This paper investigates a number of techniques and services around a unifying concept: the secondary screen. Far too often television consumption is considered a passive activity. While there are specific genres and programs that immerse the viewer into the media experience, there are other times in which whilst watching television, people talk, scan the program guide, record another program or recommend a program by phone. This paper identifies four major usages of the secondary screen in an interactive digital television environment: control, enrich, share, and transfer television content. By control we refer to the decoupling of the television stream, optional enhanced content, and television controls. Moreover, the user can use the secondary screen to enrich or author media content by, for example, including personalized media overlays such as an audio commentary that can be shared with his peer group. Finally, the secondary screen can be used to bring along the television content. This paper reviews previous work on the secondary screen, identifies the key usages, and based on a working system provides the experiences of developing relevant scenarios as well as an initial evaluation of them.

/pdf/usages-of-the-secondary-screen-in-an-interactive-television-53tikm7dh4.pdf

Usages of the Secondary Screen in an Interactive Television Environment: Control, Enrich, Share, and Transfer Television Content

In this paper, we look at how television genres can play a role in the use of social interactive television systems (social iTV). Based on a user study of a system for sending and receiving enriched video fragments to and from a range of devices, we discuss which genres are preferred for talking while watching, talking about after watching and for sending to users with different devices. The results show that news, soap, quiz and sport are genres during which our participants talk most while watching and are thus suitable for synchronous social iTV systems. For asynchronous social iTV systems film, news, documentaries and music programs are potentially popular genres. The plot structure of certain genres influences if people are inclined to talk while watching or not, and to which device they would send a video fragment. We also discuss how this impacts the design and evaluation of social iTV systems.

/pdf/the-implications-of-program-genres-for-the-design-of-social-497mdoa3ah.pdf

The implications of program genres for the design of social television systems

The growing success of tablets and smartphones has shifted the focus of the interactive TV industry to the introduction of second screen applications. One example is second screen companion apps that offer extra information about a television program, often synchronized with what happens on screen. In this paper, we investigate a second screen companion app, from the perspective of the viewers and producers of such apps. Based on observations and interviews with viewers and producers, and actual usage data of a companion app from Google Analytics, we present several insights and recommendations for how to design companion apps related to ease of use, timing, social interaction, attention and added value.

/pdf/in-front-of-and-behind-the-second-screen-viewer-and-producer-5758vqrtms.pdf

In front of and behind the second screen: viewer and producer perspectives on a companion app

In this paper, we describe the development and field trial of a second screen iTV experience called FanFeeds. FanFeeds is a second screen application that allows authoring and consumption of time synchronized secondary content around TV shows. FanFeeds are created by one's social circle as a companion experience to TV shows. For the purpose of concept evaluation, we ran a four-week field trial in 12 households consisting of 4 social groups of 3 friends. A total of 23 unique episodes of 12 different shows were watched while using our prototype. Overall feedback to our concept was mixed. Participants found some good motivations to use the system but they also found a number of concerns related to the nature of the shows they watched and the social dynamics with their friends. Participants revealed that our prototype allowed them to better connect with their TV shows and have an enriched social life around live as well as time-shifted TV content. Participants also described some concerns like distraction from TV show. We explore this contradiction in the paper, along with other valuable lessons we learned. We also report on the motivations that made participants create posts for one another and the different ways in which they used the information from the second screen.

FANFEEDS: evaluation of socially generated information feed on second screen as a TV show companion

We explore interactions in the space surrounding the TV set, and use this space as a canvas to display additional TV content in the form of projected screens and customized controls and widgets. We present implementation details for a prototype that creates a hybrid, physical-projected, augmented TV space with off-the-shelf, low-cost technical equipment. The results of a participatory design study are reported to inform development of interaction techniques for multimedia content that spans the physical-projected TV space. We report a set of commands for twelve frequently-used TV tasks and compile guidelines for designing interactions for augmented TV spaces. With this work, we plan to make TV interface designers aware of the many opportunities offered by the space around the physical TV screen once turned interactive. It is our hope that this very first investigation of the interactive potential of the area surrounding the TV set will encourage new explorations of augmented TV spaces, and will foster the design of new applications and new entertainment experiences for our interactive, smart TV spaces of the future.

There's a world outside your TV: exploring interactions beyond the physical TV screen

Interactive television (iTV) has the potential to revolutionize the way we consume broadcast media, but users still find both the notion of iTV and the services currently available problematic. This paper describes a project that investigates a representative group of users' aspirations, and barriers to iTV service engagement in the UK. This primary research informed the development of new User Interface (UI) and service solutions that addressed these barriers. Specifically, a second screen solution was developed to remove the need for iTV services to use on-screen graphics, dramatically improving the possibilities for effective interaction and navigation for iTV interfaces and services. The effectiveness of these solutions was evaluated through the testing of these new iTV services in a representative group of family homes.

/pdf/making-interactive-tv-easier-to-use-interface-design-for-a-270j2h25ak.pdf

Kaoruko Kondo

Papers

Making interactive TV easier to use: interface design for a second screen approach