activities, the marketing information system is among the least developed of these companies information systems.  One reason for this is that improved information systems for marketing often do not receive priority because they cannot be justified on a cost savings basis, and the benefits of the systems may be largely intangible and not readily observable. These benefits may nevertheless be very real and may include better information for marketing decisions ( such as for product pricing) as well as better customer service.

            In some companies with weak marketing information systems, marketing is the most critical activity. Not only is the information that marketing management receives important, but also the information that marketing generates is vital to the rest of the organization. For example, marketing provides sales forecasts that serve as the basis for production schedules, cash flow projections, and profit plans. Because of this, the impact of ineffective marketing information system is felt throughout the organization.  The major marketing information subsystems are:

1. The Sales information system:

a.      Sales support

b.     Sales analysis

c.      Customer analysis

2. The market research and intelligence information system:

a.      Customer research

b.     Market research

c.      Competitor intelligence

3. Promotion and advertising information system
4. New product development information system
5. Sales forecasting information system
6. Product planning information system
7. Product pricing information system
8. Expenditures control information system

 

The role of production in organization is to provide a product that the market demands. This means (1)

producing the quantity of products needed by customers, (2) maintaining the quality of the products established by the product specifications, and (3) producing within the cost constraints imposed by the production control system. Production activities involve transforming energy, labor, raw materials, purchased parts and components into finished products by production or assembly activities. For the purposes of this discussion, raw materials, purchased parts and components are all referred to as materials, and no distinction is made among them. There are four general types of production: (1) continuous-flow production, such as is used in oil refineries; (2) repetitive or mass production, which is used in automobile parts production and assembly activities; (3) project production, such as is used in ship manufacturing; and (4) discrete, job-oriented production, in which production activities may be discontinuous or in which a ‘batch’ of a particular product is produced in a few hours, days, or weeks, after which the “production run” is terminated. 

Computer Application in Materials Management: Materials management is an area in which the computers can be put to beneficial use. Since computerization of inventory control will provide better control and profitability, there is rich potential for computerization in material management field. Material management has emerged as an independent function. Top management has been gradually giving greater importance to this area. Right information available at the right time can significantly improve the quality of decisions. Information for planning and control has always been potentially available. However, between ‘potential’ and ‘actual’ have stood the two stumbling blocks of time delays and prohibitive cost. It is here that the computer has come to the aid of materials management.

            Several studies in the field of inventory control have revealed that materials account for more than 60 percent of the sale value. However, these costs vary from industry to industry. In some industries like sugar and general engineering, the material costs are over 70 percent of the sale value. Stocking cost of materials in the Store Departments results in inventory keeping cost. In Indian conditions with meteorological factor changing from season to season, the carrying costs are estimated to be approximately 20 to 25 percent of the cost of materials. Information management in the field of inventory control can thus easily lead to 5 percent reduction in material costs.

            The objectives of an integrated approach in the field of materials management can be:

1. To minimize investment in inventories;
2. To provide materials of a specified quality at the lowest cost;
3. To perform functions of material handling and storage so that keeping costs are minimized;
4. To cut cost through standardization, value analysis, waste control and import substitution;
5. To improve procedures and to delegate authority and responsibility at various levels of materials management

The scope of materials management varies from organization to organization; so do the major activities covered by it. We assume a fairly wide scope for material management and consider the following activities to be covered by it:

1.     Material planning/specification

2.     Requirements determination

3.     Inventory management

4.     Purchasing

5.     Production scheduling

6.     Stocking

7.     Allocation

8.     Distribution

Office Automation: Office automation is defined as using computer and communications technology to help people better use and manage information. Office automation technology includes all types of computers, telephones, electronic mail, and office machines that use microprocessors or other high technology components. People who use office automation are often called knowledge workers- senior executives, managers, supervisors, analysts, engineers and white-collar workers. In most offices, information is the end product and is essential for conducting the company’s business. Office automation provides knowledge workers with information producing systems to collect, analyze, plan, and control information about the many facets of the business, using text, voice, graphics and video display technology.

