The VuSystem: a programming system for compute-intensive multimedia

In compute-intensive multimedia applications, the computer not only manipulates media, but also digests it and performs independent actions based on media content. We present a design approach that applies the programming techniques of visualization systems to the development of compute-intensive multimedia applications. We describe an implementation based on this approach, and report performance measurements that demonstrate it is practical. We conclude with a description of some applications that have been implemented and a discussion of the implications for the design and engineering of operating systems.