Current and future directions of multimedia technology in business

A multimedia system is a typical application of time-critical computing. In a networked multimedia system such as video conferencing, real-time image communication is the key for system success. Multimedia applications have r eceived significant attention from business after the emergence of Internet and World Wide Web (WWW). However, the application areas of multimedia hav e not been discussed in detail taking into account that there is no clear c ut framework for the application of multimedia technology in business inclu ding commerce, community service, health care, education and manufacturing. Realising the importance of computers including electronic commerce in bus iness, an attempt has been made in this paper to review the application of multimedia in various businesses together with various societal issues such as intellectual property, privacy and secure commercial transactions. A fr amework has been proposed to improve the application of multimedia in busin ess. Also, future research directions are indicated to motivate the researc hers in the multimedia application in business. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science L td. All rights reserved.