=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=None
|storemode=property
|title=ITV services for socializing in public places
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-720/Almeida.pdf
|volume=Vol-720
}}
==ITV services for socializing in public places==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-720/Almeida.pdf
ITV services for socializing in public places
Pedro Almeida Jorge Abreu Rui José
University of Aveiro University of Aveiro
University of Minho
Campus de Santiago, Aveiro Campus de Santiago, Aveiro
Campus de Azurém, Guimarães
Portugal Portugal
Portugal
+351 234370389 +351 234370389
+351 253510307
almeida@ua.pt jfa@ua.pt rui@dsi.uminho.pt
ABSTRACT
Watching TV in public locations is very different from watching In this paper, we analyse some of these possibilities and discuss
at Home, but it can also be a worthy experience, especially in the the opportunities and limitations of hybrid approaches that
context of certain collective events, such as live football. The combine public displays and collective audiences with the
increasingly rich features of iTV services may even provide the technologies of iTV platforms.
ground for making the Television infrastructure an alternative
framework for the deployment of public display services. In this 2. RELATED WORK
paper, we present and discuss integration scenarios in which the The sociability fostered by television has been studied by a
iTV infrastructure and public display services conceived for significant number of authors. From the 1975 Martin Jones
multi-user interaction in public spaces are combined to generate predictions (about the economic and social impact of Interactive
new types of services offer. It reveals a considerable potential on Television in generating a greater sense of community
the idea of leveraging iTV infrastructures for supporting new awareness) [5] to the James Lull [6] ethnographic study
types of public display services benefiting from content generated (concluding that television can act as facilitator of
and social interactions of the co-located audience. The successful communication or as a mean to start conversations) many
use of these approaches will require a clear understanding of the researchers have explored the sociability potential of television.
properties of the iTV infrastructure and a focus on the type of These and other findings allowed different research groups to
applications in which those properties may provide more added- work on social iTV prototypes and proposals. Some include: the
value than limitations. 2BeOn project [1], Reality IM – Accenture Labs; Amigo TV –
Alcatel; Social TV – PARC; ConnecTV – TNO; CollaboraTV –
Categories and Subject Descriptors AT&T; Find-A-Friend - University of Siegen; Living@room –
H.4.3 [Communications Applications] H.5.2 [User Interfaces] CSP (for more details on these prototypes see [2]) and STV –
Motorola [3], [7].
General Terms The main goal of Social TV has been to allow people
Design, Human Factors geographically separated, to watch the same program, as if they
were collocated doing it together. This is also clearly a way to
address the potential of iTV platforms as a socialization tool.
Keywords However, this research field has been focused in the interaction
iTV, public displays, socialTV, crowd interaction between users in their Homes, while the proposal in this paper
tries to explore the scenario of physically collocated viewing in
1. INTRODUCTION public places. This may still be seen as a form of Social TV, in
Even though people tend to think of Television as something that line with definition of Harboe et al [4]: “using communication
is primarily conceived to be experienced at Home, TV content technology to connect TV viewers, in order to create remotely
can easily be found in many public (out-of-home) locations we shared experiences around TV content” and encompassing
move into during the day. Watching TV in these contexts can be opportunities for allowing these shared experiences to happen
a particularly socially rewarding experience in the context of even if users are collocated and sharing only one display.
certain collective events, such as live football. Despite the referred focus in the communication between
The emergence of Interactive TV (iTV) could offer interesting remotely located viewers, there are some applications that start
new opportunities for TV consumption in public places, enabling to explore the potential of iTV in public scenarios for socially
whole new scenarios in which TV content could be consumed engaged activities. The Weteli 1 application for Google and
collectively in an interactive and co-located experience. Samsung TVs presents an interesting approach by allowing
Additionally, the interactive features of iTV could also enable viewers in public spaces to interact with the TV content. It
the Television infrastructure to become an alternative ground for allows expressing likes or dislikes by sending virtual “stars” or
new types of public display services. These can benefit when the “tomatoes” with mobile phones right to the shared TV screen.
social interactions and content from the collective audience is
considered.
