TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY AND MULTIMEDIA

Connectivity, the Key to Multimedia

our environment in other words, to

develop an interaction between the

The

term

connectivity

is

hardly

individual and their surroundings. The

unfamiliar: we define it as the capacity

goal then becomes to make space an

of a program or device to connect with

interface where content that adapts to

other programs or devices; internet

the activity taking place in that space

networks and wireless phones bring it to

can be projected.

mind. Essentially, connectivity allows us

Interactivity in real time is used to

to connect with each other.

achieve this goal: by means of sensors,

As

with

all

technologies,

we

are

we are able to detect a persons

constantly searching to push the limits

movements

and to find innovative ways to integrate

transcribe them in the surrounding

it

Whereas

environment. A master controller, as with

dialogue

interactive

into

our

interactivity
between

daily
allows

human

lives.
for

and

machine,

or

emotions

projects,

is

and

no

to

longer

in

required; here, the activity in the space

contrast, connectivity gathers, links and

itself determines the projected actions.

connects us, no matter where we are.

In other words, thanks to connectivity,

launching

In 2015, we expect to see an even

greater flourishing in the connectivity
trend.
Connectivity in Public Spaces
How do we connect people who are

an

experience

is

not

dependent upon a person to press a

button: it is the space surrounding us,
installed

with

sensors,

that

reacts

according to what we are doing.

Case of the Los Angeles Airport (LAX)

already connected? Having achieved

Cognisant that connectivity could be the

so-called human connectivity, the next

key

challenge is to extend connectivity to

innovation

for

many

future

multimedia projects, Moment Factory

scalability issues and has contributed to

has experimented with it in various

the rise of content delivery network

(CDN) providers (e.g. Akamai, Level3)

installations.

which provide the necessary server

Take, for example, our Tom Bradley

infrastructure to fan-out the unicast

International Terminal project at the Los

streams. Unicast DASH-like streaming

Angeles Airport, where the ambient

imagery

changes

according

to

passengers destinations. The digital

of to-days encoded multimedia content

works well in wireless access networks
since content recovery mechanisms for
unicast flows are operational. However,

artwork on the pillars is connected to the

during live streaming events where

airport

many users within the same wireless

data

system

and

regularly

changes to reflect outbound flights.

domain

Real-time video and sound effects are

known as flash crowds (e.g. sport

triggered by passenger movements,

events, conferences, news broadcasts),

sending passengers on their way with a

personal touch of high-tech magic.

request

the

same

stream,

unicast applied for broadcasting struggle

to utilize network resources, which often
lead to long delays and poor quality of
delivered content. As client devices
continue to improve their ability to
consume high quality video and audio

Streaming infrastructure

(as well as improve in capturing at high

Video and audio streaming has been

quality)

around for a decade and infrastructure

wireless

technology

towards

desirable. Multicast technology is in

chunk based unicast streaming over

principle promising, but has to-day still

network

protocols

many issues related to current media

(HTTP/TCP). The Dynamic Adaptive

encoding standards and wireless access

Streaming over HTTP (DASH) standard

point

has been available since 2011, a

streaming

(P2PLS)

is

standard developed based on earlier

supported

by

fresh

protocols from Adobe (RTMP), Apple

standard. P2PLS can reduce the need

(HLS)

for CDN support, but will not likely help

Unicast

has

converged

transport

and

Microsoft

streaming

(Silverlight).
has

obvious

more

efficient

resources

functionality.
the

is

utilisation
very

much

Peer-to-peer
on

of

live
rise,

WebRTC

much with flash crowd challenges.

additional installed software in clients. It

Hence live streaming of high quality

seems though that the standards aim for

multimedia content in crowded settings

is still to be handled properly in the
future.

medium to low audio-visual quality. They

will support negotiation for high quality
media streams, but it remains to be
seen if any of the popular browser will
implement support for such streams.

