An iServer plug-in for movies, sounds and still images has been implemented
in the Global Information Systems (GlobIS) research group at ETH Zurich based on a
QuickTime development kit provided by Apple. The system level QuickTime software package provides
the required functionality to control time-based data based on a set of Java wrapper classes.
Three different types of selectors have been defined for the three different resource types. Spatial selectors
may be applied to address parts of an image. Portions of a sound file can be selected by temporal selectors.
For a movie, which is a combination of moving images and a sound, we can use either spatial or temporal
selectors. In addition, a combination of spatial and temporal selectors can be applied to define a link source
or target for a movie. In Fig. 1 we show a prototype of the QuickTime-based movie plug-in. In the
upper left corner, there is a window for replaying a movie combined with the usual controls for play, pause, fast forward etc.
Fig. 1: iMovie plug-in
In addition to the main replay window, information about link data is provided. Below the replay window there is a timeline
for defining temporal links. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the timeline is further separated into three
different layers. On the first layer a temporal link named 'Bruce, Marlin' has been defined which starts at '23:00' and
ends at '23:10'. On the right-hand side of the replay window there is information about the currently active
regions within the movie, i.e. the spatial selectors that are currently active. A link can be activated by
clicking with the mouse at a specific position within the replay window. Furthermore, some textual meta
information of active links is shown in the lower right corner. By clicking on a 'Goto' button, the corresponding link
target is shown. Note that another possibility for defining link anchors would be the use of text-based selectors on a
movie's subtitles.
