Multimedia and Virtual Reality Engineering is intended as an introductory text to a vast subject. It's also meant as a pragmatical text and the emphasis throughout is on practical issues and solutions. I also make no apology for its enthusiasm for the cultural significance of the Internet and World Wide Web and its influence on multimedia and virtual reality as well as the glimpse of a future cyber-infospace which it affords us. If that enthusiasm comes across, I'm glad, for it is my own.
As with any introductory work, the problem of what to explain - and what to assume - rears its head time and time again throughout the writing process. In the end, for better or for worse, I decided to assume no previous knowledge of human physiology or psychology, or indeed of any of the elementary physics of sound and of light. I hoped, by this, that the book (or at least parts of it) will be read and enjoyed by non-technical readers. Only in the sections relating to electronics have I assumed previous knowledge of the subject where, I reasoned, to "back-track" sufficiently to carry the un-initiated would bore the expert. In so doing, I am aware I have created a text which works on two levels. There are thus two "routes" through the following pages. The electronics engineer may simply progress from start to finish, taking each section in turn; the non-engineer may wish to take the following route, thereby avoiding the more technical sections:
Track 1 of the CD-ROM which accompanies this book, includes the entire hypermedia version of the book in HTML form suitable for PC/DOS based computers. In order to read this you'll need a graphical Web browser program. Netscape is my favourite and the files incorporate several Netscape-only features; although other browsers will parse the documents happily. All the HTML and media files reside in the HTML sub-directory. Simply set your browser to open the local file x:\html\cover.htm to start browsing (where x is the letter of your CD-ROM drive). The remaining tracks on the CD are audio tracks and will play on any CD-ROM or CD audio player.
Finally, a word about terminology. The two ubiquitous computer standards in the multimedia arena are the Apple Macintosh family (utilising by Motorola processors) and the IBM PC and compatibles, which use Intel-based processors. To keep things simple, these are respectively referred to as Macintosh (or Mac) and PC. This is the nomenclature adopted throughout this book.