Generating Content in Real Time

The

none-commercial

musical

collaborations tools applied by UNINETT

Another major trend this year is the

during

diversion of different types of software

standardized

for use in multimedia projects.

potential improvement of these openly

At

Moment

Factory,

the

software

program Unity, originally intended for

video games, is used to create 3D
content in real time. When connected to
another

software

program,

Touch

Designer, and sensors are activated, the

program content is projected into space.
The people present and living this
experience become, just like in video
games, characters in their environment.
The content we are talking about is
therefore live, and connected to a
database.

experimentation
signalling

lacks

support.

available tools is to add WebRTC based

signalling and media transport. However
keeping end-to-end delay to a minimum
may turn out to be challenging. Good
news with respect to delay is the
growing availability of fast cameras,
displays

and

consumer

projectors.

interface

Popular

standards

like

HDMI, DVI and USB now support bitrates which enable image and audio
capture

at

such

high

frame-rates,

frequencies and resolutions that the

inevitable buffering in the devices goes
close

to

unnoticed.

Consumer

The advent of the WebRTC/rtcweb

standards also imply consumer products

standards has already enable new

which again imply lower investment

browser

cost.

base

collaboration

tools,

without the need for plug-ins or other

of sweat and to provide

tracking of a person's health.

Wearable Technology

As regards wearable technologies, 2015

will

continue where 2014 left off.

Technological objects will be revisited

and improved with the aim of facilitating
the everyday. One very obvious trend in
wearable technologies

will

be

the

smartwatch, the intelligent watch that,

in addition to telling time, allows us to
remain connected and keep our hands
free.
Commercially
available
wearable
sensors, like the Fitbit and the Apple
Watch, track users' physical activities
and some vital signs, such as heart rate.
However, they do not provide data about
a user's health on a molecular level.
Now, scientists say "smart" wristbands
and headbands embedded with sweat
sensors could sync data wirelessly in
real time to smartphones using
Bluetooth.
Previously, studies of sweat largely
relied on perspiration collected off the
body in containers that was later
analyzed in a lab. Now, researchers
have devised a soft, flexible, wearable
sensor array to continuously monitor
changes in four molecular components

real-time

These devices might one day help

athletes track their performance and
enable doctors to continuously monitor
the health of their patients to better
personalize their medication, the
scientists said.
"This could help tell athletes to take
liquids or warn them they are going
through heat shock," Javey told Live
Science.
The invention uses five sensors to
simultaneously track levels of glucose,
lactate, sodium and potassium, as well
as skin temperature. This data is fed to
a flexible board of microchips that
processes these signals and uses
Bluetooth to wirelessly transmit data to a
smartphone. All of these electronics
could be incorporated into either a
wristband or headband.

3D Printing

When it comes to 3D printing, evolution

of printer technology is at the fore.
Refinements will be made to reduce
printing time and improve the quality of
printed objects.

One of this years important themes will

It can be seen in the throughput of

be improving and innovating the objects

printers, the quality of the finished

we became familiar with in 2014.We

product, and the range of materials. For

already mentioned it above, but will

enterprise 3D printers, more effort is

reiterate here: connectivity will be this

being put into quality assurance tools

years watchword, notably in relation to

that integrate into the printer itself, so

the appropriation of urban spaces by

the operator can be assured of the

multimedia projects. Moment Factory is

quality as the part is being made.

working hard to create future projects

that showcase these new trends, and
that will allow you to live experiences as
intensely as last year!
In 2015, we saw big advances in the
quality, speed, and abilities of 3D
printers. Although they have not quite
become

mainstream

yet,

it

seems

inevitable that new technology in 3D

printing will lead us to produce products
from prescription drugs to food to new
homes. To learn more about what we've
seen, and what's to come, TechRepublic
spoke

to

Pete

Basiliere,

Research

Director, Imaging and Print Services for

Gartner,

for

his

take

on

what's

happening in 3D printing.
How has 3D printing improved over
the last year?

What is stereolithography, and why

do

you

predict

it

will

become

increasingly important in 2016?

Stereolithography, or SLA, is a type of
additive manufacturing using layering.
The technology was invented 30 years
ago by Charles Hull, the founder of 3D
systems. We are forecasting very strong
growth

in

stereolithography.

Our

compound annual growth rate for SLA

from 2015-2019 is 85.5 %. A lot of the
growth comes in 2017, '18, '19, when
we'll

be

seeing

the

shipments.Carbon3D,

doubling
which

stereolithography (SLA),

of

uses
was

announced three months ago.

