A presentation for the National University Telecommunications Network, 2007

Tony Labriola
Coordinator of Instructional Development: New Media
Senior Video Producer Director

 Yevette Brown
Coordinator of Instructional Development
Assistant Professor of Media

• Lilah: I can't believe you built that... thing... again.
• Ethan: You didn't know him before the malfunction. He's good company. Just think of him as a pet.
• Lilah: Get a dog, like everyone else!
• Ethan: Hey, if you find a breed of terrier that plays DVDs and has high-definition output, you let me know.

HD DVD will set the standard for movies in the PC and gaming environment.  In fact, the format is integrated into Microsoft’s next-generation operating system, Windows Vista, for smoother high-definition playback.  And on the gaming front there is already an HD DVD drive available for the Xbox 360.

Blu-ray Disc has gained a large amount of support in the corporate world, with companies such as Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Panasonic supporting it. Blu-ray Disc was first developed by Sony Corporation in 2002 as a next generation data and video storage format alternative to DVD.

Next to picture quality, interactivity has been trumpeted as one of the key selling points of the next-gen disc formats. Unlike standard def DVD, both HD DVD and Blu-ray are capable of delivering truly interactive experiences.

Now let’s use the technical features to start our journey about High Def Learning...

User-browsable slideshows
In DVD-Video, user browsable slideshows were not possible with uninterrupted audio. As a result of Blu-ray Disc's ability to read data from the disc without interrupting the current audio/video stream, users can browse through various still pictures while the audio remains playing. This applies not only to forward and backward selecting: A user can make different selections on what picture to view (or select from a screen presented with thumbnail images) while the audio remains playing.

Button graphics
Menu buttons can have three different states: Normal, Active and Selected. They support 256 color full-resolution graphics and animation, thereby greatly surpassing the capabilities of DVD-Video. Buttons can be called and removed during video playback; there is no need to return to a "menu screen
Push a button to see the content expert appear on screen and discuss the scene as it plays. Or pop in your HD DVD/Blu-ray and have it connect to the Internet to download bonus content and updates.  These are features that movie titles either already offer or will offer in the near future, and the best part is that the players you buy today are guaranteed to support them.

Hard Drive on a disc

A Blu-ray Disc player might contain a small amount of non-volatile system storage (flash memory). This system storage can be used to store game scores, bookmarks, favorites from a disc, training course results, etc. As a manufacturer's option, a Blu-ray Disc player may also be equipped with Local Storage (hard disk, to allow large amounts of data like audio/video to be stored).
Before watching a Spider-Man movie in high-definition video on DVD, a viewer downloads and stores on the rewritable portion of that same disc a video game or trailer for the next Spider-Man sequel.  Using that same idea, learners could download paintings, film clips, articles, interactive exercises, “games,” etc. from a website to analyze, read, watch or play as they are guided through the learning on disc.  The learner would also be able to update those articles, games and previews as new versions come out--and give instructors the opportunity to make more immediate educational connections.

"BD-J" mode in Blu-ray
Offers unparalleled flexibility and features, because it is based on the Java runtime environment. It allows for extensive interactive applications, and offers Internet connectivity.

Subtitles
In DVD-Video, subtitles were stored in the audio/video stream, and therefore they had limitations on the number of languages and display styles. Again, it is due to Blu-ray Disc's ability to read data from the disc without interrupting the current audio/video stream, that subtitles can be stored independently on the disc. A user may select different font styles, sizes and colors for the subtitles, or location on screen, depending on the disc's offerings. Subtitles can be animated, scrolled or faded in and out.  All this has wonderful implications for designing learning and letting the user participate in the design experience.

Playback control
The BD-J application can act as the sole interface to the disc's contents (thus replacing the player's on-screen controls as with discs authored in HDMV mode). The BD-J environment offers all of the playback features of HDMV mode, including the selection of subtitle, trick play modes, angles, etc. Video can even be scaled dynamically, so that it can be played in a small size in the corner of a menu, and resume full screen when a selection is made.  Lots of possibilities here for learner manipulation, structuring, and exploration with different camera angles, scaling and video management.

Internet connection
The BD-J system supports basic Internet protocols like TCP/IP and HTTP. The player may connect to the disc publisher's web site to unlock certain content on the disc (after certain conditions, like payment, are met), or dynamically display certain info (like theater playing schedules for a movie) on the screen. Let’s think of what this might mean for learners and education.  If a learner proved that they had mastered a certain amount of content in some interesting interactive way, new content could be “unlocked” and the learner could further enrich his/her experience.  The disc's program may be extended with JPEG pictures or audio fragments downloaded from the Internet, or it can even stream full new audio/visual content to Local Storage.