People: ---- Although it takes people to complete work, it is the way people work that accounts for productivity. In recent years, the trend has been towards people working together to accomplish more. This is called workgroup computing, which means a number of knowledge workers, each with different tasks, jobs or duties, work together towards a common goal. In large companies, there may be dozens or hundreds of workgroups. In smaller companies, everyone is part of the worksgroup.

Ergonomics: ----- Organizations learned that office could not be automated in the same way the factory was automated, and the field of ergonomic began to emerge. Office tasks involve a great deal of thinking and decision making. As a result, office systems must be flexible and versatile. Moreover, they must be designed so any knowledge worker, regardless of background can easily use them. This is called ergonomics, the study of how to create safety, comfort and ease of use for people who use machines. It is not a new field of study; in fact, it has existed for over a hundred years. With the advent of computers, ergonomics engineers became particularly interested in office automation system, furniture and environments for the knowledge worker. Office furniture companies soon introduced ergonomically designed chairs and equipment. Ergonomics has played a significant role in helping people use technology more effectively.

 There are five primary technologies used in managing information in office automation:

• Text or written words
• Data, as in numbers or other non-text forms
• Graphics, including drawings, charts and photographs
• Audios, as in telephone, voice mail, or voice recognition systems
• Video, such as captured images, videotapes or teleconferencing.

In the past, these forms of information were created using different technologies. Today,

The computer integrates these media and others as well. Data, sound and images can all be entered into a computer, stored and translated into the kind of output we need. It is now common to see knowledge workers in workgroups using a special type of software designed specifically for them and their work. This application software, called groupware, lets networked PCs and workstations share information and electronic documents from both corporate and on-line sources.

Office Automation Systems:---- Office automation uses computer-based systems to provide information to help knowledge workers make decisions that benefit the business. Office automation systems comprise many distinct subsystem: text management systems, business analysis systems, document management systems and network and communication systems.

Text Management--- A text management system is a computer system designed to work with the written or typewritten word. It includes all kinds of typewriters, word processing systems, PCs with word processing, desktop publishing and text editing systems and even computerized typesetting equipment. Text management systems are used for tasks like writing memos, notes, letters and other short documents, printing envelopes and labels, preparing pre-printed forms such as invoices, composing complex documents such as proposals and reports, retrieving and editing documents such as contracts, creating display documents like newsletters, etc.

Business Analysis---- Managers need solid data from which to extract the information necessary to make good decisions for the business. In the past, these knowledge workers had to rely on their experience and other personal factors to make decisions. A business analysis system provides data that, when used with the proper software, helps its users better understand the business environment and make more effective decisions. Other software tools for performing analysis that are commonly used in large companies are Decision Support System, expert systems and Executive Support Systems.

Document Management--- Document management systems aid in filing, tracking and managing documents, whether they are paper, computer based, micrographics or purely electronic. Office automation demands that data be immediately accessible and retrievable. For that reason, we are slowly moving away from paper and toward document forms that can be stored on the computer.

Network and Communication Management--- Today, knowledge workers have many ways to communicate with one another, primarily by voice, fax, and e-mail. They can communicate in real time, via phone or computer. They can also communicate using computer controlled PBX telephone systems to record a digital message and leave it in the recipient’s electronic mailbox. These system are called network and communication management systems. The network and communication management systems include telephone, electronic mail, voice messaging systems, teleconferencing and fax machines.

Electronic Publishing:- Electronic publishing is one of the most widely used forms of office automation. This category includes office tools that have become staples in our personal and professional lives, such as word processing and desktop publishing software. Microsoft Word, part of the Office 365 product suite, is the most widely used solution with an estimated 60 million monthly active Office 365 commercial customers.

