The project began with a search for a partner that could provide the interactive technology component. Working with the LEC provided an industry awareness that led us to discussions with some of the most respected names in the iTV world, including the folks at RespondTV who graciously helped KCSM define deployment options. With gained clarity, we were referred to the iTV/ETV/TV production design team at PushyBroad Inc.
The platforms best suited for the scope of our experiment were identified as MSN TV, UltimateTV, and AOL TV supported by a SQL Server
back-end database, accessed by ASP and HTML. Each of the set-top boxes we issued needed a service account and, once connected, at least one software upgrade. This took about an hour per box.
MSN TV
The set-top box we used for the MSN TV service was the Sony W250. The Language of Photography iTV course required a login by the participants, so a keyboard was necessary. On top of the $24.95 per month subscription fee, this was an additional expense for each Sony/MSN TV account.
While the three different platforms delivered enhancements through the same ATVEF Transport A method, each had their own trigger announcement theme, along with a few idiosyncrasies.
Those of our participants using the MSN TV service, on the Sony box, discovered the picture would sharply resize a small but noticeable amount when an enhancement appeared. This resizing did not occur on the Ultimate or AOL platform. The UltimateTV service used a navigation scheme that was similar to the navigation scheme of the host carrier, DirecTV. Feedback from one of our Ultimate participants emphasized an eagerness to return to their preferred DirecTV nav, stating that they felt the Direct scheme was much more intuitive. The same participant, although, was very impressed with the UltimateTV PVR function.
The small number of those using the AOL TV platform found the enhancement prompts to be a bit vague until they were properly oriented. The AOL TV service required an extra line of code to sustain the enhancement graphics as they are scheduled to be on screen. Without this line of code, I was told that the enhancement graphic would slowly decay.
Connection to the Language of Photography server was critical for satisfactory completion of the interactive experience. The AOL TV participants reported no difficulty connecting to the AOL service, and experienced no loss of connection during the 30-minute program. Feedback from participants about the connectivity with the MSN TV service was consistently disappointing. After each of broadcast of the eight episodes of Language of Photography many of the participants claimed they could not connect to the MSN TV service. Those who were able to connect found that if they received no enhancement for a short period the connection would drop. Subsequent attempts to connect during the broadcast were often useless. A reply from MSN TV about these problems suggested that customer overload, interference or static on the phone line is the major cause of slow service. This proved to be the most frustrating roadblock to the success of our interactive experiment. Enrollment in a curriculum requires a high degree of confidence to the access of all material presented to the participants. Without this confidence many of our participants suggested the interactive component of the Language of Photography to be more trouble than it's worth.
