Interactive Multimedia Programming Allows Laser Safety Training to Be Adapted to User's Specific Needs

摘要

By combining written and spoken words, drawings, photographs, animation and video, computer based multimedia training can convey information very effectively and efficiently. Animation and drawings are especially valuable as means to present the abstract and complicated concepts involved in laser safety training. This paper discusses an approach to multimedia programming for medical and industrial laser safety training, where the training content is determined according to both the user's specific laser(s) and application. For medical laser users these include dermatology, ophthalmology, low-level laser therapy, and surgery, while for industrial users, welding, cutting, and heat treating are specified. By adapting the content to the needs of the user, training duration and effectiveness can be optimized, as the user is not exposed to information that is not relevant for his or her application. In order to accommodate different learning styles and speeds while offering a well coordinated presentation of the material, an innovative multimedia training scheme is used. The material is presented both in an interactive fashion, relying on short text segments, graphics and animation organized in sub-layers, and in a passive fashion, with the material presented in the form of spoken words, videos and animations much like an audio-visual show.