Designing an object-based preproduction tool for multiscreen TV viewing

Multiscreen TV viewing refers to a spectrum of media productions that can be watched using TV and companion screens such as smartphones and tablets. In the last several years, companies are creating companion applications to enrich the TV viewing experience

STEER: Exploring the dynamic relationship between social information and networked media through experimentation

With the growing popularity of social networks, online video services and smart phones, the traditional content consumers are becoming the editors and broadcasters of their own stories. Within the EU FP7 project STEER, project partners have developed a novel system of new algorithms and toolsets that extract and analyse social informatics generated by social networks. Combined with advanced networking technologies, the platform creates services that offer more personalized and accurate content discovery and retrieval services. The STEER system has been deployed in multiple geographical locations during live social events such as the 2014 Winter Olympics. Our use case experiments demonstrate the feasibility and efficiency of the underlying technologies

Deliverable D6.2 Scenario Demonstrators

This deliverable reports on the demonstrators prepared using the LinkedTV technologies for the two principle scenarios: Interactive News (partner: RBB) and the Hyperlinked Documentary Scenario (partner: Sound and Vision). Complementing the working demos, we report on the user trials performed with the first year scenarios, the resulting revisions made, and the progress in our third scenario, Media Arts (partner: University of Mons)

Workflow support for live object-based broadcasting

This paper examines the document aspects of object-based broadcasting. Object-based broadcasting augments traditional video and audio broadcast content with additional (temporally-constrained) media objects. The content of these objects - as well as their temporal validity - are determined by the broadcast source, but the actual rendering and placement of these objects can be customized to the needs/constraints of the content viewer(s). The use of object-based broadcasting enables a more tailored end-user experience than the one-size-fits-all of traditional broadcasts: the viewer may be able to selectively turn off overlay graphics (such as statistics) during a sports game, or selectively render them on a secondary device. Object-based broadcasting also holds the potential for supporting presentation adaptivity for accessibility or for device heterogeneity.From a technology perspective, object-based broadcasting resembles a traditional IP media stream, accompanied by a structured multimedia document that contains timed rendering instructions. Unfortunately, the use of object-based broadcasting is severely limited because of the problems it poses for the traditional television production workflow (and in particular, for use in live television production). The traditional workflow places graphics, effects and replays as immutable components in the main audio/video feed originating from, for example, a production truck outside a sports stadium. This single feed is then delivered near-live to the homes of all viewers. In order to effectively support dynamic object-based broadcasting, the production workflow will need to retain a familiar creative interface to the production staff, but also allow the insertion and delivery of a differentiated set of objects for selective use at the receiving end.In this paper we present a model and implementation of a dynamic system for supporting object-based broadcasting in the context of a motor sport application. We define a new multimedia document format that supports dynamic modifications during playback; this allows editing decisions by the producer to be activated by agents at the receiving end of the content. We describe a prototype system to allow playback of these broadcasts and a production system that allows live object-based control within the production workflow. We conclude with an evaluation of a trial using near-live deployment of the environment, using content from our partners, in a sport environment.</p

Designing user interface for facilitating live editing in streaming

Media assets, such as overlay graphics or comments, can make video streaming a unique and engaging experience. Appropriately managing media assets during the live streaming, however, is still difficult for streamers who work alone or in small groups. With the aim to ease the management of such assets, we analyzed existing live production tools and designed four low fidelity prototypes, which eventually led to two high fidelity ones, based on the feedback from users and designers. The results of a usability test, using fully interactive prototypes, suggested that a controller and predefined media object behavior were useful for managing objects. The findings from this preliminary work help us design a prototype that helps users to stream rich media presentations

Deliverable D9.3 Final Project Report

This document comprises the final report of LinkedTV. It includes a publishable summary, a plan for use and dissemination of foreground and a report covering the wider societal implications of the project in the form of a questionnaire

Evaluating the user experience of a photorealistic social VR Movie

We all enjoy watching movies together. However, this is not always possible if we live apart. While we can remotely share our screens, the experience differs from being together. We present a social Virtual Reality (VR) system that captures, reconstructs, and transmits multiple users’ volumetric representations into a commercially produced 3D virtual movie, so they have the feeling of “being there” together. We conducted a 48-user experiment where we invited users to experience the virtual movie either using a Head Mounted Display (HMD) or using a 2D screen with a game controller. In addition, we invited 14 VR experts to experience both the HMD and the screen version of the movie and discussed their experiences in two focus groups. Our results showed that both end-users and VR experts found that the way they navigated and interacted inside a 3D virtual movie was novel. They also found that the photorealistic volumetric representations enhanced feelings of co-presence. Our study lays the groundwork for future interactive and immersive VR movie co-watching experiences

The Future of Video

Executive Summary A range of technological innovations (e.g. smart phones and digital cameras), infrastructural advances (e.g. broadband and 3G/4G wireless networks) and platform developments (e.g. YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Amazon, and Netflix) are collectively transforming the way video is produced, distributed, consumed, archived – and importantly, monetised. Changes have been observed well beyond the mainstream TV and film industries, and these changes are increasingly reflected in the way businesses communicate internally with employees and externally with customers and partners, and the way we communicate with one another both at work and in our daily lives. In September 2015, Facebook CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg claimed that he expected our society to enter ‘the golden age of video’ in the next 5 years1. Video has become a cornerstone of Facebook’s business strategy. The implications are profound. The rapid development of video is leading to a fundamental shift not only in business and the economy, but also in our culture and society. Further advances in affordable virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) may transform the way we interact and share experiences with one another. Internet guru Clay Shirky argued, ‘[w]hen we change the way we communicate, we change society.’ As video transforms the way we communicate, we are less constrained from established rules about communication, relationships, and the way we do business with each other. Organisations need to extend their focus from using video for marketing and staff training to redesigning their operations and business processes, which will help lower costs, foster collaboration, reduce environmental impact and create competitive advantages. This report focuses on the business use of video, in the context of wider economic, social and cultural changes in the digital age. The emerging opportunities and risks call for a holistic, strategic approach to the management of video in organisations, rather than being left to technologists or to the users on an ad hoc basis. Those who manage the transition effectively will reap the rewards and avoid potential pitfalls; those that do not will risk being left behind