Shaping a World of Online Experiences: Interactive Multimedia Online

So we've all come across those flashy interactive sites that feature streaming videos and complex yet cool interactive navigation systems that, although once started as annoying slow-loading website splash-page movie intros, help corporate america market themselves in ways that engage us as users to explore products and services in ways that we never could have imagined before.

Take for instance IKEA's "Dream Kitchens for Everyone" campaign (http://demo.fb.se/e/ikea/dreamkitchen/site/default.html). At least in corporate america, interactive methods have dominated the world of promotion in order to create "experiences" for the end user that allow them to get a feel for a space, both through a visual and audible experience. In this campaign IKEA has pushed the user experience to a degree that can only be achieved through interactive media. This experience goes beyond selling a product to the user and actually becomes a tool that the user can use to virtually experience a product or service. Here are some additional links to examples on the use of this concept:

IKEA: "Dream Kitchens for Everyone"
Philips: "See it, Feel It, Experience it to the Max"
Game Boy Micro: "Smaller. Sleeker. Brighter."
SONY: "The Connection"
SONY STYLE Mexico: "Lounge"
Michelin Tires: "Better Mobility"

So, what is this all about? Well for beginners, it's an introduction to my blog and a sample of the topics that I will touch upon... and if you still haven't caught on to this week's topic, it's on the subject of how interactive media has changed our online experiences. The internet is no longer a collection of text documents, it is now a part of our lives in entertainment, education, and shopping experiences. This blog will touch on areas related to interactive media technologies in topics such as how they are affected by the different issues such as accessibility and education, examples of code that I may provide, discussions of interesting sites that I may come across, and just about anything that may relate to the topic of interactive multimedia.