Publication Date: January 3, 1997

Multimedia Has a Home in Corporate America

By Ken Shulman

There is no doubt that Hollywood is the major promotional vehicle for multimedia. From Star Wars to Toy Story, the special effects and animation seen on America's movie screens have opened up a brave new media world for moviegoers, and have validated the most grandiose dreams of computer gamers. Yet Hollywood represents neither the leading edge nor the bulk of contemporary multimedia production.

From a technical standpoint, video games are far more innovative than mainstream movies. And the majority of today's multimedia production is geared toward business and industry. Springing up on both coasts are small and mid-sized multimedia companies that create complex, interactive products for sales presentations, employee and management training, virtual touring and shopping, human resource tasks, medical diagnostics, classroom instruction, disaster analysis, and a host of other practical applications.

"For someone who wants to communicate a message as simply and as quickly as possible, nothing is as effective as multimedia," says Michael Baker, vice president of the Boston-based multimedia production company The Screen House. Specializing in providing interactive solutions for large corporations, The Screen House counts 10 full-time employees and has created multimedia products for clients as diverse as Fidelity Investments, MCI, Siemens Nixdorf, and Saucony.

Through the use of animation and voice-over, "the user is empowered to learn complex concepts in a very intuitive way. He can see things being built, and can participate in the building process. The interactive elements allow him to select the information he needs or wants at any specific moment," says Baker. "In finding new ways to blend video, voice, animation and text into a cohesive package, we are able to reinforce and amplify our client's promotional message."

Hollywood as Promoter

Hollywood may not be the innovator, but it is a strong enticer, both to corporate managers and to aspiring multimedia producers. Many business people are first exposed to multimedia technology at the movie theater. And many of the students who enroll in multimedia courses at their universities are drawn there by the fantasies that they see realized in full-blown color on movie or television screens. "Movies like Independence Day or Star Wars is what definitely gets them here," says Dr. Karen Panetta Lentz, who teaches multimedia production and design at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. "They see these marvelous feats of animation. And they think that they can learn to do something just as spectacular, if not even more spectacular."

Of the hundreds of college students majoring or minoring in multimedia, only a handful will go on to find work at top California movie shops such as Pixar (the provider of animation and special effects in Toy Story) or George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic company. Yet those who do not find employment in Hollywood have no reason to despair. From athletic shoe designers to manufacturers of financial software, companies across the board have discovered the value of interactive media. And if the current trend is any indication, the future is extremely bright for anyone with a solid background in multimedia.

"I think there will be a ton of work for people with training in multimedia," says David Martz. A former systems programmer at State Street Bank in Boston, Martz formed Cambridge Digital Media three years ago. The multimedia production company creates interactive CD-ROMs and kiosks for the corporate market, and specializes in training products. Martz employs 15 people.

"A lot of the tasks that corporations will be doing in the future will be based on digitalized training classes. Five years ago, if there were a major policy change to disseminate in a large corporation, that corporation would go out and hire a training company. Today, that same corporation could do a multimedia training program. Employees could log on at their desks. And their progress could be monitored through a series of interactive features. Anything that can be taught or demonstrated or presented can be done as well or better with multimedia," he says.

"If I were counseling a young person today, I would suggest that he expose himself to all aspects of this technology. Multimedia is an interdisciplinary environment. It includes graphics, 3D animation, audio and video. The people who will be most valuable in this industry are those people who understand the potential and the limitations in each of those elements."

Limitations, but Also Opportunities

With much of the world still surfing the Internet with 14.4 or 28.8 baud modems, even a moderately simple multimedia Web site becomes problematic, as it can require hours to download. Consequently, the majority of commercial multimedia production currently is geared to CD-ROMs and kiosks.

"Interactivity and multimedia are very limited on the web right now," says Diana Loeb Traylor, who founded Traylor Multimedia four years ago in Newton, Mass., with her husband Scott Traylor. "It won’t be limited forever, though."

Traylor is extremely optimistic about the growth of her field and about the type of opportunities it will provide in the near future. "Only a few years ago, we had to educate people about the business applications of multimedia," says Traylor, a graphic designer by training. "Nowadays, people recognize the advantage of being able to present their products or to tell a story from several different but intersecting viewpoints. And they recognize that people want to be able to interact with presentations, instead of just reading a printed page or watching a static video presentation. I'm very excited about the growth potential in this field. And I see it as a wonderful opportunity for artists to be able to make a living. This is a place were writers, artists, musicians will all be able to lend their talents."

Among the chorus of multimedia enthusiasts there are a few dissenting voices. Bill Brennan, a veteran television writer and producer who heads the interactive group at the Harvard Business School Publishing Group in Allston, Mass., is not convinced that multimedia is the best solution for all commercial or educational presentations. "I've been involved in distance learning and educational programs for a long time," says Brennan, whose group at Harvard produces two CD-ROMs each year for the business management market. "At present, we have precious little data that might allow us to measure the effectiveness of desktop education. It is true that the industry is growing. But I think that the growth in multimedia is spurred because it appears to offer lower costs than other solutions. The jury is still out on whether multimedia is the most effective form of communication."

Multimedia may not be inherently superior to print or standard video. But it is undoubtedly a favorite of the computer industry and of the young. "Interactive multimedia presentations are highly successful in markets where people are used to using computers," says Glenn Johanson, president of Planet Interactive in Boston. Planet Interactive creates CD-ROM, kiosk and Web products for corporate clients such as Gillette, Reebok, Lotus and Data General. "Most high-tech companies are very enthusiastic about it. Other kinds of companies are still tentative."

Yet Johanson has also helped produce more than half a dozen interactive educational kiosks for Boston's Museum of Science; the kiosks, presenting information about remote sensing, scanning electron microscopy, satellite imaging, biotechnology, and bogs, have been enormously popular with grade school and junior high school students. Planet Interactive also collaborates with several educational publishers who want to transfer content onto CD-ROM platforms.

A graduate of the University of South Carolina with a degree in media arts, Johanson sees a rosy future for college graduates with multimedia training. "It's very exciting for us now," he says. "In the early 1990s, most of the people who came to interview with us had little or no experience in multimedia. Now we are getting prospects with specific training. I think that the biggest area of opportunity will be in programming. And also in writing. It's very interesting to write for interactive media. And it is very hard to do it well."

Ken Shulman writes from Cambridge, Mass.

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Multimedia is a featured topic at DCI's Internet Expo. Please see our latest online brochure for details of the event.

For more on multimedia and its impact on distance learning, please see our archived article Interactive Multimedia and the World Wide Web: New Avenues for University Teaching, Learning.

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