In this paper we describe the Virtual Video Browser (VVB) software application designed to allow the interactive browsing and content-based query of a video database and to facilitate the subsequent playout of selected titles. The VVB is a manifestation of our mechanisms for the location, identification, and delivery of digital audio and video in a distributed system which can be extended to several application domains including multimedia-based home entertainment, catalog shopping, and distance learning. The VVB employs a two phase retrieval process to serve its users. In the query phase, user queries are sent to a metadata server for processing. In the subsequent playout phase, a connection is established between the client workstation and a video server for the delivery of video data. The VVB incorporates a simple query interface that lets users specify their preferences to the system and retrieve the appropriate video. The application is designed to work in a distributed environment where video sequences are stored in different databases interconnected via a network. It has been shown to be a viable target application useful for investigating research problems related to building interactive multimedia systems.