The Evolution of TV Systems, Content, and Users Towards Interactivity

Pablo Cesar CWI, Amsterdam, the Netherlands p.s.cesar@cwi.nl

CWI

CWI
Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica (Center for Mathematics and Computer Science) Dutch National Science Foundations institute for fundamental research in math and CS Mission: Frontier research in CS and Mathematics Transfer new knowledge to society and industry Examples of topics studied:

model the height and strength of Dutch dykes developed Hollands first computer developed formal models for automated train schedules developed Algol-68, Python and SMIL

CWI - Numbers
Founded in 1946 Staff of 210 full time people (160 is scientific staff) Annual budget around 13M Funding NWO (Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research) -> 70% International and national projects -> 30% Maintains 17 research themes in 4 research clusters

CWI - distributed & interactive systems

People Leader: Professor Dick Bulterman 2 W3C experts; 4 senior researchers (1 programmer); 3+1 PhDs Some Projects (since 2006) Passepartout (ITEA2) TA2 & iNEM4U (FP7 call 1) Reverie & Vconect (FP7 call 7) Standardization SYMM working group from W3C (SMIL) Video on the Web activity from W3C Web and TV Interest Group from W3C

CWI - distributed & interactive systems

Social networks Social communications/ Shared Experiences Distributed Infrastructures & Languages Open source rendering engines Heterogeneous multimedia delivery and synchronization Multimodal interfaces / adaptive content Multimedia / Multimedia Mash-ups / adaptive multimedia Information management Publications / Standardization

Pablo Cesar
CWI

National research centre for Mathematics and Computer Science Researcher; Tenure track position
Self-promotion

Quiz
Television: What is the most influential technological innovation? Some ideas: black-and-white, first broadcast, color TV, cable television, VCR, HD television, social TV, 3D TV and the winner is: VCR Leverage users interaction: Time-shifted Sharing videos

BBC on the future of TV

Background: Very Interesting Times

Background: Very Interesting Times

Is TV Dead?
Source: http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/measurement/a2m2_three_screens

Monthly Time Spent in Hours: Minutes Per User 2+ Activity Watching TV in the home Watching Time-shifted TV Using the Internet Watching Video on Internet 2Q 09 141:03 7:53 26:15 3:11 1Q 09 153:27 8:13 29:15 3:00 2Q 08 139:00 6:05 26:29 2:12

Is TV Dead?
Source: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/what-consumerswatch-nielsens-q1-2010-three-screen-report/

Is TV Dead? Super bowl 2011

Source: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/super-bowlxlv-most-viewed-telecast-in-broadcast-history/ Year 2011 2010 2009 2008 1996 2007 AVG # OF VIEWERSP2+ 111,010,000 106,476,000 98,732,000 97,448,000 94,080,000 93,184,000

2011 The Nielsen Company

Behavior patterns change

TV: change on Pablos view

P. Cesar, "A Graphics Software Architecture for High-End Interactive TV Terminals, Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland, December 2005. ISBN 951-22-7888-X. P. Cesar and K. Chorianopoulos, "The Evolution of TV Systems, Content, and Users Towards Interactivity," Foundations and Trends in HumanComputer Interaction, 2(4): 279-373, 2009. P. Cesar and D. Geerts, "Understanding Social TV: a survey," in Proceedings of the Networked and Electronic Media Summit (NEM Summit 2011), Torino, Italy, September 27-29, 2011

TV: change on Pablos view

From Interactive Television

To Social TV

T h e

Background: Videos on the Web

Miro/Democracy: Download and search for videos from anywhere

Background: Videos on the Web

Joost: widgets, chatting, recommend, rating [professional content]

Background: TV on the Web

Justin.tv: broadcast [user-generated content; well..]

Background: TV on the Web

CurrentTV: user-generated news and comments [user-generated content]

Background: Hack The Debate

Background: TV on the Web

Mogulus: broadcast, collaborative feeds [user-generated content]

Lets Start from the basics

Digital TV
Analogue TV: 1 television program in a 6 or 8 MHz channel Fixed program map Linear program schedules Little choices Service limited to audio-video content and simple services (e.g. teletext) Interaction limited to informational services (e.g. teletext) Receiver: only Television set Digital TV: Audiovisual signal is compressed and transported by digital means (MPEG-2 stream). Spectrum efficiency. Multiple programs in 6 or 8 MHz. Interactive services linked to the TV content Interactive services independent of the TV content Receiver: TV set + decoder

Digital TV: Basic Concepts

Audiovisual signal is compressed and transported by digital means
Audio Video Data

...
MPEG-2 Stream

Spectrum efficiency: Thats what we say when we can fit more channels in the same bandwidth Each broadcaster decides how to use its own bit-rate: Only television programs Only interactive applications Television program(s) plus interactive application(s) Interactive applications as value added services Java applications (procedural) XHTML documents (declarative)

Digital TV: Architecture

Otadigi: http://www.otadigi.tv

Foreseen Architecture
Control Flow Paradigm Shift
server

Client/Server

client client

client

client

client

server

client

client
P2P

client

client
Hybrid

client

Traditional Lifecycle

Content Authoring Content Delivery Content Consumption

Foreseen Lifecycle
Content Creation Content Distribution Content Enrichment

Construct your copy

Model-based Management

Manage information distribution within limited group

server

client

client

client

Manage information access & enhancement within group

Model-based Access

So, What is iDTV?

Definition 1: Return channel - engineer TV Screen + STB + return channel to the broadcaster Definition 2: Red button - BBC TV Screen + STB + application manager Definition 3: Social TV

Interactive television represents means of linking

individuals together by providing each with an electronically mediated representation of the others voice and visual presence (Wellens 1979)

Definition 4: Interactive digital media at home Software applications that runs on advanced STB, mobile phones, home media computers Applications are related to video content (broadcasted, stored, streamed)

Taxonomy
Professor Dan OSullivan: http://itp.nyu.edu/~dbo3/proj/#tele Interactive Television is an oxymoron. On the other hand, television provides the most common ground in our culture for ordinary conversation, which is arguably the most enjoyable interaction a person has. We should try to leverage the power of television while creating some channel back from the audience to provide content, control or just a little conversation.

iDTV: Working definition

Content creation Development of media material Professional and amateur (your own channel) Content control Decide on what to watch, when to watch Recommendation of content Content overlays Social communications Chat about the content Build relationships/mantain relationships Share content

Agenda
Introduction Content Control Content Authoring Social Communications Two examples Secondary screens Media sharing

Model
Content Control Content selection (EPG, Teletext...) Responsive Television Ambient Intelligence Other Devices Secondary Screens User Interaction Content Authoring Standards Overview (and authoring systems) User-generated Content Social Communication Social Interactive TV P2P Video sharing