An iTV Prototype for Content Unification

Abstract

This paper addresses an iTV prototype able to offer contents from different sources over a unique and common user interface. The prototype was developed under the UltraTV project, formed by a consortium that gathers the industry and the academy to develop a new digital entertainment approach to the iTV ecosystem. The high-fidelity prototype runs on an Android set-top box and combines TV programs with Over-the-top (OTT) videos (from YouTube, Facebook Videos, and Netflix). The system focuses on unification, recommendation and profiling features, able to accommodate the demands of younger viewers. Adopting a User-Centered Design methodology, the development of the prototype benefited from continuous feedback obtained on different validation phases, namely a review by experts, laboratory tests, and a field trial.