The project 'Immersive TV'’ of Indra integrates the user with the action that is broadcast on TV

Indra's 'Immersive TV' R&D&I project achieves for the first time the natural interaction of the user with the action that is broadcast on television, with 3D objects, home automation, lighting, Etc.

The technological multinational Indra has presented, in collaboration with other companies and entities, the results of the R&D&I project 'ImmersiveTV', in which immersive digital content production technologies have been developed to promote the viewer's sense of integration with television, far beyond current 3D techniques.

The ceDInt facilities of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) have been the scenario chosen to know 'Immersive TV' by the consortium of companies that have done it coordinated by Indra, which has had an overall budget of 2,7 millions of euros, co-financed by the Ministry of Industry within the framework of the Avanza Competitividad plan.

'Immersive TV' channels not only the usual signals (audio and video) television, but additional ones such as 3D objects, statistical information, documentation or signalling of home automation devices.

The combination of these techniques brings depth to vision, with surround sound systems. In this way, the system is part of a new type of applications that reserves a primary role to the user who, through interactivity, can exercise greater control over multimedia content.

Integration of advertising and home automation

The immersive platform also provides new functionalities in relation to the systems currently on the market, such as the integration of advertising, product-placement (inserting a product, brand or message within the program narrative), or merchandising, through 3D objects and content-related information.

The solution consists of software that can be installed on a tv receiver or set-top box (STB), middleware, content delivery network (CDN) or on a TV device. Its main advantage is its ability to integrate elements and systems into a single platform, becoming an ideal solution for any future project that needs to develop an immersive environment, as the system is easily extensible.

'Immersive TV' uses additional devices, as home automation actuators, and environmental control devices, to increase the immersive feeling, since it is possible to configure the environmental variables of the "domotic/immersive room", such as lighting, air conditioning, smells and even movement (through home automation furniture connected to the immersive home automation walkway).

All this sensory management, that makes the viewer can immerse themselves in a more real way in audiovisual content, which is already defined as "immersive 4D television".

Pilot projects

The immersive experiences have been carried out through two complementary pilots, the 'Cave Stage', in which the viewer physically enters the scene and can interact with the contents around him; and the 'Salon Stage', reflecting future domestic environments.

The first is based on the 'virtual cave' installed in the UPM (Montegancedo campus); an innovative space integrated by three screens where the viewer is physically present in the scene and can interact with the contents that surround him.

The viewer contemplates the projection of 3D images and the real-time insertion of objects within the scene, stop what uses non-direct content, since these facilities do not have the possibility of receiving emissions, through video playbacks adapted to a projection system.

For this pilot, a stereoscopic HD recording of Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona has been chosen, which includes some additional content intended to complement the user experience, facilitating your interaction with the system, as models and 3D photographs, with descriptive audio tracks.

The second pilot, the 'Salon Stage', allows you to transfer the experience to your own home, reflecting a domestic lounge 'of the future' that receives content via broadband and broadcast. The immersive feel is based on 3D content and home automation elements, as sensors, 3D audio systems, ambient lighting and accent lighting, aroma and smoke diffusers, even the performance with furniture elements such as the sofa.

In this case, the chosen content is a professional football match broadcast on a large format screen. Among other applications, the system allows the user to know match statistics, repetition of the most important plays, access interactive advertising, select a player and view information associated with them, visualize in detail different parts of your clothing and, even, proceed to the purchase of an item.

In addition, home automation effects have also been included in a second 3D sequence of this pilot, showing modernist monuments of the city of Canet de Mar, in order to display your applications for all types of content.

Both pilots "represent an innovative advance in the world of leisure and entertainment, that opens the door in Spain to a new market for the production and consumption of content, based on immersion, that is not yet being exploited in the traditional consumer market", point out those responsible.

It would also open up new possibilities in other areas., such as cognitive immersion to help people with special needs; guidance systems for surgery or telesurgery; marketing and e-commerce initiatives that include virtual product tours or trials; augmented reality systems that facilitate viewer understanding in immersive video conferencing events or applications.

Creation of interactive services

On the other hand, Indra is a benchmark for the R&D&I project 'Adapta', that develops technologies for the recipients of audiovisual media to interact with personalized digital content in different scenarios of daily life.

The company also coordinates the international R&D&I project 'SeniorChannel', to create an interactive Internet television channel for the elderly and in which this group can enjoy personalized content, interact, Etc.

In the project 'Immersive TV' have participated the Polytechnic Universities of Madrid and Valencia and the companies Agile Contents, Eumobile (MediaPro group), Ericsson and Immomatics.

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