Digital Media Players Research Articles

Utilization of Digital Media to Restore Reading Interest for University Students

The purpose of this research is to use digital media to rekindle a love of reading among students at the Faculty of Islamic Religion at Unismuh Makassar. Studying how people read with digital media is crucial, as such platforms are now an integral part of most people's lives, and notably those of the digital native millennial generation. Digital media is a type of digital content that can be played by digital media players. Students' behavior and routines have been impacted by the prevalence of digital technology in their lives. Reading books is one activity that has experienced significant change among the younger population, particularly among students. Most students today choose to use search engines on their mobile devices to find the information they need for class. The purpose of this study was to collect comprehensive data on how to rekindle students' love of reading through the creative use of existing digital media. A quantitative strategy was employed in the study's analysis. Students fill out a survey to help gather information. Frequency analysis is used to determine how frequently each answer was provided in the collected data. Parametric analysis is supplemented with descriptive analysis to provide light on what may be done to rekindle a love of reading among Unismuh Makassar students. The findings demonstrate a daily digital media consumption rise, from three to twelve hours on average.

A Corpus‐Based and Complex Computing Digital Media System for 3D Animation

In this paper, we design a corpus‐based 3D animation digital media system to improve the accuracy of 3D animation generation and realize crossplatform animation display. The corpus module extracts high‐precision data through web crawling, web cleaning, Chinese word separation, and text classification steps; the character animation generation module uses the semantic description method to expand the frame information description of the extracted data, calculates the object spatial 3D coordinates, and uses the built‐in animation execution script to generate 3D character animation; the improved digital media player module uses the improved digital media player to realize crossplatform display of 3D character animations using the improved digital media player. By constructing multidimensional character relationships and combining multiple visualization methods, the complex and multifaceted social relationship network is made available to users in an intuitive and more acceptable and understandable mode. Through a large number of user surveys, it is proved that the visual analysis method combining real social and virtual social proposed in this paper provides a more adequate and reliable basis for friend recommendation and social network analysis; the combination of multiple character relationships with geographical information and the use of visualization to describe multidimensional historical character relationships provides a new research perspective for the research and exploration of humanistic neighborhoods. The experimental results prove that the designed system can effectively read known contents and extract keywords and generate 3D animation based on keyword features, with a high accuracy rate, fast response time, small frame loss rate, and crossplatform display animation advantages.

Beyond the black box: Digital media players as interoperable systems

This article looks at the entanglement of materiality, social practices and institutional interventions connected to the emergence of digital media players, in order to understand the cultural practices that their development and stabilization provoke. After laying out a framework for studying interconnectivity in complex systems, and introducing the notion of interoperable systems as a conceptual intervention for the study of media technologies, I offer a case study of the development of Microsoft’s Xbox One, in which particular attention is paid to the various ‘repair practices’ that the system’s limitations motivated among different social groups. I argue that seemingly ‘simple’ and ‘seamless’ operations that an everyday phenomenon like the Xbox One promises, such as using the device to stream a video, are in fact made possible by a complex set of technological, social and organizational mechanisms that are deliberately negotiated and manipulated at different layers.

Impact of Audio-Visual Assisted Therapeutic Ambience in Radiotherapy (AVATAR) on Anesthesia Use, Cost, and Time in Pediatric Patients

