Lecture Notes in Computer Science: On the Development of an Open Source Interactive Internet-Based TV Station

Internet-based interactive TV is an emerging field affected by advances in various research areas including communication, interactivity, network efficiency, content management and aesthetics. Despite constantly reducing costs in the area of broadcast infrastructure development, this new medium has yet to claim its market position and recognition. The large marketshare of existing non-interactive technologies may be identified as the principal factor for non-adoption of new broadcasting technologies, followed by various quality-of-service issues and the absence of a widely accepted standard for interactive broadcasting that does not permit the development of devices that support interaction in an out-of-the-box user-experience. On the experimental forefront, educational institutions are exploring the capabilities of highbandwidth networks and experimental interactive content, setting the standards for the development of new digital services. Particular types of content such as interactive installation art, games and multimedia presentations that require synchronised content communication are aided by the development of custombuilt interactive broadcasting infrastructures offering alternative methods of content deployment, presentation and interaction. In this work we are mainly concerned with the development strategy of an interactive TV studio, the integration of existing technologies under common environments, user-related usability issues and aesthetics, while open source software solutions are employed to reduce cost. The reduction of development, production and broadcasting costs offers new opportunities that enable user groups to clearly expand and offer a high-quality media experience in global scale.