Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Usbong Update (Sept 10, 2013): You can now add video nodes in Usbong

Hi everyone,
Here's a quick update on Usbong.

Outline:
1) Tasks accomplished
2) Code Samples
3) Applications (mLearning)
4) More Stuff
5) Tasks working on

Tasks accomplished:
+fixed: videoFromFile
+added: videoFromFileWithText

--> this means that you can now add video nodes in Usbong.
--> .3gp video resolutions that have been tested and work include:
a) 176x144
b) 320x240

--> video resources however can blow up the file size,
which leads to some lags when navigating the usbong tree.
--> if you can, keep the total file size to 3MB. (that means short, low res videos)

--> store the video files in the /res folder of your utree file 
(refer to "sample_video_with_text_tree.utree" 

Code Samples:
1) Video From File With Text (Refer to Attached sampleVideoFromFileWithText.png)
<task-node name="videoFromFileWithText~ElectronConfigurations176x144.3gp~Electronic Configuration Lecture by Khan Academy">
<transition to="end-state1" name="Any"></transition>
</task-node>

1) Video From File (Refer to Attached sampleVideoFromFile.png)
<task-node name="videoFromFile~ElectronConfigurations320x240.3gp">
<transition to="end-state1" name="Any"></transition>
</task-node>

Applications (mLearning)
1) Imagine watching tutorial video lectures and then answering questions related to it right after. Depending on your answer, you are led to different video lectures.
2) Imagine playing an Usbong story that branches out depending on your decisions. The videos add richer content aside from just static images.

More Stuff
I've also tested the YoutubeAPI on Android.
It works, but here are some caveats:
1) it works only on Android version 4.1.2 and up
2) slow connection speeds cause lags

--> verdict: adding youtube links instead of actual videos can reduce the utree's file size, but slow connection speeds and the requirement to have an Android version of 4.1.2 up are drawbacks to this.

Tasks working on:
-Usbong: FITS (website to upload/download usbong trees)

The latest source code can be found at: 

The latest .apk should be 
available from Google Play
within a few hours of this email.

Let me know if you questions,
or if you want to work with me
on an Usbong tree.

Cheers,
Mike