Specialized Application

Software
Chapter 4
Introduction

! Specialized applications let users perform

advanced computing tasks.

! Examples include Web design, graphics, audio

and video editing, artificial intelligence, and cell
phone apps.

! Competent end users need to be aware of

specialized applications
Graphics programs Web authoring
• create professional-looking programs
published documents
• create and edit images • create, edit, and design
• locate and insert graphics Web sites.

Audio and video software Artificial Intelligence

• create, edit, and play music • Virtual Reality
and videos
• Knowledge-based Systems
• Robotics

Multimedia programs
• create dynamic interactive
presentations.
Mobile Apps
Graphics Programs

! Specialized graphics programs used by professionals in

the graphic arts profession.
! Types:
! Desktop publishing (or page layout) programs: Desktop
publishers mix text and graphics.
! Image editors: modify bitmap image files.
! Illustrator programs: modify vector files.
! Image galleries: libraries of electronic images.
! Graphic suites: bundle separate graphic design programs.
Desktop publishing programs
! Desktop publishing programs allow you to mix text and graphics to create
publications of professional quality.
! Features of desktop publishing:
! ability to combine text and graphics
! focus on page design and layout
! provide greater flexibility.

! Used to create documents such as brochures, newsletters, newspapers, and

textbooks.
! Popular desktop publishing programs include
! Adobe InDesign,
! Microsoft Publisher,
! QuarkXPress.
Image editor

! Image editors(or photo editors): are specialized graphics programs for

editing or modifying digital images.

! Bitmap images (raster images)

! Use thousands of dots or pixels to represent images. Each dot has a specific
location, color, and shade.
! One Limitation: when they are expanded, the images can become pixilated, or
jagged on the edges.


! Popular image editors: Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paint Shop Pro, and Paint.NET.
 Illustration Programs




! Illustration programs (or drawing programs): used to create and

edit vector images.
! Vector images, (or vector illustrations)
! Use geometric shapes or objects. These objects are created by
connecting lines and curves.
! Because these objects can be defined by mathematical equations, they
can be rapidly and easily resized, colored, textured, and manipulated.
! Popular programs:
Bitmap Vector
! Adobe Illustrator, Image Image
! Inkscape,
! CorelDRAW.
 Image galleries
! Image galleries: libraries of electronic images.
! Used for: illustrating textbooks to providing
visual interest to presentations.

! Types of electronic images in these galleries:

! Stock photographs: photographs on a variety
of subject material from people to landscapes.
! Clip art: graphic illustrations representing a
wide range of topics. Most applications
provide access to a limited selection of free
clip art.
Audio and video software
! Video editing software ! Audio editing software
! Reorganize ! Create and edit audio clips
! Add effects ! Filter out imperfections
! Popular Programs ! Make MP3s
! Apple iMovie
! Windows Movie Make ! Popular Programs
! Apple Garage Band
! Sony ACID
Making IT working for you: Digital Video editing

! Capture, edit, and produce videos

! Create a DVD or upload to YouTube
 Multimedia
! The integration of a variety of include a variety of
media into one presentation and should include
interactivity
! Media types
▪ Video ▪ Graphics
▪ Music ▪ Text
▪ Voice
! Interactivity:
! allows the user to choose the information to
view, to control the pace and flow of
information, and to respond to items and give
feedback
! Pages are linked by buttons
Buttons and links


! Links can be to…

! Other pages
! Video
! Sound
! Graphics
! Text Files
! Buttons are links
! Provide the ability to navigate through a presentation
Multimedia authoring programs

!Create multimedia presentations

!Bring together video, audio, graphics, and

text elements into interactive framework

!Popular programs
!Adobe Director
!Toolbook
Web Authoring


! Web authoring: creating a site.

! Corporations: use the Web to reach new customers and to promote their
products.
! Individuals create their own personal sites, called blogs.

! A popular type of Web site is a Web log (blog)

! Web logs are Web pages with dated postings like a bulletin board
 Web Site Design


! Web site: an interactive multimedia form of

communication.
! Designing a Web site:
! Determining the site’s overall content. Commonly
represented in a graphical map.
! Adding multimedia elements to enhance interest and
interactivity.
! Animations: moving graphics.
! Common multimedia element found on many Web
sites 


! animations can be simple moving text or complicated

interactive features.
! There are many specialized programs available to aid
in the creation of animation such as Adobe Flash.
Web Authoring Programs

! Web pages are typically HTML documents.

