Media of things : supporting the production and consumption of object-based media with the internet of things

Abstract

Visual media consumption habits are in a constant state of flux, predicting which platforms and consumption mediums will succeed and which will fail is a fateful business. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality could be the 3D TVs that went before them, or they could push forward a new level of content immersion and radically change media production forever. Content producers are constantly trying to adapt to these shifts in habits and respond to new technologies. Smaller independent studios buoyed by their new-found audience penetration through sites like YouTube and Facebook can inherently respond to these emerging technologies faster, not weighed down by the “legacy” many. Broadcasters such as the BBC are keen to evolve their content to respond to the challenges of this new world. Producing content that is both more compelling in terms of immersion, and more responsive to technological advances in terms of input and output mediums. This is where the concept of Object-based Broadcasting was born, content that is responsive to the user consuming their content on a phone over a short period of time whilst also providing an immersive multi-screen experience for a smart home environment. One of the primary barriers to the development of Object-based Media is in a feasible set of mechanisms to generate supporting assets and adequately exploit the input and output mediums of the modern home. The underlying question here is how we build these experiences, we obviously can’t produce content for each of the thousands of combinations of devices and hardware we have available to us. I view this challenge to content makers as one of a distinct lack of descriptive and abstract detail at both ends of the production pipeline. In investigating the contribution that the Internet of Things may have to this space I first look to create well described assets in productions using embedded sensing. Detecting non-visual actions and generating detail not possible from vision alone. I then look to exploit existing datasets from production and consumption environments to gain greater understanding of generated media assets and a means to coordinate input/output in the home. Finally, I investigate the opportunities for rich and expressive interaction with devices and content in the home exploiting favourable characteristics of existing interfaces to construct a compelling control interface to Smart Home devices and Object-based experiences. I resolve that the Internet of Things is vital to the development of Object-based Broadcasting and its wider roll-out.