iMMS: Interactive multimedia messaging service

IBM Journal of Research and Development, Sep-Nov 2004 by Shen, J, Sun, P, Zhang, J, Song, S

Local resource interaction

Local resource interaction aids a user by means of some immediate implicit and/or explicit action. The most common implicit action is association, which constitutes linking to other messages or Web pages. The most common explicit association uses simple buttons or icons to represent actions such as submitting a request or forwarding a message. For instance, a phone call association-a special implicit action enabled on mobile telephones-enables a user to click on a phone number to make a call. A software association leads to a software download and installation process. A hyperlink association causes a wireless application protocol (WAP) browser to navigate a Web page. Through the local resource interaction, MMS applications could support much more complex user actions and manipulation not currently supported by MMS. iMMS could bring the following advantages to service providers and end users.

* Extend MMS usage scope: MMS could carry and display richer content than SMS. This could include color pictures, animations, audio samples, and video clips. However, because of the limited input capability of a mobile device, the current MMS standard defines only the MMS presentation to package and communicate text, audio, and picture information. As a result, MMS can provide only some basic user interfaces, such as inserting a picture and audio file into a message or inputting some text information. This usage model also leads to MMS having to focus on P2P or S2P applications, because these applications require only basic interactive operations.

iMMS can overcome this limitation. It could widen MMS use by enhancing MMS interaction functionality so that end users could easily input required information into a message and send it to a back-end system.

* Provide a rich user interface: For end users, the major benefit of iMMS is to provide a more friendly user interface. The set of visual controls defined in the proposed design comprise an intuitive interface that can easily be used, as in our earlier weather service scenario example. Furthermore, it is difficult to use an MMS terminal to compose and edit an MMS message. Many MMS clients within existing terminals require 10-20 keystrokes to send a message. The process of sending an MMS message should be simplified and the number of required keystrokes minimized. The recommendation is for a maximum of three keystrokes. User reactions can be predefined in iMMS messages, which can then be generated automatically and sent without requiring manual text input.

* Format user input and structure data exchange with back-end servers: For end users, iMMS technology could provide friendlier interfaces to facilitate the use of MMS applications. For an MMS service provider, an important concept in iMMS is that it could format a user's input data to be expressed as XML instance data. Because the structure of the instance data is described by XML, a back-end server could easily process the structured interchange data when it is received by the server.