Pediatric radiotherapy requires optimal immobilization and is often complicated by the need for daily general anesthesia. To decrease anesthesia use, we implemented a novel Audio-Visual Assisted Therapeutic Ambience in Radiotherapy (AVATAR) system, allowing children to watch video during treatment. We investigated its effectiveness on reducing anesthesia usage, cost, and time in pediatric radiotherapy, and analyzed its impact on dose delivery. AVATAR utilizes a digital media player which projects video onto a carbon-fiber radiolucent screen within the patient's line of vision. We performed a 3 year retrospective institutional analysis on 75 children, ages 4-10, who received radiotherapy (all children 0-3 required anesthesia, and only 1 >10, so were excluded). We compared frequency of anesthesia use 1.5 years prior to AVATAR with the 1.5 years after implementation. The number of anesthesia treatments spared was used for a cost analysis using cost to payer data. Children who started with anesthesia, then transitioned to AVATAR, were used to compare treatment time between the 2 methods. Additionally, a radiation course was delivered to a phantom, and dose to skin measured with optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters (OSLDs) both with and without the AVATAR system. Of the 75 children, the median age prior to AVATAR was 7 (n =35) and with AVATAR was 6 (n=40). With AVATAR, only 4 of 40 children (10%) required anesthesia to complete their course of radiation, compared to 37% previously, thus a 27% absolute reduction in anesthesia use. Six children required anesthesia initially, but transitioned off within 2-7 fractions using AVATAR. Analysis of treatment time demonstrated an average reduction of 13.3 minutes per session (35.4 minutes with anesthesia versus 22.1 minutes with AVATAR), a 37% reduction, not accounting for additional time saved in pre- and post-anesthesia care units. Previous studies document a 6 week course of anesthesia for radiation treatment costs $50,000 in payer charges, or $1,666 per treatment. In the last 1.5 years, 603 treatment sessions of anesthesia were replaced by AVATAR, a cost savings of $1,005,000. To document possible changes in dose delivery from the AVATAR, a craniospinal course was delivered to a phantom. Using OSLD measurements, we found a small increase in skin dose of 0.8%-9.5% with AVATAR. In comparison, use of a thermoplastic face mask increases skin dose up to 58%. For children undergoing radiotherapy, AVATAR resulted in a 27% reduction in anesthesia use, a 37% reduction in time per session, and estimated cost savings of >$1,000,000 over 1.5 years -- all with minimal dose effect, and avoiding potential risks associated with anesthesia. These reductions are invaluable to children undergoing radiotherapy, and support continued clinical development of the AVATAR system.

A Low-Cost Wireless Multi-Presentation on Single Screen in Classroom Using Raspberry Pi

Smartphone has become a daily necessity in supporting the mobility of users, including teachers and students. The need of users to make multi-presentation via a smartphone wirelessly does not fit with the cost and multiplatform support. This study aims to produce a solution by using Raspberry Pi as a wireless digital media player that will be applied to educational institutions to make multi-presentation wirelessly at efficient cost. The results obtained from this study is a wireless digital media player application that is installed in Raspberry Pi, a credit-card size single board computer, and an Android application whose features of sending image, presentation, splitting screen, and able to give control and access grant. The conclusion is an application can augment user mobility within the presentation in teaching and learning effectively.

Initial clinical outcomes of audiovisual-assisted therapeutic ambience in radiation therapy (AVATAR)

PurposeRadiation therapy is an important component of treatment for many childhood cancers. Depending upon the age and maturity of the child, pediatric radiation therapy often requires general anesthesia for immobilization, position reproducibility, and daily treatment delivery. We designed and clinically implemented a radiation therapy–compatible audiovisual system that allows children to watch streaming video during treatment, with the goal of reducing the need for daily anesthesia through immersion in video. Methods and materialsWe designed an audiovisual-assisted therapeutic ambience in radiation therapy (AVATAR) system using a digital media player with wireless streaming and pico projector, and a radiolucent display screen positioned within the child’s field of view to him or her with sufficient entertainment and distraction for the duration of serial treatments without the need for daily anesthesia. We piloted this system in 25 pediatric patients between the ages of 3 and 12 years. We calculated the number of fractions of radiation for which this system was used successfully and anesthesia avoided and compared it with the anesthesia rates reported in the literature for children of this age. ResultsTwenty-three of 25 patients (92%) were able to complete the prescribed course of radiation therapy without anesthesia using the AVATAR system, with a total of 441 fractions of treatment administered when using AVATAR. The median age of patients successfully treated with this approach was 6 years. Seven of the 23 patients were initially treated with daily anesthesia and were successfully transitioned to use of the AVATAR system. Patients and families reported an improved treatment experience with the use of the AVATAR system compared with anesthesia. ConclusionsThe AVATAR system enables a high proportion of children to undergo radiation therapy without anesthesia compared with reported anesthesia rates, justifying continued development and clinical investigation of this technique.