Other office automation solutions such as content management systems (CMS) have become popular and allow employees to easily contribute to, schedule, or edit digital content. CMS solutions are cloud-based. This means that they can be accessed from anywhere by any number of users. Moreover, low-code technology such as drag-and-drop functionality allows non-technical users to easily create and manage their own web content. One of the most well-known examples of a CMS is WordPress.

Advantages of Office Automation are:

1.     Office automation can get many tasks accomplished faster.

2.     It eliminates the need for a large staff.

3.     Less storage is required to store data.

4.     Multiple people can update data simultaneously in the event of changes in schedule.^[2]

 

 

Industrial Applications: Computers are used to perform several tasks in industries like managing inventory, designing purpose, creating virtual sample products, interior designing, video conferencing, etc. Online marketing has seen a great revolution in its ability to sell various products to inaccessible corners like interior or rural areas. Stock markets have seen phenomenal participation from different levels of people through the use of computers.

CAD/CAM: An increasingly popular tool for product design is CAD. CAD systems are computer programs or integrated packages for workstation hardware and software that allow the user to draw and easily modify product designs on a computer screen. Advanced CAD systems provide designers with at least three major benefits.

• Graphics capabilities—CAD systems allow the designer to view a product from different perspectives, including three-dimensional rotations, and various cross-sections. The designer can also make proportional changes in scale, or change the angle of an arc with the click of a computer mouse rather than having to redraw the entire product.
• Design, Storage and retrieval--- Some CAD systems can store the design characteristics of existing products and components. For example, If a company needs a gear for a new product, the designer can enter the relevant information about the gear, such as its diameter, tooth pattern and required hardness, into the CAD systems. The CAD systems determine whether the company is already using an identical or sufficiently similar gear, in which case a new one is unnecessary. If not, a gear, which has similar properties, may exist. The designer can then use the design of this similar gear as a starting point for the new gear. This capability not only promotes the use of common components but also reduces design time.
• Automatic evaluation of specifications--- One of the most time-consuming aspects of design for highly technical products is calculating whether or not product specifications, such as strength, heat resistance or aerodynamic drag, are satisfied. These calculations can be programmed into some CAD systems so that whenever the designer changes the design( by altering the shape or material to be used), these performance characteristics are recalculated automatically and compared to the product requirements.

 

Even greater time and cost reductions have resulted from recent advances whereby CAD-engineered designs are converted automatically into software programs for computerized production machines. These are called CAD/CAM systems. This automatic conversion eliminates the costly and time consuming steps of having a person convert design drawings into a computer program for computer- controlled production equipment, such as robots or machine tools. CAD and CAD/CAM systems are not used by large automotive or electronics companies alone. Future Enterprises, the largest maker of wedding jewelry in the United States, reported that its CAD/CAM system reduces the time required to design and make jewelry from five months to one week.

Product Data Management (PDM)--- One of the major manufacturing challenges is to maximize the time-to-market benefits of concurrent engineering while maintaining control of your data and distributing it automatically to the people who need it, when they need it. The way PDM systems cope with this challenge is that master data is held only once in a secure ‘vault’ where its integrity can be assured and all changes to it monitored, controlled and recorded.

            Duplicate reference copies of the master data, on the other hand, can be distributed freely, to users in various departments for design, analysis and approval. The new data is then released back into the vault. When a change is made to data, what actually happens is that a modified copy of the data, signed and dated, is stored in the vault alongside the old data which remains in its original form as permanent record. The following are some of the benefits of the PDM system:

• Reduced Time-to-Market
• Improved Design Productivity
• Better use of Creative Team Skills
• Data Integrity Safeguard
• Better Management of Engineering Change

Feature Prototyping:-  One of the problems with product design is getting an intimate feel for the appearance and behavior potential of a product. Now there are software packages that can generate computer prototypes, which can be distributed and tested by actual customers. Usage data from these tests is collected automatically and used to refine product specifications until they precisely meet the customers’ needs. This process helps in ensuring the market success of the new product before costly and time-consuming investments in engineering and manufacturing are made. Better than communicating with customers using written specifications, static drawings, flip charts, or multimedia authoring tools, feature prototyping using fully functional prototypes provide accurate and valuable feedback to the company based on customers’ experience that can make the difference between a resounding market winner and an embarrassing.

