Technical implementation

Technical implementation will depend on a particular software vendor. Currently the only rule is that the framework has to adhere to Weboversity XML specification and include the modules described in 'About' section.

We will review two possible approaches that software vendors can use to build a Weboversity website:

• Semi automated simple architecture

• Fully automated complex architecture

Simple architecture
MS PowerPoint presentation can be converted into Macromedia Flash using off the shelf ppt2swf software package i.e. FlashPoint.

Voiceovers can be generated using AT&T Natural voices technology and off the shelf Test to Speech (TTS) software i.e. 2nd Speech Centre.

Although using this approach we are missing one of the most important elements of the Weboversity framework – XML specification – it is still a valid architecture to build a Weboversity website.

Pros of this approach:

• Easy to implement, low cost, minimal technical knowledge

Cons of this approach:

• Low interoperability, high level of manual work and maintenance

Complex architecture
MS PowerPoint presentation has to be converted to Weboversity XML specification. This can be achieved by implementing MS PowerPoint plug-in. MS Office plug-in can be written using MS Office automation languages and will convert a PowerPoint document to XML based easy to read and transferable text file.

Once XML is sent to an application server it can be processed by Web Service to convert it in to an online presentation.

Software vendors can use Macromedia Flash Remoting components to programmatically generate a SWF file. A Macromedia Flash front end can bring in data through the standard Macromedia Flash Remoting Components.

Voiceovers can be dynamically added using AT&T Natural voices API available in C++ and .NET environment.

Pros of this approach:

• High interoperability, low level of manual work and maintenance

Cons of this approach:

• Not easy to implement, high costs, technical knowledge required