Blu-Wizard
In a nutshell, there is a way to create your own user-selected menu of a supplemental content, and customize how you watch it. You can also, of course, access all of a disc's extras the traditional way (select the "Special Features" submenu, etc.), but if you click one more spot to the right on the main menu and highlight "Blu-Wizard," you'll be greeted with a checklist of supplements. In the case of 'Black Hawk Down,' only the six chapters of feature-length documentary supplement are offered. Check off the chapters you want, hit "Playlist," and the material you selected will play in the order it appears on the list.  However, Blu-Wizard also offers the ability to watch you’re "Playlist" as an extension of the feature film itself. From the Blu-Wizard, you can select to watch your Playlist with "Icon Notification" on or off. Very similar to standard-def DVD "branching" featurettes, as you watch the film it will "branch off" to your selected Playlist selections at pre-programmed points. If you have switched "Icon Notification" off, this will happen automatically; if you have switched it on, an icon will appear and you will have to then manually activate the content when alerted.

Let’s think of how we might apply this to learning....

With the advent of the HD DVD and Blu-ray technology, educators and instructional designers can now create and store larger multi-media files, allowing for the creation of interactive designs that actively engage learners.
Instructional content and interactive assignments can include options such as high end animation graphics for demonstrations (chemistry lab experiments), hi def film clips (for film history and analysis), hi def video clips (for training purposes), audio chunks with and without subtitles (for phonetics and language competency skills) photographs in high def (for forensic analysis), music selections (for composer and composition comparisons), role plays (for educational best practice demonstrations), re-enactments (for historical events such as the civil war), and actor performances (for Shakespeare readings with links to other interpretations) all of these designs are now interactive learning possibilities. The new and improved button graphics and menu tools can be used throughout each interaction to layer additional teaching content.
Additionally, with the high storage space available on HD DVD or Blu-ray, you can create your own interactive, high content discs that can be transformed into interactive “digital books.” These non-linear teaching tools are updateable every year, every semester, or every day! The Discs can not only store the content   needed for instruction but also allow students to connect to the internet. With this option they can interact with content resident on various web sites. If needed, this new material can be downloaded and stored on the disc’s flash memory.

Let’s say, for example, you teach a corporate multi-media production course, one of the biggest challenges is staying on top of new advancements in technology and their applications. In the past you might review additional materials in class to  supplement a slightly outdated book. Today, you can link to trade articles or photographs, stream short demonstration or training videos with the option to download, or place other appropriate material for students to access on the class    website. With the HD DVD disc they can download new material and catalogue the most current industry information on the HD DVD/Blu-ray hard drive with Blu Wizard).  

As the instructor, you can continuously add internet links on your class site for    research purposes. Your corporate multi-media production students can launch to   a virtual set designer’s web site to interact with virtual set design technology. They can also decide to store their favorite sets for later review. Interactive        assignments could require students use virtual technology to design their own virtual sets, saving designs to their discs, later emailing them in for grading. Another assignment could allow students to search an online archive of past       studio set designs. They could put together an interactive time line documenting the changing looks in set design over the decades. (BD-J mode)

But this new technology doesn’t simply apply to the immediacy of technological changes; it can also be applied to the never changing events of the past. Maybe you’re an art history instructor. You could store paintings, photographs and films   from various time periods and give an interactive assignment where students click  on specific pieces for analysis. With the new hi def imaging students can see  subtle content much clearer (high def imaging and user browser slide shows). As students view the pieces, your voice could explain the significance of each     style, brush strokes, or the lighting design. You can even send them to the site of the artist, style, or period in question for further research guided by questions you pose. Students could visit the Louvre in Paris, or the Metropolitan in New York, or perhaps the Picasso Museum in Malaga, Spain. There students could access past interviews with Picasso, or experience a real time lecture from the museum curator. This information could be downloaded and stored on their Blu-ray disc for later access with titles and descriptions of the lecture content.  This storage and blu-wizard function can create a library of real time art lectures for later review. (hard drive with Blu-Wizard function)

If you’re teaching a history of architecture class, you could give students a virtual tour of Chicago architecture where they navigate down the Chicago River viewing buildings along the way. “Click on Pop ups” could supply additional information while a virtual tour guide describes the buildings. Students could       also switch to a User-browsable slideshow of the buildings with Chicago blues playing uninterrupted in the background or select a BD-J mode option to explore building architecture from different or unusual angle, then zoom  in for a closer look at the buildings’ facade.  Or maybe a trip to the Acropolis in Greece is in order. Students could explore the unique column designs as you explain how this style migrated to America’s southern plantations. All of this information could be saved to the HD DVD or Blu-ray for storage, allowing each  semester’s education to be current, immediate, and constantly updated.

Or perhaps, you’re a pre-med student. Your instructor (with the help of gaming technology) has decided to create an educational interactive game called “Mutation,” where students find, identify and eradicate mutant viruses using real medical information and solutions. The game can be resident on the hard drive disc storage space or can be downloaded from the instructors’ website to your  HD DVD or Blu-ray disc for later play.

Is your head swimming yet? Creative ideas are endless when technology supports  your educational vision. HD-DVD/ Blu-ray technology is leading us toward a world of interactive instruction with new and exciting ways to engage the 21st century life long learner. Welcome to the brave new world!