Keynotes

The Connected Home redefines the TV experience
Jan Van Bogaert (Alcatel-Lucent)

Friday 5 June from 9:30 - 10:15

Networked Media Players are currently providing the link between the home computer and the TV. When TV’s are provided with direct network connectivity, usage models will expand beyond accessing the content (photos, movies, music) that consumers have stored on their home computers. Networked TV’s will become the main interface to a whole new set of Home based applications and content delivery mechanisms.

The new TV experience will encompass things like home appliance and home service control, combined with content streaming, browsing and searching from various sources. All this comes on top of the “standard” IPTV experience. It will require a new personalised user interface with EPG and facilities to stream personalised content from the network.

Jan Van Bogaert is senior strategy director at Alcatel-Lucent and Bell Labs Fellow. He is responsible for end-to-end architectures comprising home networking and the applications that evolve around it.

↑ top

The Internet Revolution Will Be Televised
Rich Ezekiel (Yahoo! Connected TV)

Thursday 4 June from 9:30-10:15

As an Internet pioneer, Yahoo! has brought the best of the web to millions of consumers—first on the PC and more recently on mobile. With the next technology innovations and the establishment of key partnerships, Yahoo! is leading and enabling an ecosystem of developers, publishers, device makers and advertisers that will benefit consumers by making the vision of Connected TV a reality.

By combining the key attributes of the Internet, including openness, community and personalization with the power of television, it will be possible to create a revolutionary new Internet experience to allow consumers to access the relevant information and content to enhance their television watching experience. Mr. Ezekiel will discuss why past efforts have been unsuccessful and why this Internet-connected TV ecosystem being created and nurtured today will become a technology accepted by millions of TV viewers globally.

As a member of Yahoo!’s Connected TV Group, Rich Ezekiel serves as the Director of Strategic Partnerships, where he is responsible for defining, planning, and executing Yahoo!’s next-generation Connected TV experiences with major partners across the globe. Since joining Yahoo! in 2003, Rich has played a key role across the company including successfully launching Yahoo! TV services on various platforms such as AT&T IPTV, TiVo and others. In Rich’s previous role at Yahoo!, he was responsible for defining and executing Yahoo’s Broadband multi-screen product strategy with Service Providers and leading product efforts for Yahoo’s Premium Services strategy. Prior to joining Yahoo! →, Rich has held senior product and management positions at Netscape, WIRED → and other Internet-related companies in Silicon Valley.

↑ top

Needs, emotions, experience!
Prof. Dr. Marc Hassenzahl (Folkwang University)

Thursday 4 June from 17:15-18:00

Many will agree that iTV or crossmedia products aim at providing an entertaining, positive and enjoyable overall "experience" to its users. However, what the elusive concept of "experience" means, let alone how it is created or measured, is less obvious. For some, Experience is simply the usability of an interactive product, others add attributes such as beauty, enjoyability, or trustworthiness to the equation. Both perspectives may miss out on the potential of a truly experiential approach, which is to refocus design activities away from actual products, their functionalities and technologies, to the psychological needs people seek to satisfy through product use. In other words, we may no longer consider ourselves primarily as designers of games, shows, software, user interfaces or set-top boxes, but as designers of positive experiences, such as feelings of closeness to others, stimulation, or competence. Such an approach requires a profound understanding of experiences and emotions, and their emergence through technology. The talk will discuss current approaches and research into Experience and their potential future application in the domain of iTV and crossmedia products.

Marc Hassenzahl is Professor for "Ergonomics and User Experience in Design" at the Folkwang University in Essen and research manager at MediaCity, Åbo Akademi University, Vaasa, Finland. He is particular interested in the positive affective and motivational aspects of interactive technologies – in short: User Experience. He is founding and active board member of the German Usability Professionals' Association.

↑ top