Multimedia - From Wagner To Virtual Reality

The first book to address the true history of computer-based multimedia. Web sites, CD-ROMs, video games, interactive television, virtual reality, touch-screen kiosks, 3D architecture design programs . . . these and other forms of computer-based multimedia will be as important to the twenty-first century as film and television were to the twentieth. But what is multimedia, where did it come from, and how does it work? Multimedia presents the fascinating dialogue between the arts and sciences over the last half-century that made today's multimedia possible. Scientists like Vannevar Bush, Douglas Englebart, Norbert Wiener; artists like John Cage, Nam June Paik, and William Gibson--their groundbreaking visions are brought together here for the first time, given historical context, and embedded in a clear explanation of the core concepts behind multimedia. Multimedia will be required reading for anyone who has built a Web site, studied computer graphics, or wondered at the rapid birth and evolution of the new media now changing every aspect of our lives. Introduction by William Gibson.