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Project Summary
Marshall McLuhan's well-known phrase "the medium is the message" refers to the fact that the medium
has an impact on content. Basically, we understand and evaluate messages in ways that are profoundly
influenced by the delivery itself. McLuhan felt that media technologies give greater potential to our
individual bodies by extending our senses and thereby extending our power in the world. Part of the
"message" is the new, bigger scale introduced into the individual's experience through the act of
utilizing technology that increases the scope of connectivity.
We can see the medium's impact on content in traditional news media. Radio and television news make
audiences tune in at specific times. Internet news uses short video clips of recent news. The file
compression process used to make video files small enough for efficient Internet transmission favors
images with minimal movement and detail. For this reason, video created specifically for the web
usually consists of the proverbial talking head with a monochrome background.
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On the other hand, the emerging medium of interactive TV (iTV) holds the promise of new options in a
broadband environment. The viewer has the ability to choose what they want to see, when they want to
see it, and access to full-motion TV-quality video. ITV also offers new ways of organizing content
providing an opportunity to deliver news from multiple sources.
For my project, I propose a broadband iTV application that delivers news from multiple sources. The
system architecture rests on a news aggregator in order to retrieve news feeds from multiple sources.
By automatically retrieving updates, viewers can stay current with new content soon after it is
published. The Flash prototype will model a broadband iTV platform such as Microsoft Media Center
and demonstrate the following features:
- Feedback- Allows the participation in polls, surveys, and voting.
- Enhanced content- Allows access to additional contents such as maps, diagrams, or infographics.
- Immediate Access- Allows access to breaking news immediately.
- Archive and Retrieve- Allows viewers to archive and retrieve news clips.
- Personalization- Allows viewers to select news categories and reports they are interested in.
Project Chair : Dr. Janet H. Murray
Committee : Dr. Peter McGuire & Dr. Eugene Thacker
Email: n_farhi@yahoo.com
Design Document (pdf) |
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