Content - Enriched Communication – Supporting the Social Uses of TV

The anticipated take-up of interactive TV (iTV) has been supported by the nature of the medium, which is considered to be a familiar and trusted one and which is available in the majority of households in modern societies. Applications and services that have been developed for other digital platforms (e.g. Internet and mobile) can be offered through television and can enhance the viewing experience. At the same time, the opposite is also true; iTV content gradually finds its way through to Internet and mobile platforms. Therefore, besides the delivery of high-quality picture and sound, iTV promises to change the role of passive viewers by turning them into active participants of the television viewing experience, e.g. enhanced content navigation, user-generated content, interpersonal communication. In this article, we define iTV as a user experience that involves at least one user and one, or more, audiovisual and networked devices. Previous definitions were focused on the technological aspects and ignored the fact that even traditional TV is potentially interactive. For example, viewers compete mentally with quiz show participants, or between collocated groups. Moreover, viewers react emotionally to TV content – they record and share TV content with friends and discuss shows either in real time, or afterwards. In this context, it is necessary to pay attention not only to usability issues, but also to sociability. In the rest of this article, we explore technological ways to support the social uses of TV.