The first public working draft of a tool that will facilitate animation and TV-like content on the web was released last week by the MIT-based World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL, pronounced "smile"), known as SMIL Boston, builds upon an earlier version by adding important extensions such as improved interactivity, animation and integration with TV broadcasts. For example, one of the benefits of SMIL presentations over traditional TV content is that users can navigate within the presentation, thereby focusing on the parts of the presentation that interest them most.
By publishing this working draft, W3C is ensuring that the public can follow developments, and that the final result may be widely accepted and adopted. W3C is run by MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science, the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA) in France and Keio University in Japan.
A version of this article appeared in the September 11, 1999 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 44, Number 2).