! Create simple Web pages:
! Simple text editor + Knowledge of HTML.
! Word processing package like Microsoft Word (without knowledge of
HTML).
! Create advanced/sophisticated commercial sites
! More specialized and powerful programs, called Web authoring
programs (or Web page editors, HTML editors)
! Some Web authoring programs are WYSIWYG (what you see is what you
get) editors, which means you can build a page without interacting
directly with HTML code.
! Popular Web authoring programs: Adobe Dreamweaver, NetObjects
Fusion, and Microsoft Expression.
 WYSIWYG Example
! Some web authoring programs
are WYSIWYG – What you see is
what you get.
! This means that you can build a
page without interacting
directly with the HTML code.
WYSIWYG editors preview the
page described by HTML code.
! Widely used Web authoring
programs include Adobe
Dreamweaver, NetObjects
Fusion, and Microsoft
Expression.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)

! Attempts to simulate human senses, thought processes, and actions

! Reasoning
! Learning from past experience
! Vision
! Touch

! Help people and organizations


become more productive
! Three areas of AI
! Virtual reality
! Knowledge-based (expert) systems
! Robotics
Virtual Reality
! Artificial or simulated reality
! Generated in 3-D by a computer
! Commonly known as VR, artificial reality, or virtual environments

! There are any number of possible applications for virtual reality.

! Recreational
! More serious applications can simulate important experiences or training environments such as in
aviation, surgical operations, space- ship repair, or nuclear disaster cleanup.

! Some virtual reality strives to be an immersive experience, allowing a user to walk into a virtual
reality room or view simulations on a virtual reality wall.
! Typically, to navigate in a virtual space, you use
! Hardware:
!Headgear: has earphones and three-dimensional stereo-scopic screens (one
type is called Eyephones).
!Gloves: have sensors that collect data about your hand movements (one
type is called DataGlove).

! Software: this interactive sensory equipment lets you immerse yourself in a

computer-generated world.
! Very- high-end software costing several thousands of dollars.
!Lower-cost yet powerful authoring programs have been introduced
!Second Life from Linden Labs: allows users to create animated characters
to represent themselves and to develop their own environment.
 Knowledge-base (Expert) Systems
! Artificial intelligence that uses a database for assistance
! Database is known as a knowledge base
! Facts, rules to relate the facts, and user input to formulate recommendations or decisions
! Many use "fuzzy logic”
! Allows users to respond to questions in a very humanlike way. For example, if an expert
system asked how your classes were going, you could respond, “great,” “OK,” “terrible,”
and so on.
! These systems are used in areas such as: Medicine, Geology, Architecture, Nature.
! There are expert systems with such names as
! Oil Spill Advisor,
! Bird Species Identification
! Mid- wives Assistant.
! Grain Marketing Advisor
Robotics

! Robots: computer-controlled machines that mimic the motor

activities of living things.
! Robotics: the field of study concerned with developing and
using robots.
! Robots are used in factories, manufacturing, home security,
the military, and many other fields of human endeavor.
! Advantages:
! They differ from other assembly- line machines because they can be
reprogrammed to do more than one task.
! Handle dangerous, repetitive tasks. There are four types of robots.
! Types of robots
! Perception System Robots – imitate some of the
human senses, inspect products, secure homes
!Industrial Robots – perform tasks in factories,
automobile plants to do welding, polishing, painting,
handle dangerous materials
! Mobile Robots – can move about and perform tasks,
locate and disarm explosive devices
! Household Robots – perform household chores like
vacuuming
Mobile App

! Mobile apps: add-on features to perform a variety of tasks not typically

associated with cell phone use.
! Traditional applications: address books, to-do lists, alarms, and message lists.
! Cell phone capabilities have exploded due to the advances of
smartphones and wireless connections to the Internet.
! There are over 10,000 apps just for Apple’s iPhone alone.
! The most widely used apps: text messaging, Internet browsing, and connecting to
social networks.
! Many apps are written for a particular type of cell phone and will not run on other
types (iOS, Andorid).





App Stores
! app store: a Web site that provides
access to specific cell phone (free,
non-free).
! Popular stores: Apple’s App Store and
Android Market.
! Most of the best-known app stores
specialize in applications for a
particular line of cell phones.
! Other less-well known stores provide
apps for a wide variety of cell phones.