Systems for audiovisual supported man-machine dialogs for a very large number of subscribers

The attractive use of new kinds of telecommunications services for information, learning and entertainment demands a multitude of features using not only text or graphics but also speech and still or moving pictures. The development of broadband transmission techniques is helpful for designing such systems. An overview of existing and planned systems is given. Possible contents of such man-machine dialogs or machine-aided communication are discussed. Classes of services for a great variety of applications are presented from the standpoint of the user. To serve a large number of subscribers, new concepts for the central computer-a multiprocessor system-and storage medium (especially for audiovisual material) are necessary.