Library Information System: Prior to computerization, library tasks were performed manually and independently from one another. Selectors ordered materials with ordering slips, cataloguers manually catalogued items and indexed them with the card catalog system (in which all bibliographic data was kept on a single index card), fines were collected by local bailiffs, and users signed books out manually, indicating their name on cue cards which were then kept at the circulation desk. Early mechanization came in 1936, when the University of Texas began using a punch card system to manage library circulation. While the punch card system allowed for more efficient tracking of loans, library services were far from being integrated, and no other library task was affected by this change.

1960s: the influence of computer technologies

Following this, the next big innovation came with the advent of MARC standards in the 1960s which coincided with the growth of computer technologies – library automation was born. From this point onwards, libraries began experimenting with computers, and, starting in the late 1960s and continuing into the 1970s, bibliographic services utilizing new online technology and the shared MARC vocabulary entered the market; these included OCLC (1967), Research Libraries Group (which has since merged with OCLC), and Washington Library Network (which became Western Library Network and is also now part of OCLC).^[

1970s–1980s: the early integrated library system

The 1970s can be characterized by improvements in computer storage as well as in telecommunications. As a result of these advances, ‘turnkey systems on microcomputers, known more commonly as integrated library systems (ILS) finally appeared. These systems included necessary hardware and software which allowed the connection of major circulation tasks, including circulation control and overdue notices. As the technology developed, other library tasks could be accomplished through ILS as well, including acquisition, cataloguing, reservation of titles, and monitoring of serials

1990s–2000s: the growth of the Internet

With the evolution of the Internet throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, ILSs began allowing users to more actively engage with their libraries through OPACs and online web-based portals. Users could log into their library accounts to reserve or renew books, as well as authenticate themselves for access to library-subscribed online databases. Inevitably, during this time, the ILS market grew exponentially. By 2002, the ILS industry averaged sales of approximately US$500 million annually, compared to just US$50 million in 1982.

Mid 2000s–Present: increasing costs and customer dissatisfaction

By the mid to late 2000s, ILS vendors had increased not only the number of services offered but also their prices, leading to some dissatisfaction among many smaller libraries. At the same time, open source ILS was in its early stages of testing. Some libraries began turning to such open source ILSs as Koha and Evergreen. Common reasons noted were to avoid vendor lock in, avoid license fees, and participate in software development. Freedom from vendors also allowed libraries to prioritize needs according to urgency, as opposed to what their vendor can offer. Libraries which have moved to open source ILS have found that vendors are now more likely to provide quality service in order to continue a partnership since they no longer have the power of owning the ILS software and tying down libraries to strict contracts. This has been the case with the SCLENDS consortium. Following the success of Evergreen for the Georgia PINES library consortium, the South Carolina State Library along with some local public libraries formed the SCLENDS consortium in order to share resources and to take advantage of the open source nature of the Evergreen ILS to meet their specific needs. By October 2011, just 2 years after SCLENDS began operations, 13 public library systems across 15 counties had already joined the consortium, in addition to the South Carolina State Library. Librarytechnology.org does an annual survey of over 2,400 libraries and noted in 2008 2% of those surveyed used open source ILS, in 2009 the number increased to 8%, in 2010 12%, and in 2011 11% of the libraries polled had adopted open source ILSs. The following year's survey (published in April 2013) reported an increase to 14%, stating that "open source ILS products, including Evergreen and Koha, continue to represent a significant portion of industry activity. Of the 794 contracts reported in the public and academic arena, 113, or 14 percent, were for support services for these open source systems." ^[

2010s–Present: the rise of cloud based solutions

The use of cloud based library management systems has increased drastically since the rise of "cloud" technology started. Some common management systems include Libramatic, Aura Software and Librarika. Many modern cloud based solutions allow automated cataloging by scanning a book's ISBN. This technology was pioneered by Libramatic, although it is currently in use by systems such as LibraryWorld. Librarika has a method called "Smart Add" that lets Librarians to add book automatically by just inputing the ISBNs. In addition, Librarika offers free library creation with built-in OPAC for up to 10,000 book titles with the ability to get more free titles for non-profit and charities, which serves well for many school, college and other small libraries.