WHDVI: A wireless high definition video interface technique for digital home

Owing to the rapid progress of semiconductor industry, the vision of digital home is getting more real. For this reason, many high speed transmission standards have been proposed. For digital home, multimedia sources come from various media players. Display media are also with this diversity. At present, the corresponding transmission standards are dedicated for some media players. This will be a bottleneck for integration of various multimedia systems. This paper proposes a wireless high speed video transmission system compatible for various digital media player and display media. This project can support various display resolutions from high-definition television (HDTV) (1280×720) to Blu-ray Disc (1920×1080). The core technology can be classified into two categories: (1). embedded compression techniques, (2). wireless transmission techniques. With the high integration on multimedia and communication technique, the proposed design exploits the realization on wireless high data-rate transmission in a digital home environment.

The Impact of Mobile Learning on Listening Anxiety and Listening Comprehension

This study aimed at investigating the impact of mobile learning on EFL learners’ listening anxiety and listening comprehension. Fifty students of two intermediate English courses were selected and sampled as the experimental (n=25) and control (n=25) groups. Students’ entry level of listening anxiety was assessed by foreign language listening anxiety questionnaire and their listening comprehension was assessed by Key English Test (KET) prior to the study. For one semester the experimental group did their listening activities by using podcasts listened to on their mobile phones and/or portable digital media players. Meanwhile the control group used their desktop computers to do their listening activities. The results of data analysis showed that listening anxiety of the experimental group reduced significantly after the experiment. Further, a significant difference between the experimental and control groups’ listening comprehension was found in favor of the experimental group at the end of the experiment.

Film Review: Alive Inside

Alive Inside is a documentary film promoting the use of music, specifically the creation of playlists of preferred music on a digital media player such as an iPod, among elders living in long-term care. In the United States, 5.4 million individuals are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and researchers anticipate that number to increase 30 % by 2025. Viewers of Alive Inside can empathically climb inside the experience of an elder living with memory loss who is hearing his or her favorite song and feel overwhelmed with joy, sadness, memory, and sensation. In this way, music awakens the most profound sense of connection to ourselves and to one another. As dance/movement therapists, we know that rhythm unites, creating a sense of solidarity. The film tackles the question, “can a pair of headphones change the lives of millions of Americans suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia?” It also highlights an opportunity to address scope of practice and professionalization along the arts and health continuum from arts and health practitioners to creative arts therapists.

The use of the Internet and social software by plastic surgeons

Social software allows users to communicate and share data through online social interaction using Web 2.0 technology. Three hundred and fifty-six members of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) within the UK and Ireland were invited by e-mail to complete an online survey (e-survey) anonymously on their knowledge and use of Web 2.0 technology and whether they would like this to be used in BAPRAS’s e-Learning for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (e-LPRAS). Fifty-eight members completed the e-survey (response rate of 58 out of 356 or 16.3%). The respondents comprised 52 males (89.7%) and 6 females (10.3%) with a mean age (range) of 44.1 years (24–61). Forty one (70.7%) were consultants and 17 (29.3%) were non-consultants with a mean time (range) at this level of 10.1 years (1–30) and 3.4 years (1–6), respectively. The mean (range) ages of consultants and non-consultants were 48.7 years (35–61) and 32.8 years (24–38), respectively. Fifty-eight (100%) plastic surgeons used the Internet and e-mail, 48 (82.8%) owned a handheld device and 48 (82.8%) owned a digital media player. Sixteen plastic surgeons (27.6%) used instant messaging, 29 (50.0%) used Internet telephone, 12 (20.7%) used videoconferencing, 23 (39.7%) used media sharing, 2 (3.4%) used social bookmarking, 21 (36.2%) used social networking, 24 (41.4%) used forums, 29 (50.0%) used podcasts, 1 (1.7%) contributed to a wiki, 6 (10.3%) wrote a blog and 18 (31.0%) read a blog. Non-consultants were more likely to use social networking and forums than consultants. Forty-one (70.7%) plastic surgeons used e-learning, and 31 (53.4%) would like Web 2.0 technology to be used in e-LPRAS, whilst 5 (8.6%) would not and 22 (37.9%) do not know what Web 2.0 technology is. Most respondents either used Web 2.0 technology or were aware of it. Over half of respondents would like Web 2.0 technology to be used in e-LPRAS. We recommend that BAPRAS adopts Web 2.0 technology in their development of e-LPRAS.

