Perceptive Media – Adaptive Storytelling for Digital Broadcast

Abstract

Abstract. Storytelling techniques within traditional broadcast media have not made major advances in recent years due to the linear and relatively rigid approach to narrative despite advances in the technology that delivers the content. This research proposes the concept of 'perceptive media' in which the content creators have at their disposal different tools and sensors to allow for the subtle adaption of the narrative without any direct interactions from the audience members. The concept is demonstrated through the creation of a 'perceptive radio' that is able to play specially designed content that adapts to the physical and social context in which the radio resides.

The Living Room of the Future

“…However, the possibility that IoT presents to media research, particularly of understanding and responding to audience contexts on an ubiquitous scale, makes it an effective resource for creating an intelligent sensing environment for the LRoTF. Early explorations of this approach are provided by 'perceptive media' (Gradinar et al 2015) and latterly by the 'IoT storytelling' project (Coulton 2015), in which narrative was contextualised for the audience by augmenting broadcast media with a number of IoT objects including lights, a connected doll, and an olfactory device, which were synchronised to particular on-screen events within a BBC documentary to create a broadcast experience which utilised household objects within the viewer's own context.…”

“…An early example of this turn towards data as a driver of adaptive media content is provided by 'perceptive media' (Gradinar et al 2015), which exploits sensors and Internet of Things devices to allow for the subtle adaptation of the narrative without any direct interactions from audience members. This approach treats data generated by connected devices as 'diegetic influencers' produced within and reflexively shaping the unfolding narrative.…”

Making a Room for the IoT: a Domestic Demonstration

“…In addition to OBM the LRoTF builds up on related research exploring means to enhance immersion including Perceptive Media [1] and IoT Storytelling [2]. Classical Interactive Storytelling utilises audience input to influence storylines through direction action, as exemplified recently through Netflix's Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch 1 .…”

“…Classical Interactive Storytelling utilises audience input to influence storylines through direction action, as exemplified recently through Netflix's Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch 1 . Perceptive Media [1], contrastingly, uses information about audiences and sensor data to subtly alter media without any noticeable interaction with an audience. While story arcs remain the same for each viewing, aspects of the narrative are tweaked in order to create a more context-specific, situated cf.…”

Facts, Interactivity and Videotape

“…In parallel with these developments, we have seen the emergence of new forms of interactive video. Key examples include: interactive documentaries (iDocs) [15], ShapeShifting TV [42] and, most recently, experiments in object-based [4] and perceptive media [11]. These new interactive forms enable the creation of video experiences where content is varied based on viewersÕ interactions, context and other data about them, and, in turn, reveal new possibilities for non-linearity, responsiveness and personalization not possible in traditional video storytelling.…”