 

Digital Image Processing: Digital image processing is the use of computer algorithms to perform image processing on digital images. As a subcategory or field of digital signal processing, digital image processing has many advantages over analog image processing. It allows a much wider range of algorithms to be applied to the input data and can avoid problems such as the build-up of noise and signal distortion during processing. Since images are defined over two dimensions (perhaps more) digital image processing may be modeled in the form of multidimensional systems.

Many of the techniques of digital image processing, or digital picture processing as it often was called, were developed in the 1960s at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bell Laboratories, University of Maryland, and a few other research facilities, with application to satellite imagery, wire-photo standards conversion, medical imaging, videophone, character recognition, and photograph enhancement.^[1] The cost of processing was fairly high, however, with the computing equipment of that era. That changed in the 1970s, when digital image processing proliferated as cheaper computers and dedicated hardware became available. Images then could be processed in real time, for some dedicated problems such as television standards conversion. As general-purpose computers became faster, they started to take over the role of dedicated hardware for all but the most specialized and computer-intensive operations.

With the fast computers and signal processors available in the 2000s, digital image processing has become the most common form of image processing and generally, is used because it is not only the most versatile method, but also the cheapest.

Digital image processing technology for medical applications was inducted into the Space Foundation Space Technology Hall of Fame in 1994.^[2]

Digital image processing allows the use of much more complex algorithms, and hence, can offer both more sophisticated performance at simple tasks, and the implementation of methods which would be impossible by analog means.

In particular, digital image processing is the only practical technology for:

• Classification
• Feature extraction
• Pattern recognition
• Projection
• Multi-scale signal analysis

Digital cameras generally include dedicated digital image processing chips to convert the raw data from the image sensor into a colour-corrected image in a standard image file format. Images from digital cameras often receive further processing to improve their quality, a distinct advantage that digital cameras have over film cameras. The digital image processing typically is executed by special software programs that can manipulate the images in many ways.

Many digital cameras also enable viewing of histograms of images, as an aid for the photographer to understand the rendered brightness range of each shot more readily.

Multimedia Applications: Multimedia is combination of text, graphics art, sound animation and video elements. When you allow an end user to the viewer of a multimedia project to control what and when the elements are delivered, it is interactive multimedia. When you provide a structure of linked elements through which the user can navigate, interactive multimedia becomes hypermedia.

Although the definition of multimedia is a simple one, making it work can be complicated. The people who weave multimedia into meaningful tapestries are multimedia developers.

The software vehicles, the messages, and the content presented on a computer or TV screen together constitute a multimedia project.

A multimedia project need not be interactive to be called Multimedia: users can sit back & watch it just as they do a movie or the TV. In such cases a project is linear, starting at a beginning & running through to an end. When users are given navigational control & can wander through the content at will, multimedia becomes nonlinear & interactive & is a powerful personal gateway to information.

Multimedia elements are typically sewn together into a project using authoring tool. These software tools are designed to manage individual multimedia elements & provide user interaction. In addition to provide a method for user to interact with the project, most authoring tools also offer facilities for creating & editing text & images & they have extensions to drive video disc players, video tape players & other relevant hardware peripherals. Sound & movies are usually created with editing tools dedicated system for playback. The some of what gets played back & how it is presented to the viewer is GUI (pronounced “gooey”). This interface is just as much the rules for what happens to the user’s input, as it is actual graphics on the screen. The hardware & software that govern the limits of what can happen are the multimedia platform or environment.

