REPORT

19

Services and Technologies for Collaboration between TV Experience and Life Activity

Television (TV) has a strong influence on our daily lives and behavior, as suggested by statements like “I watch TV programs that I hear about through word-of-mouth” and “Tourists are gathering at the popular drama locale”. NHK STRL is developing a platform technology to connect TV experience and life activity that has the potential to increase the number of points of contact with broadcast content even when we are outside the home and not in front of the TV.

The extension of Hybridcast* is an important way to achieve this concept. “Hybridcast Connect X” is our proposed application framework for smart devices includ-ing smartphones, which will make it easy to consolidate broadcast, internet, and real-life services. The following are typical use cases of Hybridcast Connect X.

It has become commonplace to learn about a TV pro-gram from a Web page or SNS. By using functionalities of Hybridcast Connect X such as mobile-centric TV control and app-to-app communication, viewers can watch TV programs via broadcast or video on demand (VoD) by performing simple operations on mobile applications.

IoT (Internet of Things) services are also expected to expand in the future, so we are studying functionalities for linking TVs and IoT devices such as home appliances and

robots. For example, a robot could cheer for a favorite team by linking it with a live sports broadcast, or a refrigerator could be synchronized with a cooking show and a mobile application to help viewers with grocery shopping by comparing the contents of the refrigerator with the recipe in the show.

In addition, content-targeting services could be provided by functionalities for handling TV viewing history and activity history depending on time or location data. For example, by transferring the viewing history from a TV to a car navigation system via Hybridcast Connect X, nearby filming locations from a drama could be recommended while driving. In this way, Hybridcast Connect X will make it easy to link TV viewing and daily activities.

NHK STRL is collaborating with various business enterprises toward the practical application of Hybridcast Connect X and the implementation of a platform technol-ogy that can deliver new and convenient user experiences by linking with various services.

* Hybridcast: A standard HTML5-based integrated broadcast-broadband system launched in 2013. It can provide multiscreen services with smartphones.

Hisayuki Ohmata

Figure: System concept for connecting TV experience and life activities

Broadcasters

VariousService providersData exchange

Content targeting

Broadcast services Internet serviceActivity historyViewing history

Smartphone to TV

TV to smartphone(Current Hybridcast)

TV related content

Activity data

IoT linkage IoT linkage

App-to-app Linkage

Mobile applications

IoT-enabled devices

TV program &related content

Variousservice & data

Hybridcast connect X

Visit

Inside a home

Awaking

Outside the home

Hybridcast TV

Broadcast VoD

appsapps

apps

STORE

Shopping

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