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The big picture: the earth situation room

Article Abstract:

Tom Van Sant's Earth Situation Room was first used at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Earth Situation Room has a GeoSphere Image world map composite map at the center, composed of hundreds of satellite photos of the earth. The Reality Globe is a six-foot sphere with the GeoSphere wrapped around it to form a realistic-looking globe. The data base consists of migration maps, growth animations and behavior clips, collectively known as the Global Visual Library, running on an Apple Macintosh IIfx, plus an interactive laserdisc system with a RasterOps 19-inch monitor. Van Sant's GeoSphere Image took more than three years to create and is assembled from digital data and color-corrected on a UNIX-based Stardent graphics workstation. Lloyd Van Warren from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory also worked on the project.

Innovations, Portrayals, Ecology, Computer animation, Animation software, Geology, Van Sant, Tom

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Robert Abel discovers a new world

Article Abstract:

Award-winning television commercial producer Robert Abel says that his recently completed Columbus multimedia project for the education market may be the first great multimedia hit that will increase the public's appreciation for the technology. Columbus is a portable teaching tool that allows teachers to move it between classrooms. Abel believes multimedia will become platform free within a year, that the cost of the technology will drop significantly and that it will become fully standardized. Abel is also looking ahead to designing a training institute with IBM where people could learn the skills and techniques of developing titles. He thinks that making such titles effective involves a dramatic idea or premise and that it is no longer unrealistic to expect that individual users can produce their own titles.

Usage, Education, Computer-assisted instruction, Computer assisted instruction, Multimedia technology, Multimedia systems, Abel, Robert

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Gaze into my crystal ball

Article Abstract:

Institute for the Future senior researcher Paul Saffo believes that the primary task faced by publishers today will remain the same over the next decade, but the tools of the trade are likely to change. Desktop publishers will use more groupware and most, if not all computers will be connected via a network. Graphics will help users make sense of the multitudes of information that will be available at their desks. Editors will continue to be needed to make sense of information but information presentation will change. News will likely be delivered electronically with people being able to specify areas of interest and receive news tailored to their choices.

Officials and employees, Forecasts and trends, Technological forecasting, Desktop publishing software, Desktop publishing, Product introduction, Workgroup computing, Data processing, Office Equipment, Outlook, Future of Computing, New Technique, DTP Software, Electronic Data Processing, Work Group Computing, Institute for the Future

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