Use Of Multimedia:-

Multimedia is appropriate whenever a human interface connects a human user to electronic information of any kind. Multimedia enhances minimalist text-only computer interfaces & yields measurable benefit by gaining & holding attention & interest; multimedia improves information retention. When properly woven, multimedia can also be profoundly entertaining.

Multimedia In Business:-

 

Business applications for multimedia include presentations, training, marketing, advertising, product demos, databases, catalogues &networked communications. Voice mail & video conferencing will soon be provided on many local & wide area networks (LANs & WANs) using Internet protocols.

After a morning of mind-numbing 35mm slide & overhead presentations delivered from the podium of a national sales conference, a multimedia presentation can make an audience come alive to the usual “slide show” of graphics & text material.

Multimedia (MM) is enjoying widespread use in training programs. Flight attendants learn to manage international terrorism & security through simulation. Mechanics learn to repair engines. Salespeople learn about product lines & leave behind software to train their customers.

MM around the office has become more commonplace. Laptop computers equipped with the fastest processors come complete with CD-ROM drives & are ready for MM presentations on the road.

As companies & businesses catch on to the power of MM, & the cost of installing MM capability decreases, more applications will be developed both in-house & by third parties to allow businesses to run more smoothly & efficiently.

Multimedia In Schools:-

Schools are perhaps the most needy destination for multimedia. Many schools in the United States today are chronically under funded & 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, & hospital to the information super highway by the year 2000. The White House has also taken steps to provide governmental support for state-of-the-art technology in low-income rural & urban school districts.

MM 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 & mentors along a learning path, not the primary providers of information & understanding- the students, not teachers become the core of the teaching & learning process. This is a sensitive & highly politicized subject among educators, so educational software is often positioned as “enriching” the learning process, not as a potential substitute for traditional teacher-based methods.

An interesting use of MM in schools involves the students themselves. Students put together interactive magazines & newsletters, they make original art using image-editing tools, they interview students & townspeople & coaches & teachers, & they make QuickTime movies. They design &run Web sites.

Multimedia At Home:-

From gardening to cooking to home design, remodeling, & repair to genealogy software, MM has entered the home. Eventually, most MM projects will reach the home via television sets or monitors with built-in interactive user inputs-either on old-fashioned color TVs or new high definition sets. The MM viewed on these sets will likely arrive on a pay-for-use basis along the data highway.

Today, home consumers of MM either own a computer with an attached CD-ROM drive or a set-top player that hooks up to the television, such as Sega or Nintendo or Sony game machine. There is increasing convergence of computer-based MM with entertainment  & game-based media traditionally described as “shoot-em-up”. Nintendo alone has sold over 100 million game players worldwide & more than 750 million games.

Live Internet pay-for-play gaming with multiple players has become popular, bringing MM to homes on the data highway, often in combination with locally inserted CD-ROMs. Microsoft’s Internet Gaming Zone &Sony’s Station Web site boast more than a million registered users each – Microsoft claims to the most successful, with tens of thousands of people logged on & playing every evening.

The home of the future will be very different when the cost of computer hardware & MM televisions becomes mass-market affordable & the MM connection to the data highway is widely available. When the number of MM households increases from hundreds of thousands to many millions, a vast selection of MM titles & material will be required to satisfy the demands of this market, & vast amounts of money will be earned producing & distributing these MM products.

Multimedia In Public Places:-

In hotels, train stations, shopping malls, museums, & grocery stores, MM will become available at stand-alone terminals or kiosks to provide information & help. Such installations reduce demand on traditional information booths & personnel, add value, & they can work round the clock, even in the middle of the night, when live help is off duty.

