Center for Media Design to bring interactive television to campus

Ball State's Center for Media Design will conduct research on interactive televisions that change the setting of classrooms on campus.

"Not only could the initiative Viewing+ enrich professors' lessons, but it will benefit telecommunications and media design students greatly by preparing them for what they might need to expect in the future," said Michael Holmes, associate director of insight and research of CMD.

In a press release, Mike Bloxham, director of insight and research at the CMD, said the name Viewing+ explains the entire initiative.

"We chose the name Viewing+ for this initiative because, while we recognize that conventional viewing of TV will remain a central part of our media lives, as the TV screen evolves to deliver more interactivity as a part of an overall experience, we need to understand just what those additional functionalities will come to mean for consumers, broadcasters, advertisers and other stakeholders in the TV business," Bloxham said.

A press release said Viewing+ is essentially a formal research program that will explore consumers' attitudes and behaviors in the emerging domain of interactive television. It will alsoaddress the four key areas of television: interactivity and programming, interactivity and advertising, interactivity in search and navigation, and the evolution of T-commerce.

Along with the initiatives, CMD will extend the research opportunity to students and beneficial tools for faculty.

Hicks said the initiative as a whole is about bridging the technology advancement gap between the U.S. and U.K.

"Ultimately, it will be important in helping faculty development curriculum around a television," Holmes said. "[It is] just as newspapers have gone digital, and newspaper journalists have to think of themselves as cross-platform journalists. It is not only video on the web but also interactivity that will be on the television as well."

Holmes said the Viewing+ initiative is important to keep Ball State's good reputation.

"We have to prepare telecommunications students and others interested in media design for what is going to be on television," Holmes said. "It is about providing experiences that will keep Ball State on the cutting edge of the media world."


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