Interactive TV specialist Ensequence said at IBC this year that its On-Q suite of systems to build and run interactive TV applications could now be used on a mobile. Catching up with Ensequence this week, Aslam Khader, VP of marketing and strategy told us a little about how that system worked.
The company is pathological about interactivity being possible from the same screen where a viewer is experiencing the TV. If you are on a DTH TV set, like BSkyB in the UK, then the red button on the remote is the key to interaction. The system Ensequence introduced at IBC was said to work with W-CDMA, EV-DO and DVB-H.
Well that’s fine for the first two protocols, where a return path on unicast TV streams can be provided through the cellular WAP gateway, back out to an Ensequence server inside or outside the cellular carrier’s mobile gateway. But for DVB-H it’s a bit trickier. Also downloading a Java application to run the unicast versions can be set up at the start of a VoD session.
‘The DVB-H system runs from an application that is loaded into the data carousel of the DVB-H multiplex. It is set on a cycle that is controlled by the operator, but usually around 30 seconds, and it downloads an application of between 80 to 100 kilobytes. The whole thing is multiplexed into the data element (along with the EPG etc) of the DVB-H multiplex,’ said Khader.
Most interaction systems are only very loosely associated with the video stream, for instance an SMS number is played over a TV screen so that SMS can be the back channel for responses to a TV channel, or a voice response system and a phone number. Ensequence feels very strongly that the interaction needs to be part and parcel of the viewing device.
‘With this system we can carry out ‘Pick your favorite,’ voting or order these one to four voting, using keys on a cellphone, and automatically collect all the results at a centralized server,’ said Khader.
‘Previously we integrated systems into set tops, or through SMS aggregators, but the key is to have responses on the same screen you are viewing the content and for DVB-H that has to be on the handset.’
‘Ensequence offers APIs to creative programs like Photoshop and Adobe Flash, so that designers can build interactivity into their system using the creative tools they use every day,’ added Khader. ‘Most other systems rely on creative people having to understand how the Open TV SDK works, which just makes it so hard.’