This CD-I adaptation of the famous book A Child is Born, a collection of in utero photographs by Lennart Nilsson and Professor Lars Hamberger, could serve as a model of content-rich multimedia design. It never forces you to endure the "magic" of interactivity. You might leave the controller alone, once you've turned this title on, and watch an inspiring overview of the process of human reproduction from conception straight through to breast-feeding.
Which doesn't mean A Child is Born discourages interactivity. As the ten-month story unfolds (human gestation actually takes closer to ten than nine months), large, soft-edged photo-icons appear at appropriate moments, then disappear if you don't select them. Each leads to one of 75 digression sequences covering key topics in greater detail, such as smoking and drinking during pregnancy, morning sickness, and the role of the father. When a selected digression concludes, the main stream flows smoothly on again from where you departed. Interactivity remains an option, never an interruption or a chore.
Control-panel selectors allow you to skip about from section to section, and even to specify your own "presenter" sequence of topics, a technique that should prove useful in targeting specific audiences or in teaching situations, where time is of the essence. Though focused on the mysteries of reproduction, as beautifully captured in Nilsson's photographs, the title is richly stocked with practical advice as well. The animations and illustrations are direct and clear without straying into the off-puttingly clinical. The title should serve equally well as a teaching tool for sexually active teenagers, a guide for expecting couples, and an aesthetic experience for the rest of us.
The British developers, Electronic Sounds and Pictures, Ltd., have chosen three narrators to offer several perspectives (British and American, male and female, doctor and mother). The writing is excellent. I would have liked to have had a behind-the-scenes explanation of how these amazing photographs were achieved, and to have been able to pause on more of them with nothing else on the screen. All in all, however, this is an exemplary effort.
A Child is Born: US$49.95. Philips CD-I: (800) 845 7301, +1 (310) 217 1300.
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