Connected Presentations

Networking is built into the core MindXpres runtime meaning that instances of the same MindXpres presentation can talk to each other. Plug-ins can easily make use of this functionality which allows developers to focus on implementing audience-focused features instead of having to deal with the technical complexity of connecting presentations. Internally a publish-subscribe model is used to orchestrate the flow of data. Plug-ins can publish events which can be received by other plug-ins in other presentations, or plug-ins can register to receive specific events that are relevant to the functionality implemented by the plug-in.

As MindXpres bundles can be viewed on any device with a web browser audience members with laptops, smartphones or tablets can participate in the presentation in various ways. However, not only MindXpres instances can be integrated in the network. When using a dedicated MindXpres hotspot device all kinds of additional hardware can be integrated in the network. This can be input hardware such as clickers (small "remote controls" for audience voting) or digital pens but also hardware for output such as an additional projector or a buzzer. Once integrated the hardware uses the same publish-subscribe mechanism as MindXpres plug-ins which allows plug-ins to capture events or trigger actions on the hardware.


Example Plug-in: Polls and Quizzes

Of course the classic polls and quizzes can not be missing from an audience-oriented set of content plug-ins. Audience members can use their their mobile devices to participate in polls and quizzes, and results can (optionally) be visualised in real-time. What sets this plug-in appart from existing voting systems is that all kinds of hardware can be combined. Sets of clickers and tablets can be used in combination for the same poll. The network architecture also ensures that clickers of different brands and with different hardware characteristics can be used in combination, benefiting schools and businesses that do not have the money to renew their hardware every time a new model comes out.


MindXpres Polls and Quizzes Plug-in

Example Plug-in: Presentation Mirroring

The presentation mirroring plug-in allows audience members to follow the presentation on their own devices. When the presenter changes the view, the audience's device changes to the same view. It's like having a personal copy of the big screen up front. Users can also choose to decouple from the main presentation in order to navigate the presentation freely.


MindXpres Presentation Mirroring Plug-in

Example Plug-in: Navigation Takeover

During the presentation or during the question round audience members might want to revisit a specific part of the presentation for everyone to see. The navigation takeover plug-ins allows audience members to request navigation permission from their own device. When granted, audience members can navigate to the desired content and both the main display and mirrored audience presentations will be updated to show the same content. This becomes especially useful in presentation styles that are not based on slides and that do not have slide numbers, as it becomes harder for audience members to describe the content they want the presenter to revisit.


Example Plug-in: Audience Questions

Another implement audience-oriented plug-in is the audience question plug-in which allows audience members to digitally ask questions during the presentation. Other audience members can see the questions others have asked and can vote questions upwards or downwards giving questions a ranking of importance. After the presentation, the presenter may choose to for instance discuss the top 3 questions, as they seem the most relevant for the audience as a group.


MindXpres Audience Questions Plug-in

Relevant Publications

  • , and : "A Unified Communication Platform for Enriching and Enhancing Presentations with Active Learning Components", , Proceedings of ICALT 2014, 14th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, Athens, Greece, July 2014 (best paper award) Academia Icon Link Iconpresentation, audience response system, active learning

 Feature Overview


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In MindXpres everything is a plug-in. From the way content is visualised and navigated all the way down to basic components such as images or text, anything can be configured or even replaced.
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The plug-in mechanism allows presenters to choose the presentation visualisation style that suits their content and use case. This includes classic slide sequences, zoomable user interfaces as known from Prezi or other innovative visualisation.
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Long gone are the days of static slides with bullet lists and images only. MindXpres plug-ins might provide rich media visualisations reacting to the presenter's or even the audience's input.
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MindXpres allows you to focus on the content instead of spending time on styling and layout. Pick a theme, provide the content and let MindXpres worry about the visualisation.
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Presentations can also be authored via a declarative language that functions similar to LaTeX. However, in contrast to LaTeX the language can be used to define more dynamic and interactive presentations with access to all MindXpres features and functionality.
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Instances of a MindXpres presentation can connect to each other which, for instance, allows audience members to have a mirrored view of what is shown by the presenter on their devices. Other use cases include audience-driven activities such as voting or crowd-sourced note taking.
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Regardless of the chosen visualisation style, the user decides in which order content is presented, either by predefining a path or by using one of the many interfaces to efficiently navigate the content in real-time.
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MindXpres presentations can not only connect to each other but all kinds of hardware can be integrated in the network for navigation, interaction or audience participation. Examples include customised presenter interfaces running on a mobile device, clickers for audience input or specialised hardware for gesture or voice recognition.
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MindXpres generates presentations based on web technologies allowing them to run offline or online, on both computers and mobile devices without the need to install any software. Furthermore, presentations can easily be put online and viewers can replay the presentation as it was given, or explore the presentation by themselves.
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Instead of storing presentations in separate presentation files, MindXpres stores all user content in a central repository. This makes it easier to reuse and share content at any granularity, and also allows users to keep content that is part of multiple presentations synchronised and up to date.