Microsoft Comic Chat
Microsoft Comic Chat (in later versions Microsoft Chat ) is an IRC client that was first released in 1996 along with Internet Explorer 3.0. As a unique selling point compared to other IRC clients, the program does not display conversations as text, but automatically generates a graphic representation in the form of a comic .
functionality
Microsoft Comic Chat was created as part of a study led by Microsoft Research that was presented to the public at SIGGRAPH 1996. The aim of the study was the computer-aided automatic development and display of comics from a text-based conversation.
As in a real comic, conversations are presented in the form of panels . The program includes various pre-made backgrounds and characters based on designs by comic book artist Jim Woodring . Each character contains eight different emotions about the "Emotionsrad" ( English emotion wheel are shown). The program automatically analyzes certain information in the message, such as the presence of smileys , certain terms or acronyms and also the punctuation, the correct emotion for the respective situation and displays it accordingly on the panel. By manually clicking on the emotion wheel, a other emotion can be selected. In addition to the eight emotions, there are certain other actions that can be represented by a character, such as B. waving.
When sending a message, the characters involved are shown on the panel and a speech bubble is drawn containing the message. The program contains algorithms to ensure the correct placement of the characters and the correct order of the speech bubbles. The program also automatically analyzes when a new panel needs to be opened. When a new person enters the chat room, this person is shown enlarged, similar to characters that are first introduced in a comic.
Because Microsoft Comic Chat uses the IRC protocol, it is fully compatible with text-based IRC clients. The special functions of Comic Chat are transmitted to the other clients via character strings at the beginning of each message. Users of a text-based IRC client are also included in the comic, with the difference that they are represented by a randomly selected character.
history
The original version of Microsoft Comic Chat was released in 1996 as an add-on to Internet Explorer 3.0.
Together with Internet Explorer 4.0, an updated version called Microsoft Chat 2.0 appeared in 1998 , which mainly offers better integration with NetMeeting . In July 1998, the last version, Microsoft Chat 2.5 , appeared, which was later bundled with Internet Explorer 5.0.
meaning
Microsoft Comic Chat as a program could never find a wider distribution, but the scientific basis behind the program was taken up and further developed by other authors. Comic Chat is also an early example of a virtual, graphic transmission of human communication over the Internet.
literature
- David Kurlander, Tim Skelly, David Salesin: Comic Chat . In: SIGGRAPH '96 Proceedings of the 23rd annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques . Pp. 225-236, doi: 10.1145 / 237170.237260
Individual evidence
- ^ Kurlander / Skelly / Salesin, p. 225
- ^ Kurlander / Skelly / Salesin, p. 226
- ^ Kurlander / Skelly / Salesin, p. 227
- ^ Kurlander / Skelly / Salesin, p. 228
- ↑ Kurlander / Skelly / Salesin, pp. 229-231
- ^ Kurlander / Skelly / Salesin, p. 231
- ↑ a b Kurlander / Skelly / Salesin, p 232
- ↑ Internet Explorer 4 - PCPro Product Reviews
- ↑ Paul Thurrott: Microsoft Chat 2.5 released - IT Pro Today
- ↑ Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Internet Explorer 5 Reviewed
- ↑ Bong-Kyung Chun, Dong-Sung Ryu, Won-Il Hwang, Hwan-Gue Cho: An Automated Procedure for Word Balloon Placement in Cinema Comics . In: Advances in Visual Computing , ISVC 2006. pp. 576-585, doi: 10.1007 / 11919629_58
- ^ A. Tat, MST Carpendale: Visualizing human dialog . In: Proceedings Sixth International Conference on Information Visualization , 2002. pp. 16-21, doi: 10.1109 / IV.2002.1028751