Design and evaluation of tile selection algorithms for tiled HTTP adaptive streaming (Best paper award)

The future of digital video is envisioned to have an increase in both resolution and interactivity. New resolutions like 8k UHDTV are up to 16 times as big in number of pixels compared to current HD video. Interactivity includes the possibility to zoom and pan around in video. We examine Tiled HTTP Adaptive Streaming (TAS) as a technique for supporting these trends and allowing them to be implemented on conventional Internet infrastructure. In this article, we propose three tile selection algorithms, for different use cases (e.g., zooming, panning). A performance evaluation of these algorithms on a TAS testbed, shows that they lead to better bandwidth utilization, higher static Region of Interest (ROI) video quality and higher video quality while manipulating the ROI. We show that we can transmit video at resolutions up to four times larger than existing algorithms during bandwidth drops, which results in a higher quality viewing experience. We can also increase the video quality by up to 40 percent in interactive video, during panning or zooming

Review: Playing at a Distance - Borderlands of Videogame Aesthetic

Sonia Fizek's Playing at Distance: Borderlands of Video Game Aesthetic navigates the intricate intersection of digital technology, aesthetics, and play in the context of video games, challenging conventional ideas of player agency. This critical recension delves into the book's contributions, highlighting its innovative exploration of mediated distance, interactivity, delegation, automation, ambience, spectacle, and the evolving nature of player engagement. While acknowledging its theoretical depth, this review emphasizes the book's significance in reshaping our understanding of video game aesthetics and the complex relationship between humans, machines, and digital play

Interpassivity and the joy of delegated play in idle games

This paper examines the youngest video games genre, the so called idle (incremental) game, also referred to as the passive, self-playing or clicker game, which seems to challenge the current understanding of digital games as systems, based on a human-machine interaction where it is the human who actively engages with the system through meaningful choices. Idle games, on the other hand, tend to play themselves, making the player’s participation optional or, in some cases, entirely redundant. Interactivity and agency – qualities extensively theorised with reference to digital games – are questioned in the context of idling. In this paper the author will investigate the self-contradictory genre through the lens of interpassivity, a concept developed by Robert Pfaller and Slavoj Žižek to describe the aesthetics of delegated enjoyment. This contribution aims at introducing interpassivity to a wider Game Studies community, and offers an alternative perspective to reflect upon digital games in general and self-playing games in particular

Novos paradigmas na educacão online com a aprendizagem aberta

This paper aims to discuss important concepts related to online education which bring a new educational paradigm: open learning through free learning materials and technologies. In this context, we present the OpenLearn Project – virtual environment based on the platform Moodle with educational resources developed by the Open University. The purpose of the OpenLean project is widening participation through digital inclusion and free access to higher education learning. The OpenLearn offers not only course contents, but also new technologies integrated for collective construction of knowledge such as: the software tool Compendium and the web application for video conference Flashmeeting. In the end, we highlight some important actions to facilitate interactivity and co-authorship for learning communities

The Use Interactivity and the Multimedia in the International Digital Press: an Empirical Study

La interactividad y el multimedia son dos de los pilares fundamentales del periodismo digital, junto a la hipertextualidad. Dado su carácter relativamente incipiente, analizamos empíricamente el uso en cabeceras internacionales. En este artículo se recogen los resultados de incorporación de interactividad (proporción de piezas en las que hay interactividad mediante comentarios en el foro, piezas con interactividad simétrica o asimétrica) en los periódicos The Sun (Reino Unido), Le Monde (Francia), The New York Times (Estados Unidos de América) y La Vanguardia (España). En la misma muestra se han recogido las inclusiones multimedia (audio, video, audiovisual). Se percibe un uso intenso de la interactividad en el foro, un uso testimonial de la interactividad simétrica y asimétrica y una inclusión moderada de los recursos multimedia analizados.The interactivity and the multimedia are two of the fundamental props of the digital journalism, together with the hypertext. In view of his relatively incipient character, we analyse empirically the use in the international journals. In this article there are gathered the results of incorporation of interactivity (proportion of pieces in which there is interactivity by means of comments in the forum, pieces with symmetrical or asymmetric interactivity) in The Sun (United Kingdom), Le Monde (France), The New York Times (USA) and La Vanguardia (Spain). In the same sample we analyze the multimedia items (audio, video, audio-visual). An intense use of the interactivity in the forum, a poor use of the symmetrical and asymmetric interactivity and a moderate incorporation of the multimedia resources are perceived

Interactive television or enhanced televisiion? : the Dutch users interest in applications of ITV via set-top boxes

This paper is both an analysis of the phenomenon of interactive television with background concepts of interactivity and television and a report of an empirical investigation among Dutch users of set-top-box ITV. In the analytic part a distinction is made between levels of interactivity in the applications of ITV. Activities labelled as selection, customisation, transaction and reaction reveal low levels of interactivity. They may be called ‘enhanced television’. They are extensions of existing television programmes that keep their linear character. Activities called production and conversation have the potential of higher interactivity. They may lead to ‘real’ interactive television as the user input makes a difference to programmes. It is suggested that so-called hybrid ITV– TV combined with telephone and email reply channels- and (broadband) Internet ITV offer better opportunities for high interactivity than set-top-box ITV. \ud The empirical investigation shows that the demand of subscribers to set-top-box ITV in the Netherlands matches supply. They favour the less interactive applications of selection and reaction. Other striking results are that young subscribers appreciate interactive applications more than the older ones and that those with a low level of education prefer these applications more than high educated subscribers. No significant gender differences were found

Reservoir hill and audiences for online interactive drama

This paper analyses the interactive experiences constructed for users of the New Zealand online interactive drama Reservoir Hill (2009, 2010), focusing both on the nature and levels of engagement which the series provided to users and the difficulties of audience research into this kind of media content. The series itself provided tightly prescribed forms of interactivity across multiple platforms, allowing forms of engagement that were greatly appreciated by its audience overall but actively explored only by a small proportion of users. The responses from members of the Reservoir Hill audience suggests that online users themselves are still learning the nature of, and constraints on, their engagements with various forms of online interactive media. This paper also engages with issue of how interactivity itself is defined, the difficulties of both connecting with audience members and securing timely access to online data, and the challenges of undertaking collaborative research with media producers in order to gain access to user data

A comparison of three interactive television AD formats

This study explores the effects of interacting with three current interactive television (iTV) ad formats, using an Australian audience panel. Interaction with iTV ads has positive effects on awareness and net positive thoughts, which increase purchase intentions compared with the influence of regular ads. The telescopic format represents the best format, likely because it makes the most of the entertaining possibilities of iTV by offering additional long-form video; its superior performance cannot be explained readily by self-selection effects. The results suggest that the effectiveness of iTV ads should be measured by their interaction rate rather than the much smaller response rate, and iTV advertisers should consider ways to maximize interaction and response rates

Dialectical Polyptych: an interactive movie installation

Most of the known video games developed by important software companies usually establish an approach to the cinematic language in an attempt to create a perfect combination of narrative, visual technique and interaction. Unlike most video games, interactive film narratives normally involve an interruption in time whenever the spectator has to make choices. “Dialectical Polyptych” is an interactive movie included in a project called “Characters looking for a spectactor”, which aims to give the spectator on-the-fly control over film editing, thus exploiting the role of the spectator as an active subject in the presented narrative. This paper presents an installation based on a mobile device, which allows seamless real-time interactivity with the movie. Different finger touches in the screen allow the spectator to alternate between two parallel narratives, both producing a complementary narrative, and change the angle or shot within each narrative.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio