Create Visual Tours and Interactive Ads
By Melissa Piccone
HotMedia is a free assembly tool from IBM that makes it possible to combine animation and sound files, creating an interactive rich media experience. You can create interactive banners, virtual tours, and illustrated instructions that run on any platform or browser.
HotMedia 3.0 now includes improved streaming video and 3D image capabilities that support VRML 2.0. It's bundled with Dreamweaver, NetObjects Fusion, and IBM WebSphere Studio.
Special Effects
You can use HotMedia for 360 degree interactive panoramas (like those created with QuickTime 3D), animations with traditional transitions, and slide shows. Creating these effects normally requires a plug-in such as Quicktime, RealAudio, or Flash, but HotMedia requires no plug-ins or special servers.
You can create interactive ads with animation and sound, and allow user-controlled scrolling. Virtual catalogs show more detail and varied colors, and users can zoom in and out. You can also make virtual tours with hotlinks for more detail, or interactive instructions that give a visual description and show step-by-step product assembly. IBM has a gallery of examples and current sites using HotMedia at
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