What about composite printing, using
multiple materials?
It's been one of the initiatives around 3D
technology, along with improving the

throughput, the quality, the range of

jetted has colors in it. It's like printing a

materials, and the size of the output. We

piece of paper. So you have additive

do have the ability to print multiple

color capabilities.

materials

with

extrusion
Boston,

If you've seen 3D figurines, whether it's

enables printing of a plastic-like nylon

a bride and groom or a sports player,

and

they're

technology.MarkForged,

in

fiberglass,

fiber. Voxel8 enables

carbon

extrusion

of

generally

technology.

printed

There's

with

that

Japanese

plastic like an ABS and conductive metal

company

material as well. Those are the products

Engineering using that technology and

that are on the market already. So while

has brighter colors than what's available

there may not be multiple materials,

now. Another company called MCOR

there are absolutely initiatives along

technologies, based in Ireland, prints 3D

those lines. Stratasys is a company that

with paper. The paper's actually printed

has the ability to print multiple colors of

as the paper is fed into the device. The

the

brightest

same

materials

using

jetting

called Mimaki

most

vibrant

colors

are

technology.

available with MCOR's technology.

What about colors? Are 3D printers

Has the price point changed much

getting better at that?

over the last year? Will 3D printing

become more affordable?

Most of the technologies print in one

color. There are a couple of exceptions.

We

One is binder jetting, a technology

enterprise and consumer printers. In the

developed

first

consumer market, there are numerous,

commercialized by Z Corporation, a

tens of hundreds of manufacturers of 3D

company

subsequently

printers worldwide that are trying to sell

acquired by 3D Systems. Binder jetting

printers to consumers costing under

technology is basically laying down a

$1000. Companies are aggressively

light plaster material and jet it as if it was

lowering the price point for those

a piece of paper. That binder ink that is

devices. In the enterprise realm, I don't

by
that

MIT
was

and

have

to

distinguish

between

see as much of a price decline as the

The most exciting thing I'm seeing is the

improvements in quality. Rather than

rapid advance in metal 3D printing

reducing the cost of the printer, they're

where we take a powdered 3D metal

adding

via

and are using that to do more than

throughput, materials, better quality. In

prototyping, to do a wider range of

the enterprise field, you may see lower

finished

cost entry level machines come into the

comes the challenge of making sure that

market, but we won't see a significant

a part can perform well when it's made

decline in price because there are

with 3D printing, hence the interest in

improvements in quality, performance,

quality assurance tools. With metals

and range of materials.

comes the ability to do more medical

value

to

that

printer

goods.

With

that

potential

implants than we have today. While

What are the most innovative 3D

there are some very complex parts and

printing companies today?

it can be labor and cost-intensive to

MarkForge

and

Voxel8,

startup

companies, are definitely innovators. It's

a tough question. There are companies,
along with research institutions and
laboratories, that are innovating at every
level, so it's hard to say whether one is
more

innovative

than

another.

But

companies like MarkForge, Voxel8, and

Carbon3D

who

are

pushing

the

envelope, absolutelyand they're also

startups.

produce with traditional technologies,

used by the aerospace, automotive, and
a wide range of other industries, oil and
gas and so forth. So with those
advances come the need ofnot only
improvements in the technology and
quality assurancebut also comes a
need for designers and engineers who
are trained in additive manufacturing
and know the design for building layer
on layer and learn about the capabilities
of the different devices. So we need to

What do you see for the future of 3D

have more and more people coming out

printing?

of school and the military that are

What's

excited about?

are

you

most

versed in designing for 3D printing.

What's the coolest thing a 3D printer

can make?
Personally, the most exciting part of 3D
printing is in medical devices. It's
absolutely life-altering. Things like hip
implants, dental implants, hearing aids.
But we're also seeing, in the realm of
bioprinting, dissolvable materials that
are already printed and put into monthold children in order to overcome an
issue the child was born with.
Medical devices are the most exciting
and life-altering benefit and opportunity
for 3D printing.Pete Basiliere
The other component is prosthetics.
While 3D printing offers opportunities to
improve prosthetic devices, one of the
greatest and most exciting parts is when
we take a low-cost 3D printer that may
only print with material extrusion, that
printer is taken to a less-developed
country, and there, people who have
had no access to prostheses now can
have inexpensive prosthetic limbs made
for them with very inexpensive 3D
printer. I wear 3D printed hearing aid
shells. So for me, medical devices are
the most exciting and life-altering benefit
and opportunity for 3D printing.

Multimedia Systems Design

and Development

Prepared by:
Ria L. Castillo

Submitted to:
Prof. Francis G. Balason