In this paper we present an object-oriented perspective to multimedia and discuss an approach for prototyping distributed multimedia applications.We describe the implementation of a component kit, an example application, called a virtual museum, and a visual composition tool.The tool allows interactive construction of multimedia applications from generic software components by direct manipulation and graphical editing.

Video widgets are user-interface components rendered with video information.The implementation and several usage examples of a family of video widgets, called video actors,, are presented.Video actors rely on two capabilities of digital video: non-linear access, and the layering of video information.Non-linear access allows video frames to be displayed in mbitrary order without loss of continuity, layering allows two or more video streams to be spatially composed.Both capabilities are now becoming available to user-interface designers.

Abstract Multimedia applications can be seen as sets of autonomous parts, independent yet capable of working together. This assumption allows for the construction of multimedia applications in a “connectionist” fashion. In this paper we describe mechanisms for the visual composition of multimedia applications. These mechanisms allow for quick and flexible application construction by direct manipulation with reference to multiple composition models. An object‐oriented framework for multimedia systems will be introduced throughout the paper.