H2020 EU-funded project 2-IMMERSE, of which CWI’s Distributed and Interactive Systems (DIS) group is a member had, a successful final review meeting with the reviewers from the EU commission. The goal of the 2-IMMERSE project was to allow TV service providers to break free from the constraints of rendering a broadcast stream onto a single 16x9 frame. The final objective was to enable professionals to develop and deploy customizable interactive and multi-screen experiences that can adapt to the context of use. The results have been successfully demonstrated across multiple number of screens, multiple content genres (sports and drama), and multiple situations (home, schools and in public venues).
In order to create new opportunities and sustain the project results, the core 2-IMMERSE platform and components are recently released under an open source license. In particular, the DIS group at CWI has contributed with several core platform components related to media synchronization and with a set of production tools for professionals that enable them to create new multi-screen and customizable experiences.
The 2-IMMERSE project had strong industrial impact, as it broke the boundaries of lab research, and successfully demonstrated the results in real-life trials. During the project the DIS group has closely collaborated with the creative and education industries, including BT sports, BBC, Dorna Sports and Donmar Warehouse. We conducted ethnographical studies at Silverstone during MotoGP2017 and at the Wembley stadium during the FA Final Cup 2018. The 2-IMMERSE platform was demonstrated at the Future Zone of the 2018 International Broadcast Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam, the world’s most influential media technology show. The stand attracted many visitors and was busy all the time during the five-day show.
The project had relevant scientific impact as well, with a number of publications and pilot applications awarded with prestigious prizes by international expert juries from academia and industry. These successes have significantly enhanced the visibility and ultimately the influence of the work of the DIS group. The prizes include:
- Best Paper Award at ACM TVX 2018
- Best Paper Award Nominee at ACM DocEng 2018
- Best Paper Award at ACM TVX 2017
- HbbTV Award 2018 for the “Best multiscreen HbbTV service”
- Judge’s Grand Prix Runner-up at HbbTV Awards 2018
