Talk to your TV

Soon to be a dominate technology in the home entertainment arena, is creeping its way into the market place. Rapidly being developed is known as interactive TV (iTV). The average Westerner spends quarter of his waking life in front of the TV set, perhaps saying like having someone in the room. Meanwhile, because of television, we are becoming less involved with other people as it is a passive medium. People who are spending a majority of time watching television are engaging in fewer conversations and are interacting with fewer people.

A new technology to be adapted to televisions is being developed. Millions of dollars are being spent in development devices that will initially change the passive television to an interactive device. The technology will provide a high interactivity in which the audience member affects the program being watched. Some of the features include;

• Feedback- Allows the participation in polls, surveys, and voting.
• Enhanced content- Allows access to additional contents such as maps, diagrams, or info graphics.
• Immediate Access- Allows access to breaking news immediately.
• Archive and Retrieve- Allows viewers to archive and retrieve news clips.
• Personalization- Allows viewers to select news categories and reports they are interested in
• Services – Allows users to process purchases through shopping networks, food market, and gambling vendors.

We can see the medium's impact on content in traditional news media. Radio and television news make audiences tune in at specific times. Internet news uses short video clips of recent news. The file compression process used to make video files small enough for efficient Internet transmission favors images with minimal movement and detail. For this reason, video created specifically for the web usually consists of the proverbial talking head with a monochrome background.
On the other hand, the emerging medium of interactive TV (iTV) holds the promise of new options in a broadband environment. The viewer has the ability to choose what they want to see, when they want to see it, and access to full-motion TV-quality video. ITV also offers new ways of organizing content providing an opportunity to deliver news from multiple sources.

When it comes to forecasting the future of any emerging new media technology (and any product really), it's easy to see the final product but NOT the problems that will pop up along the way. Microsoft is a good example as has been Apple in the past. They know what the product will end up looking like, but they don't allow for unexpected bumps along the road.
IPTV (IPTV being the technology that is used in iTV) has the potential to revolutionize the television production. The word revolution entails taking the current system in use and replacing it with something completely new. Interactive TV can be seen as a change in western society’s cultural landscape and become a dominate feature in our homes.

More information visit: http://www.itvt.com/, http://informitv.com/