Interactive TV

Pro : People want interactivity in TV

• Digital TV will be phased in over the next ten years, after which pointer there will be no more analogue TV broadcasts. So twenty years from now, what will the majority of TV usage be like? Will it be mostly passive, like today's television, or will it be very interactive, given all that will be possible with future technology?
• It will be easy to combine TV broadcasts and general computer functions on the same display; a present-day example is WebTV. However, the debate is not about whether the TV appliance will be able to be used for [on-demand] Internet access, but whether most [broadcast] programs will be viewed interactively.

more and more people are spending time in the evening (after a hard day at work) on the Internet

obviously not everyone is so passive

broadcasters will try to outdo each other and offer new experiences to the public

• key: with only a small back-channel, accurate RATINGS can be obtained
• find out what people like, and charge the advertiser for your success!

V-chip:

• why just block out certain levels of sex and violence? Why not actually dynamically "tune" the amount of sex and violence desired?
• extension of this: tune the style (comedy, suspense, etc.) and direction of the plot while watching program
• see more of the plot involving some "favourite" characters

sports (and perhaps action films!)

• user-controlled instant replay
• custom camera positions/angles
• split-screen or picture-in-picture

Virtual reality

• VR goggles and gloves -- more immersive feeling
• play a character in a show - imagine the experience of being the detective (e.g. Sherlock Holmes), and trying to solve the mystery with only that which you see!

Information programs

• News: select stories from headlines, and hit "Play"! - several levels of detail: headline, anchor's copy, field reporter
• Do-it-yourself shows (cooking, home repair, gardening) - choose to explore certain topics more deeply, or targetting a different ability level - "explain this further", or "look up jargon in glossary"
• Interact with information and people on Internet! - www.imdb.com (Internet Movie Database)

• If TVs have caused the decay of the civilization, making TVs interactive certainly cannot make it worse. Making TVs interactive allows the viewers to participate, to think, and to interact. The interaction is not limited to with the broadcasters, but also with other viewers. This can also stimulate the broadcasters to come up much more sophicated programs that we cannot imagine today.
• To support interactie TVs is not expensive because of the reduced cost of disks. With a fat and cheap disk, a number of interactive features such as pause and instant reply can be supported. A variety of time-shift applications can also be made possible.
• Making TV interactive does not take away the freedom from the viewers who choose to be couch potatos. It does not impose extra cost to these potatos either, since the ones do not want to interact do not have to install the set-top box that contains the fat and cheap disk or other devices.

Why passive TV will continue to be pervasive

1.

Primary purpose of T.V. is entertainment

2.

People have a broad range of choices to entertain themselves,

• Web Surfing
• Reading a book
• Games (Video/Card/Etc.)

3.

Yet TV is one of the most popular:

• M.A.S.H, CBS, February 28, 1983, 50.1 million.
• Week of Nov 9-15, 1998
• ER 19.64 Million
• Friends 16.00 Million
• "By the start of the year 1993, 98% of U.S. households own at least one TV set, 64% have two or more sets."
• Advertising Age

4.

People choose it because it is passive:

• Daily life is filled with stress, responsibility, and decision making
• Television is popular because it allows you to escape all three
• Even when you are tired and worn out you can watch TV
• Has anyone ever stayed up later than they should watching a show or movie?

5.

Because TV is passive it is a universal experience:

• Allows everyone to share in the same experience
• Becomes a cultural reference

6.

Much of work in creating content is editing decisions

• Movie cinematic effect
• Touchdown replay
• News

7.

Interactivity is localized both in time and space

• Uniform, shared forward channel
• Allow tune in at any time(short context)

8.

Is broadcasting most suitable for interactive content?

• Internet ( unlimited scope and higher latency )
• CD(DVD) ROM titles( bigger scope and low latency)

9.

Push v.s. Pull

• Interactivity will change broadcasting from "push" to "pull" and reduce the effectiveness for "broadcasting" information