Use of Portable Digital Media Players Increases Patient Motivation and Practice in Voice Therapy

There are many documented barriers to successful adherence to voice therapy. However, methods for facilitating adherence are not well understood. The purpose of this study was to determine if patient adherence and motivation for practice could be improved by providing patients with practice support between sessions using mobile treatment videos. Thirteen voice therapy participants were provided with portable media players containing videos of voice exercises exemplified by their therapists and themselves. A randomized crossover design of two conditions was used: (1) standard of care voice therapy where participants were provided with written homework descriptions; and (2) video-enhanced voice therapy where participants received a portable digital media player with clinician and self-videos. The duration of each condition was 1 week. Self-report measures of practice frequency and aspects of motivation were obtained at the end of each session. Practice of voice exercises was significantly greater in the video-enhanced voice therapy condition than in the standard of care "written" condition (P<0.05). Three aspects of participant motivation for practice-overall commitment to practice, importance of practice, and confidence in the ability to practice were also significantly greater after video-enhanced condition than after standard of care condition. These results support the use of video examples and portable digital media players in voice therapy for individuals who are comfortable using such technology.

Using Podcasts to Support Students in a Land Law Class

This paper describes the experience of creating and using podcasts to support student learning of land law for JD and LL.M. students in Hong Kong. Podcasting involves preparing a series of audio or video broadcast files for download onto a digital media player by students. Four different types of podcast were prepared for the law class in question. Some were simply podcasts, while others were embedded in PowerPoint slides and converted into flash files using ‘Authorpoint’. Together, the podcasts sought to give students an introduction/ review of the main topics and of the problem questions discussed in class. The aim was to help students to grasp essential concepts before attending class. The podcasts were also intended to allow students to go back over lectures and class discussion. A pilot survey and a series of focus groups indicate that podcasts are a useful teaching tool in class, particularly for revision, and in assisting students where the language of instruction is not their native tongue. This paper will discuss the motives prompting the implementation of podcasts, outline the utility to students, the teaching and learning implications for the teacher and summarise some reflections on how the podcast series could usefully be extended.

Introducing mobile technology for enhancing teaching and learning in Bangladesh: teacher perspectives

This paper reviews the themes emerging from Bangladeshi teachers’ experiences of taking part in the initial research and the development stage of a professional development programme they were involved with. The Secondary Teaching and Learning Programme is an information and communications technologies‐enhanced supported open distance learning programme of professional development in English‐language teaching. This paper presents evidence arising from semi‐structured interviews carried out with teachers from a pre‐pilot study for the English in Action project. The teachers participating in this study reflect upon six months’ experience of using professional development materials (course material of audio podcasts enhanced with text and images; videos of classroom practice; audio of classroom language) and classroom resources (audio recordings of text‐book reading passages, songs, poems and stories), all accessed via portable digital media players (iPods).

Anatomy Virtual Tutor: an ipod touch application for the first year medical student

For many freshmen medical students, the gross anatomy laboratory exam is their first experience in taking a practical type examination. The goal of this project is to develop an interactive medium to help students appreciate how anatomical structures are displayed during examination by focusing student's attention on important anatomical relationships. With the prevalence of digital media player use among students and more than 100K applications created by developers for the iphone and ipod touch, Apple's ipod pocket computer provides a unique and ubiquitous platform to distribute digital educational content. We have developed an ipod application which allows the student to study gross anatomical structures on still photographs of cadaveric dissections. The student may choose a structure from a hit list or enter “quiz” mode, which asks the student to identify a structure. The application is divided into five content categories that span Head &amp; Neck, Thorax, Abdomen, Pelvis, and Extremities. The student may select a category to review images and structures for the particular anatomical region. This application allows students to assess their level of competence by taking a virtual practical via the quiz mode and enhances their anatomical knowledge by emphasizing relationships among structures visualized in a dissection field.

