How can I create a live updating slideshow?

Question

I have a need to create a short slideshow style presentation (doesn't have to be a slideshow particularly if something else is more appropriate) which updates it's contents on the fly.

The content is fairly straightforward; number of laps done, distance covered - integers that slowly increase over a period of time but not at predictable intervals, interspersed with some static information that doesn't change.

My preference was to create a Keynote presentation, but other than stopping the presentation to update the slides, I don't know of a way in which is can be kept informed of updates.

Is there a way for Keynote to pull updates (bit like the old the object linking and embedding thing Windows had once), for example can I include a Numbers file on particular slides which will get reloaded each time it hits that slide? That way I can use a 2nd machine to keep updating the data, and have Keynote simply load it in?

Answer 1

Here is how you can do that in Power Point. I do not use Keynote.

There are two ways to insert content objects into a PowerPoint presentation:

Linked objects A linked object is updated if its source file is changed. For example, a linked chart built from data in Microsoft Excel is changed if the source Excel data changes. The source file must be available on your computer or network to maintain the link between the inserted object and the source data. Inserting a linked object is recommended if the source data set is large or complex.

Embedded objects The source data is embedded in the presentation. You can view the embedded object on another computer, because the source data is part of the presentation file. Embedded objects typically require more disk space than linked objects.