About

XIMPEL’s goal is to provide an open multimedia platform which can be used for both entertainment and education. Using XIMPEL, it is possible to weave together video, audio, images and other media to create interactive videos, immersive stories, games, and other touch applications.

The versatility of XIMPEL is exemplified by the wide variety of its use in the past ten years, including online web applications, teaching multimedia, and interactive exhibitions involving large touch screens.

XIMPEL offers the following features:     

  • A stable and fully open-source HTML5 codebase, allowing for creating applications which work in standard web browsers on computers, but also on touch-based devices such as mobile phones and tablets
  • Seamless integration of a variety of standard media types (including YouTube videos, pictures, and audio)
  • Modularity, as XIMPEL can be extended using custom media types. For instance, modules integrating minigames, maps, PDF viewers and visualizations have been created for various purposes.
  • Customizable, clickable overlays, which connect application contents and storylines
  • Built-in quiz elements and an elaborate scoring mechanism, allowing to weigh choices and answers given by a user, thus allowing for the potential to adapt application content to user choices.

Application content is specified via XML-based playlists, for which extensive documentation is available. The playlist, in conjunction with the media included in the application, is all you need to create your first XIMPEL application.

XIMPEL App on touch screen

For 10 years, XIMPEL has been used as a tool for multimedia authoring in the Project Interactive Media course at the VU University Amsterdam and in the Creative Technology curriculum at Twente University. It is utilized by the University of Oslo Library for touch table applications, and has previously been used in and for various institutions, including Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid, Hogeschool INHOLLAND, and the Climate Center Amsterdam. Various workshops have also been given for audiences ranging from high school students to academics at ACE 2013.