Characteristics of Telemetry Interference with Pacemakers Caused by Digital Media Players

Contemporary implantable heart rhythm devices communicate multiple complex data simultaneously using radiofrequency telemetry. Interference in communication can expose them to the risk of potential corruption, leading to adverse clinical consequences. We studied the characteristics of interference with uplink (real time intracardiac electrograms, marker channel, and stored histograms) and downlink (attempt to program a change in the lower rate limit, the pacing mode, and the ventricular lead configuration) data transmission between the wand and the pacemaker caused by digital media players (iPods--Photo and 3G) in 50 patients. We also measured and characterized worst-case magnetic field emissions (MFE) from the wand (<or=0.4 microT), pacemaker (<or=0.004 microT), and iPod (<or=0.05 microT) during telemetry to understand the modulation techniques and safety protocols employed during data transmission. Telemetry interference (TI) manifested as high-frequency spikes (24.4%), blanking (17.7%) and interruption (22.2%), or delay (17.6%) in transmission with warning on programmer's screen. TI occurred in 25.6% of patients when the iPod was "on" and in 13% even with the iPod turned "off." There were no inaccuracies in downlinked data when the downlink communication was successful. Wanded telemetry utilizes low-frequency (30-300 kHz) radiowaves and simple digital modulation techniques at relatively slow rates for "sequential" data transmission protected by a continuous "handshake." Emissions from iPods in that range interrupt the telemetry link but are too weak to cause pacemaker malfunction through corruption of vital data. Low-power MFE from iPods can produce interference with establishment and maintenance of a telemetry link and can cause TI with transmission of real time data, but because of continuous check protocols, do not corrupt the stored and vital downlink data.

From lecture theatre to portable media: students’ perceptions of an enhanced podcast for revision

Background: Podcasting is a novel medium used worldwide for information transfer and entertainment, available in both audio-only and enhanced audiovisual formats.Aims: We aim to investigate medical students’ perceptions of a series of enhanced podcasts for revision.Method: Thirteen audiovisual podcasts covering general surgery were developed, consisting of a PowerPoint slideshow with a voiceover narrative. A questionnaire was distributed to 211 final year medical students two months after the podcast became available. This aimed to address their perceptions of the enhanced podcast series, as well as their current experience with podcasts and digital media players. The website from which the podcasts were available provided details on the number of downloads.Results: Students who used the resource felt that the enhanced podcasts were straightforward to access, were a useful learning supplement, and felt that similar resources for the remainder of the undergraduate medical syllabus would be useful for revision purposes. Students who had also used other audio-only medical podcasts indicated that the addition of a visual component improved the value of the resource.Conclusions: Audiovisual podcasts show promise as a revision aid that can be incorporated into undergraduate education. Further study will gain insight into the potential roles and outcomes of enhanced podcasting within the medical curriculum.

Electromagnetic Interference in an Implantable Loop Recorder Caused by a Portable Digital Media Player

The implantable loop recorder has been shown to be a cost-effective tool for diagnosis of intermittent cardiovascular symptoms such as syncope and palpitations. Electromagnetic interference in these recorders may be caused by commonly encountered electronic devices such as antitheft electronic surveillance systems and magnetic resonance imaging cameras. In this report, we describe interference in two patients with implantable loop recorders from a portable digital media player.