1
http://movl.com/wp/apps/weteli/
3. Public displays and iTV While these differences do not exclude the type of hybrid
Public display networks and iTV services share a similar scenarios we are discussing in this paper, understanding their
characteristic in the sense that they both provide a TV centred implications is a crucial part for any successful approach that
experience, but so far they have been largely separate fields with aims to combine both technologies.
specific technological visions and usage assumptions. Recent
advances in both areas have been widening their boundaries, 4. TECHNICAL APPROACHES
blurring some of the traditional differences and opening the path This section describes some of the technical possibilities for
for hybrid approaches that may provide new service offers. enabling collective experiences around iTV content in public
In this context, it is worth to consider the possible motivations places and discusses their implications for the proposed goals.
behind the idea of using the iTV infrastructure for interactive
public display services.
ITV operators are highly experienced in providing
robust technology and mature services designed from
scratch for a very large-scale distribution. This could
facilitate widespread deployment of new public display
services.
Because so many public spaces already have a TV
screen and some type of set-top box, there is an
enormous potential in leveraging that infrastructure for
new purposes. This could enable new public display
services to be provided with only minor investments on
new infrastructure.
However, there are also many assumptions that are significantly
different between iTV and public displays.
The most striking difference is probably the assumptions
regarding control of the content. With Television there is the
assumption that one person holding a remote control will be the
only person in control of the content being shown. Social
protocols determine who holds the remote control and to what Figure 1 – A basic IPTV system architecture enhanced with
extent other people may influence the holder to change the mobile interaction.
selected content. Ownership of the remote control becomes a key
element in the power relationships. The overall concept behind Figure 1 presents the basic system architecture of a typical IPTV
iTV is about empowering people to watch what they want, when application comprising a Home Gateway (providing wired
they want it. However, in a public location, viewers normally Internet access to the set-top-box and Wi-Fi to the home
accept that they will not be able to exert any control over the network); a set top-box retrieving video and exchanging data
content being presented, which is usually determined by the with remote servers via TCP/IP; and a (TV) display.
place owner. Even though this is an obviously limited approach, The integration of other devices is especially relevant when
regarding its ability to serve potentially diversified interests, it is considering collective viewing. As referred, in a public display
nevertheless a socially accepted practice that relies on the good scenario there is no such thing as a shared remote control for the
judgment of someone who is probably interested in satisfying its crowd. However, the equivalent to multiple individual remote
visitors. controls can be created by taking advantage of personal mobile
In public displays, interactive applications may enable co-located devices acting as means of individual participation in public
people to generate new content to the display system using viewing or even regular objects enhanced with smart tags. The
flow of actions presented in figure 1 shows how an interactive
multiple types of devices and technologies. Integrated with an
application can be implemented using a Wi-Fi enabled mobile
iTV infrastructure this aim may also be achieved if alternatives
phone as an input device.
to the remote control are considered such as mobile devices or
smart tangible artefacts.
5. Integration Scenarios
Another key difference is the nature of the social experience. In Considering this setup and the social dynamics of watching
social iTV, multiple participants can be engaged in a shared and television in a public display, we will now present and discuss 2
more personalized experience, probably centred on TV content, possible scenarios for the use of iTV infrastructures for public
but each participant is at his own Home using his remote control. display services that integrate mechanisms for audience
In public displays, the experience is only local and there is not participation and control.
normally any expectation that other people at other locations may
be watching that same content.
5.1 Situated Interaction around TV content very different design assumptions and was not originally
This scenario refers to situations where users are watching a conceived to support public display scenarios and collective
common interest TV show, like a football match, interacting control. As a consequence it will not be an immediate solution to
using their mobile phones as remote controllers or information many of the applications that are now common in public displays.
input devices. The successful use of iTV for that purpose requires a clear
understanding of the properties of the iTV infrastructure and a
With interactions focused on the TV content, it is possible to focus on the type of applications in which those properties may
anticipate a scenario where users can: provide more added-value than limitations. Designing new
interaction devices that support multiple and concurrent control
vote on which match to watch (collaborative decision);
and studying new interaction models represents relevant
see how many fans each team has in the room; challenges for future research activities.
support their teams by providing collaborative actions
(e.g. all viewers shaking their mobile phones to create
7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In the scope of a joint collaboration, the research leading to these
a virtual ola mexicana);
results has received funding from: i) the European Union Seventh
challenge other fans with emotional messages or visual Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement
effects sent to the screen; no. 244011.(PD-Net); and ii) FEDER (through COMPETE) and
National Funding (through FCT) under grant agreement no.
make predictions, in a public pool promoted by the iTV PTDC/CCI-COM/100824/2008.
application, related with TV content (e.g. in what
minute the 1st goal will appear).
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