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Vuvox: An innovative storytelling tool or an over-rated component?
Lately, more and more organizations have been using Vuvox as a back-end for slide shows and multimedia galleries. Granted, it allows for multiple media types in one easy-to-use interface, but is it really all it’s cracked up to be?
Washington Post dove right in and has cranked out several Vuvox apps, including their popular “Video Haiku: The Campaign in Moments.” Mercury News Photo features a Vuvox story on their front page. Multimedia Shooter’s Richard Hernandez is a big fan, according to this video and blog post where he discusses the new medium. Although Vuvox is technically still in beta mode, it already had a grand entrance into the interactive community.
Compared to Soundslides, Vuvox allows for more customization and design options within the player. They are both a great means for storytelling, but the user experience is completely different between the “stand back and watch” Soundslides and the “interact and play” Vuvox. They both have similar controls (play/pause, full screen, etc) and they are both incredibly easy to use, but that is about the extent of their similarities.
I have always been a fan of using Soundslides photo slide shows and audio slide shows within Flash presentations. Is Vuvox the new version of this, taking away the need to build a Flash interface?
It definitely has the “Wow” effect. And, the endless scrolling option allows for unlimited amounts of media in a relatively small amount of space. Each vuvox story can be customized with different story elements, layout design, and more. There is a whole lotta good going on in this player.
So, I have to ask: Is Vuvox the next Soundslides, or will it be a temporary fad? Will the component’s built-in features (such as the loading animation) get old, and will users get bored with the same navigational tools?
I’d be interested to hear about the time spent on Vuvox apps, and what some other opinions are out there. What do you think: Is Vuvox an innovative storytelling tool or an over-rated component?
Other posts that might interest you:
- Dallas Cowboys Stadium: Two multimedia approaches, one story
- Honytonk and 31Septembre introduce interactive documentary
- NPR launches “Traveling Down the Amazon Road”
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I have used Vuvox for several stories recently and for the most part, I am a big fan. It is really easy to use and in my opinion has unlimited storytelling potential. Being able to add hot spots inside adds the element of surprise and allows the user to control their experience. I do wish there were more options for the hot spot tags, and a way to export your own .swf. I would hate for one day for the company to disappear along with all of the work.