Film in Air: Airspace, In-Flight Entertainment, and Nontheatrical Distribution

Film in Air: Airspace, In-Flight Entertainment, and Nontheatrical Distribution Stephen Groening On 21 May 1932 Los Angeles radio station KHJ transmitted a segment of a motion picture as a television signal for five minutes to a Western Air Express transport plane nearly ten miles away. The experiment was part of a proposed plan to transmit weather information to planes using the emergent technology of television. In this early application of in-flight screened entertainment, the visual communication technology was intended to further the efficiency of transportation technologies. Without accurate weather reports, goods (including human labor) could not be delivered safely and in a timely manner. However, if the experiment was simply to be used as a weather information system, it is unclear why Western Air Express and KHJ broadcast a feature-length film to test the technology. This convergence of entertainment and aviation technologies was a telling indication of a growing alliance between Hollywood and commercial air travel. Although the film (starring Loretta Young) was broadcast without sound, the engineers told reporters, who constituted the majority of those on the plane, that it would require only a small adjustment to also transmit sound, pointing toward the possibility of entertainment applications.1 The experiment demonstrated American technical prowess within the ongoing modern project: to eliminate barriers of physical distance and lay claim to the new kinds of spaces created by this project. The television signals were received on a moving vehicle, occupying the relatively new spatial category of “airspace” (a term barely twenty years old). As the plane itself defied the normal rules of territorial contiguity, flying over Los Angeles but not being in Los Angeles, the transnational communication apparatus of Hollywood became seemingly ethereal. Hollywood, ever ready to take the spotlight for new advancements in entertainment, now took flight to ensure its dominance over the dispersal of cultural content across new spatial categories—the airspace above the world stage. The introduction of new screen technologies, such as seatback screens on airplanes, has allowed Hollywood to multiply its exhibition sites and circulate its product into places and spaces it could not previously access. Film’s standing as an essential part of contemporary culture depends on the ability of film exhibition technologies to transform places into movie theaters (or approximations thereof). Furthermore, the introduction of these new exhibition technologies opens up additional sources for the film industry’s revenue stream. In-flight entertainment exemplifies the film industry’s intent to create and reach audiences rather than waiting for audiences to find the industry’s product. The film industry uses these new exhibition spaces (from which persons often find themselves unable to exit) to promote, market, and sell product. Film is thus no longer part of a menu of entertainment and leisure but a constant, sometimes distracting background. On many airplanes films appear on screens unbidden, ready to become the central focus of attention if a passenger chooses to listen in via headphones. Changes in the field of film studies indicate a growing concern and awareness of this multiplicity of new cinematic spaces: movies on television, films on computers, portable DVD players, seatback screens in minivans, and handheld digital media players. From the millennium issue of the journal Screen to the adoption of the initial “M” by the Society for Cinema Studies in 2002, the discipline has increasingly recognized that moving image culture is no longer locatable in the movie theater or on the silver screen. This can also be seen in the emergence of PhD programs, such as Moving Image Studies (Georgia State University) and Screen Cultures (Northwestern University), that by their very names proclaim “film” to be a limited and perhaps obsolete demarcation of the presence [End Page 4] of moving pictures in contemporary culture. Alongside this effort to find motion pictures in myriad nontheatrical places (a kind of “ambient cinema,” to paraphrase Anna McCarthy) is a turn toward “convergence culture” (to borrow from Henry Jenkins), in which motion pictures are seen as but one choice in a menu of digital entertainment options, a single facet of a franchised and remediated property—or merely a piece of intellectual property that converges with other cultural commodities in a single piece of...

Web 2.0 technologies for undergraduate and postgraduate medical education: an online survey

Objectives:To identify the current familiarity and use of Web 2.0 technologies by medical students and qualified medical practitioners, and to identify the barriers to its use for medical education.Methods:A semi-structured...

The effectiveness of m-learning in the form of podcast revision lectures in higher education

In this paper we describe a study of the effectiveness of mobile learning (m-learning) in the form of podcasting, for teaching undergraduate students in Higher Education. Podcasting involves downloading a series of audio or video broadcasts (files) onto a digital media player, via a computer, over a period of weeks. These can then be watched or listened to when, where and as often as students choose. The use of digital media players, popularised by Apple’s iPod™, is widespread amongst undergraduate students. A pilot survey of Business and Management students indicated that over 74% owned some form of digital media player, with a further 7% indicating that they intended to purchase one in the next six months. Whilst podcasting is being utilized as a teaching tool by some educators in the secondary sector, its use in higher education, and its effectiveness as a learning tool for adults, remains to be established. In our study, a separate group of just under 200 first-level students were given a series of revision podcasts after completing a course in Information and Communications Technology (and prior to their examination). As part of the subscription process, they had to complete an online questionnaire about their experience. The questionnaire utilized a five-point Likert scale comparing their attitudes to lectures, podcasts, notes, textbooks and multimedia e-learning systems. Statistical analysis of the results of the study indicates that students believe that podcasts are more effective revision tools than their textbooks and they are more efficient than their own notes in helping them to learn. They also indicate that they are more receptive to the learning material in the form of a podcast than a traditional lecture or textbook. The study suggests that the use of podcasts as a revision tool has clear benefits as perceived by undergraduate students in terms of the time they take to revise and how much they feel they can learn. Coupled with the advantages of flexibility in when, where and how it is used, podcasting appears to have significant potential as an innovative learning tool for adult learners in Higher Education.