                                                                                         

Services

                                                                                          GROCERY

                                                                                         

Shopping List Quick Shop Full Shop Special Recipes Preferences

                                                                                                                                      

 

                                                                                                        

 

                                                                 COMPUTER  KIOSKS     BOOK

 

 

 

 

 

Figure shows a menu screen from supermarket a kiosk that provides service ranging from meal planning to coupons. Hotel kiosks list nearby restaurants, maps of the city, airline schedules, & provide guest services such as automated checkout. Printers are often attached so users can walk away with a printed copy of the information. Museums kiosks are not only used to guide patrons through the exhibits, but when installed at each exhibit, provide great added depth, allowing visitors to browse through richly detailed information specific to that display.

The power of MM has been part of the human experience for many thousands of years.

Virtual Reality:-

                        At the convergence of technology & creative invention in MM is virtual reality, or VR. Goggles, helmets, special gloves & bizarre human interfaces attempt to place you “inside” a lifelike experience. Take a step forward, & the view get closer, turn your head, & the view rotates. VR requires terrific computing horsepower to be realistic. In VR, your cyberspace is made up of many thousands of geometric objects plotted in 3-dimensional space; the more objects & the more points that describe the objects, the higher the resolution & the more realistic view. As you move about, each motion or action requires the computer to recalculate the position, angle, size, & shape of all the objects that make up your view, & many thousands of computation must occur as fast as 30 times per second to seem smooth.

                    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. Intel & software makers such as Macromedia & Adobe have announced support for new 3-D technologies.

 

Need Of Multimedia:-

             We need hardware & software & good ideas to make MM. To make good MM, we need talent & skill. You also need to stay organized, because as the construction work gets under way, all the little bits & pieces of MM content. We will need time & money (for consumable resources such as disks & other memory, for telephoning & postage, & possibly for paying for special services & time, yours included), & you will need to budget these precious commodities.

                                 We will also need the help of other people. MM is often a team effort: graphic artists perform artwork, video shoots by video producers, sound editing by audio producers, & programming by programmers.

 

Space Research: "Every day" technologies such as weather forecasting, remote sensing, GPS systems, satellite television, and some long distance communications systems critically rely on space infrastructure. Of sciences, astronomy and Earth sciences (via remote sensing) most notably benefit from space technology.

Computers and telemetry were once leading edge technologies that might have been considered "space technology" because of their criticality to boosters and spacecraft. They existed prior to the Space Race of the Cold War (between the USSR and the USA.) but their development was vastly accelerated to meet the needs of the two major superpowers' space programs. While still used today in spacecraft and missiles, the more prosaic applications such as remote monitoring (via telemetry) of patients, water plants, highway conditions, etc. and the widespread use of computers far surpasses their space applications in quantity and variety of application.

Space is such an alien environment that attempting to work in it requires new techniques and knowledge. New technologies originating with or accelerated by space-related endeavors are often subsequently exploited in other economic activities. This has been widely pointed to as beneficial by space advocates and enthusiasts favoring the investment of public funds in space activities and programs. Political opponents counter that it would be far cheaper to develop specific technologies directly if they are beneficial and scoff at this justification for public expenditures on space-related research.

Without the advancement of computer technology we would not have the Hubble Space Telescope in space. From analyzing data gathered by these telescopes, to designing the complex systems needed to make them work, computer technology goes hand in hand with the advancement of space research.

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Computer Uses

Early astronomers studied space from the limited view of their telescopes. Now, astronomical data from around the world is overflowing, thanks to the powerful tool called the computer.

The possible uses of a computer for space research are limited only by your imagination. Space simulations, data visualization, rover or robot manipulation, complex calculations and signal transmissions are some of the many ways that a computer aids astronomy.

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Data Analysis and Documentation

Data analysis and documentation is perhaps the most apparent use of computers for space research. With piles of research data, astronomers need a way to store and share information conveniently.

Computers facilitate faster flow of information by providing collaborative workspaces.

In 1992, the Information Systems Branch of Kennedy Space Center developed a special computer software, based on the Windows Visual News Reader or Win Vn application, that helped organize loads of technical space information and allowed various space groups to exchange ideas