Multimedia interfaces are examined and the nature of current input and output media identified. A number of design objectives for multimedia inteifaces are suggested - improving efficiency, learning and providing a stimulating problem-solving environment. The key problem of how to choose an appropriate medium for a particular interface situation is analysed and the concept of a signal-to-noise ratio for measuring media expressiveness is tentatively postulated. Some recent work in process control is then examined and the results interpreted from the signal-to-noise ratio viewpoint. These are then related to the concept of media expressiveness.
Alty, J.L., Bergan, M., Dolphin, C., and Schepens, A.1993. 'Multimedia and process control: some initial experimental results', Computers and Graphics, 17(3), 205-218.
2.
Clark, H.H.1996. 'Using Language, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
3.
Crossman, M., and Cooke, J.E.1974. 'Manual control of slow response systems'. In: Edwards, E., and Lees. F. (eds), The Human Operator in Process Control. Taylor and Francis, London.
4.
Daft, R.L., and Lengel, R.H.1984 'Information richness: a new approach to manager information processing and organisational design', In: Staw, B., and Cummings, L. L. (eds), Research and Organisational Behaviour, JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut.
5.
Daft, R.L., and Lengel, L.L.1986 'Organisational information requirements, media richness and structural design', Management Science, 23(5), 554-570.
6.
Flach, J.M.1995. 'Situation awareness: proceed with caution', Human Factors, 37(1), 149-157.
7.
Grice, H.P.1975. 'Logic and conversation', In: Cole, P., and Morgan, J. (eds), Syntax and Semantics, 3: Speech Acts, Academic Press, New York, pp. 41-58.
8.
Lieberman, H.1996 'Intelligent graphics', Communications of the ACM, 39(8), 38-48.
9.
Sanderson, P.M., Verhage, A.G., and Fuld, R.B.1989. 'State space and verbal protocol methods for studying the human operator in process control', Ergonomics, 32(11), 1343-1372.
10.
Sperber, D., and Wilson, D.1986. Relevance: Communication and Cognition, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, UK.
11.
Stenning, K., and Levy, J.1988. 'Knowledge-rich solutions to the binding problem: a simulation of some human computational mechanisms', Journal of Knowledge Based Systems, 1 (3), 143-151.
12.
Stenning, K., and Oberlander, K.J.1995. 'A cognitive theory of graphical and linguistic reasoning: logic and implementation', Cognitive Science, 19(1), 97- 140.
13.
Williams, D.M.L.1997. Ph.D. thesis, Loughborough University , Loughborough, UK.
14.
Williams, D.M.L., and Alty, J.L.1998. 'Expressiveness and multimedia interface design', In: Ottman, T., and Tomek, I. (eds), Proceedings of Edmedia-98, Freiburg, Germany, pp. 1505-1501.
