Simon Fraser University's Excite lab in the faculty of education has produced a sweeping report on how those involved in developing interactive television should proceed.
The 162-page report, Developing Interactive TV, outlines the Internet tools and standards required to provide interactive TV content, and also looks at application design and models for content and services on TV. The report is based on Excite's experience in developing a prototypical interactive TV application for the "set-top" box environment, and is a follow-up to Excite's previous research, outlined in The Vision of Interactive TV.
The research is part of ongoing efforts at Excite, one of the country's first multimedia research and development labs, to identify ways to improve acceptance of interactive television content delivered through two-way cable systems.
"We believe this report provides information that is of great importance to the cable industry, as it defines standards for set-top box platforms and operating environments," says John Madden, executive director of the Canadian Cable Labs Fund, which sponsors the research. "Excite has identified the steps the industry will have to take, if it wants to tap the pool of Web development talent to provide compelling interactive TV content."
Excite's work is turning heads. "Excite continues to provide us with insights we don?t get from anyone else," says Nick Hamilton-Piercy, chief technical officer of Rogers Cablesystems Ltd, Canada's largest cable operator. "Their experience as one of the original multimedia development labs gives their work a breadth of vision and a depth of understanding rarely encountered."
The report is being made available to cable operators and can be obtained through Excite.
Contact: Noni Mate, Excite, 604.291.5902/3615