Augmenting TV Viewing using Acoustically Transparent Auditory Headsets

This paper explores how acoustically transparent auditory headsets can improve TV viewing by intermixing headset and TV audio, facilitating personal, private auditory enhancements and augmentations of TV content whilst minimizing occlusion of the sounds of reality. We evaluate the impact of synchronously mirroring select audio channels from the 5.1 mix (dialogue, environmental sounds, and the full mix), and selectively augmenting TV viewing with additional speech (e.g. Audio Description, Directors Commentary, and Alternate Language). For TV content, auditory headsets enable better spatialization and more immersive, enjoyable viewing; the intermixing of TV and headset audio creates unique listening experiences; and private augmentations offer new ways to (re)watch content with others. Finally, we reflect on how these headsets might facilitate more immersive augmented TV viewing experiences within reach of consumers

Automatic Mobile Video Remixing and Collaborative Watching Systems

In the thesis, the implications of combining collaboration with automation for remix creation are analyzed. We first present a sensor-enhanced Automatic Video Remixing System (AVRS), which intelligently processes mobile videos in combination with mobile device sensor information. The sensor-enhanced AVRS system involves certain architectural choices, which meet the key system requirements (leverage user generated content, use sensor information, reduce end user burden), and user experience requirements. Architecture adaptations are required to improve certain key performance parameters. In addition, certain operating parameters need to be constrained, for real world deployment feasibility. Subsequently, sensor-less cloud based AVRS and low footprint sensorless AVRS approaches are presented. The three approaches exemplify the importance of operating parameter tradeoffs for system design. The approaches cover a wide spectrum, ranging from a multimodal multi-user client-server system (sensor-enhanced AVRS) to a mobile application which can automatically generate a multi-camera remix experience from a single video. Next, we present the findings from the four user studies involving 77 users related to automatic mobile video remixing. The goal was to validate selected system design goals, provide insights for additional features and identify the challenges and bottlenecks. Topics studied include the role of automation, the value of a video remix as an event memorabilia, the requirements for different types of events and the perceived user value from creating multi-camera remix from a single video. System design implications derived from the user studies are presented. Subsequently, sport summarization, which is a specific form of remix creation is analyzed. In particular, the role of content capture method is analyzed with two complementary approaches. The first approach performs saliency detection in casually captured mobile videos; in contrast, the second one creates multi-camera summaries from role based captured content. Furthermore, a method for interactive customization of summary is presented. Next, the discussion is extended to include the role of users’ situational context and the consumed content in facilitating collaborative watching experience. Mobile based collaborative watching architectures are described, which facilitate a common shared context between the participants. The concept of movable multimedia is introduced to highlight the multidevice environment of current day users. The thesis presents results which have been derived from end-to-end system prototypes tested in real world conditions and corroborated with extensive user impact evaluation

La importancia internacional del sector audiovisual

Este Trabajo de Fin de Grado es una parte de un estudio conjunto del Derecho Audiovisual, donde desarrollo la parte internacional de esta materia, analizando la situación de varios países, sus normativas, sus legislaciones, organismos, análisis de sentecias y la aplicación de las mismas en cada estado y finalizo el Trabajo de Fin de Grado con una comparativa con España

Web on TV - Designing web content for enhanced user experience on an internet-connected television device

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThe Internet is gradually expanding to many new devices, in addition to its original native environment that was the Personal Computer. This wave started with mobile devices and as we enter the Internet of Things era, connectivity is possible from cars to light switches. One of the first devices, to follow mobiles, is the Television. Connectivity and two-way interaction on the TV device has in fact started even in the first days of the medium, but had failed to make it widely available, due to technological limitations of the past. Now, this has changed, with the Smart TV devices that can utilize the fast internet connections that are available in most developed countries. However, even though the technology and devices are now widely available there are still challenges in order to make the vast Internet and web content available in the Smart TVs. These challenges, have a familiar resemblance to what happened a few years ago, when internet connectivity was introduced on the mobile phone. Although, it was “feasible” to access any webpage from your mobile device, the experience for the user was often very frustrating, due to many factors, that derived from the fact that the web was designed for large screens and mice of the desktop computers, not the small touch screens and limited hardware of the phone. Nonetheless, these obstacles were successfully overcome, by introducing techniques and methodologies (e.g. Responsive Web Design) to make the web more mobile-friendly and also work from the manufacturers to improve their devices to this direction as well. The success of these actions is now evident, since the access to the web from mobile devices has surpassed the PC, and it is now a standard practice for every new website to be mobile-friendly. In this research work, we will attempt to do one very significant step towards this direction for the Smart TV. In other words, to discover what has to be done to make the web more TV-friendly. To do this, we explore many different TV devices from several manufacturers and see their similarities and differences. We explore numerous user studies and surveys to discover what is the problem in the Web experience on the TV, so that we can propose solutions to make web content TV-friendly. Based on these findings, we design prototypes and put them to the test on different devices and userevaluation. Finally, we propose a set of guidelines, that web designers can apply on their websites to make them TV-friendly, in the hope to introduce the first step towards a friendlier internet era for the TV

Diseño de interfaz y diseño de la interacción. El rol del diseño en el cambio de paradigma televisivo

[spa] Diversos factores están transformando la televisión. El proceso de digitalización, su convergencia con Internet, la ampliación de las posibilidades de interactividad y los nuevos hábitos de consumo de los telespectadores están produciendo un cambio de paradigma del medio de comunicación. Ante esta situación, desde la perspectiva del diseño se propone investigar cuál es el rol que asume esta disciplina. A partir de un estudio documental y bibliográfico se ha analizado la televisión interactiva como fenómeno a través de sus interfaces y de las prácticas asociadas al diseño de la interacción. Para el análisis se ha abordado la evolución histórica de la interactividad entre telespectador, televisor y televisión; se han contextualizado los cambios sociales, culturales, económicos y tecnológicos que acompañan esta transformación; y se ha propuesto un mapa de la televisión interactiva con el fin de delimitar su alcance. A partir de este escenario se ha examinado qué significa diseñar televisión interactiva teniendo en cuenta los elementos y factores que la caracterizan. Fruto de la investigación se ha identificado qué responsabilidades debería asumir el diseño y se han propuesto directrices a tener en cuenta para su práctica proyectual y su estudio teórico. También se han identificado los retos del diseño en la transformación del concepto de interactividad, en la figura del telespectador y en las formas de mejorar la usabilidad y accesibilidad de las interfaces televisivas