The Berkeley Multimedia Research Center (BMRC) at the University of California, Berkeley, is an interdisciplinary group of artists, educators, professionals, and scientists who are experimenting with interactive multimedia technology in professional practice, scholarship, and education. Founded in 1995, the Center is active in building partnerships with the academic community and industry. BMRC is funded through contributions from industrial partners, grants from public and private organizations, and discretionary UC Berkeley campus funding. Our work focuses on four areas:

Multimedia Authoring

BMRC researchers are developing an authoring environment that integrates asset management and streaming content with hypertext documents and computer mediated interactions, using both new and existing tools and focusing on adaptation of computer science research tools to broader multimedia applications. BMRC projects are creating a number of hypermedia titles using novel paradigms of content representation. We also co-develop multimedia content with UC Berkeley faculty members as part of ongoing research initiatives and projects to create advanced learning environments.

Teaching and Learning

One aim is to develop and study interactive hypermedia courseware, distance learning models, and new classroom and working environments. We are creating tools for distance learning and high quality Internet video broadcasting. Other areas of investigation include the effectiveness of learner-centered courseware and groupware for collaborative learning and problem solving.

Infrastructure

BMRC is developing systems to support storage and delivery of digital media objects (e.g., documents, images, audio, video, and animation) on the UC Berkeley campus. The Center runs a high-speed network for access to multimedia content and is deploying a very large digital media storage system. We provide facilities for multimedia authoring and servers for hosting multimedia web content. Access to these facilities is provided to the campus community through the BMRC supported project program. We are also developing facilities to support live and on-demand streaming of digital audio and video on the campus Internet.

Public Programs

In addition to basic research, BMRC sponsors public programs that include lecture series, symposia, and seminars