Ambient Social TV

Gunnar Harboe,Crysta Metcalf,FrankBentley,

Joe Tullio,Noel Massey,Guy Romano

Drawing People into a Shared

Experience

• Remotely shared TV-watching experience

• “Like watching TV together”

• Presence + communication

(+ sharing content)

Social Television

MOTOROLA LABS’

SOCIAL TV PROJECT

Social TV 1

Investigated live

voice sessions

Provided social and

practical benefits

Some indications of

potential problems

1 2

3 4

Harboe et al. (2008)

“The Uses of Social Television”

in ACM Computers in Entertainment

Social TV 2

Investigate naturally occurring instances

of interaction, not-pre arranged sessions

Investigate behaviors leading up to a

communication session

Introduce ambient displays as extension

of presence

Social TV 2

Test an experience without freeform

communication (no voice, just presence)

Primarily a research probe: design priority

to gather data, not provide the best

possible experience

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

System Components

Ambient Devices

Ambient Orb (Ambient Devices, Inc.)

Virtual Orb (Chumby) (www.chumby.com)

Ambient Devices

Social Awareness (even when TV off)

Changing colors

(Pulsing)

Number of buddies watching Social TV:

None One Multiple

Presence

Buddy list

Presence

Buddy list

Channel banner

Presence

Buddy list Channel banner

Pop-ups

Communication

Suggestions

Communication

Suggestions

Emoticons

Communication

Suggestions Emoticons

Canned text messages

STUDY DESCRIPTION

Participants

Group A Female (+families)

26-33

4 married, 1 engaged

3 with (small) children

Friends and family members

Group B Female (+families)

46-53

4 married, 1 divorced

All with teenagers

Friends and family members

A1

A3 A4

A2

A5

B1

B2 B3

B4

B5

USAGE

Reported Use

“Every time I walked back and forth, I‟d see [the orb]” (B3)

“Every time I passed by, a thousand times a day, I would look to see what color it was.” (B1)

“Just about every time I turned it on, if I saw someone was on, I called their

house.” (B1)

Use-Cases

“The first thing I‟ll do

is I‟ll look at the orb.

[…] Then I‟ll turn on

the TV.” (A2)

Ambient Social TV: Usage

Use-Cases

“I‟ll quickly turn it on and see who‟s on and

what they‟re watching.” (A1)

Use-Cases

“Something they were watching might grab

my attention more than what I thought I

was going to watch.” (A3)

Use-Cases

“I‟ll see what they are

watching and I‟ll usually

send out shout-outs based

on what they are watching,

or the thumbs down or

whatever.” (A2)

Use-Cases

“I do thumbs up [or] thumbs down, wait to

see if there‟s a reaction, and if there is I‟ll

send a message.” (B3)

FINDINGS

Ambient Awareness

Ambient orbs

provided

peripheral social

awareness while

not watching

“Since I had [the Chumby] in the kitchen, it was just while I was cooking… it was like, „Oh, I wonder who‟s on.‟” (A1)

“I notice when the color‟s on, whether it‟s purple or blue; I know that someone else is actually on the system.” (B3)

Feeling Connected

This social

awareness

inspired a feeling

of togetherness

“I liked coming into the house and saying, „Oh, someone‟s home watching TV too now.‟ […] It was like a friendly feeling; like, „Someone else is home and I‟m not the only one home tonight.‟”(B1)

Motivation to Turn On

Ambient orbs

provided reasons

to turn on the TV

“The orb was

purple, so I thought,

„Wow, that‟s a lot of

people on!‟ and so I

turned it on.” (B1)

Providing Context

Situating the

ambient displays

within a larger

system enriched

the ambient

information

“There‟d be no reason

to have an orb [if] I

can‟t turn it on and see

who it‟s connected to.”

(B1)

“As the two weeks

progressed, I kinda had

a feel [about who might

be on].” (A1)

Increasing Engagement

Noticing ambient displayPeripheral

awareness

Viewing buddy list

Co-viewing program

Exchanging lightweight

messages

Talking on the phoneFull involvement

Reactions

“A stupid toy” (B1)

“Just kinda boring” (B5b)

“I wouldn‟t buy it” (A4)

“It‟s just no use” (B4)

“So unnecessary” (B3b)

“[Not] something that I

would use” (A3)

“I love the orb” (A2, B5)

“We liked the orb” (B1)

“The coolest part” (A3)

“Cool” (A2, A4)

“That was neat” (A1b)

“The orb is the interesting

thing” (B4)

CONCLUSION

thinking Everyday Object

大眾的觀看行為

互動模式 : 周邊意識到共同參與

Object 被動→主動

Object 周邊行為

THANK YOU