An open systems architecture, which allows the linking of multimedia and hypermedia applications, represents an important step towards standardisation in this emerging market. A result from Esprit, the European Union's IT research and development programme.
Standardisation is of prime importance in the multimedia and hypermedia applications markets.
In this emerging market, a consistent set of standards and approaches will help improve users'acceptance and uptake of new products. This development offers the potential of allowing developers to write applications which work together more effectively than those written under different architectures. The use of the MHEG standard can reconcile the requirements of different application platforms without violating already established rules and practices. It is a generic architecture covering areas such as database retrieval, tele-conferencing, electronic messaging, collaborative editing distribution and teleaction. The architecture is described in detail in a document available for dissemination.