BBC Research & Development has shaped the future of broadcasting for the BBC.
For the first time ever as part of Civilisations, we're opening up our
tools and technologies to the cultural sector. Going beyond broadcast
going into the wide open space of R&D feels very fresh and exciting.
This is technology that I've heard about but never actually had a go with before.
Incredibly exciting ideas and projects full of imagination and creativity,
bringing together technology and arts and culture has fused
together, something that just opens up the possibilities.
Over the last year we've made and tested more than 30 prototypes,
all new digital story formats rethinking the way we tell News
stories for hard to reach audiences like the under 35s.
We've now launched pilots of the best formats from this project on the BBC
News website to learn more - from expanding explainers to choose your own format
guides. The response we've had already has been really positive, people
are more engaged with the stories and find the formats help them understand.
Today, we're at the Arnolfini in Bristol by the Waterside and we're
running a workshop to test out our new object based tools, so we've got producers
and developers here in Bristol to get their hands dirty with them.
Object based is a new way of storytelling based entirely on a persons context.
So that's their circumstance, the device they're using and any preferences they might have.
And this kind of thing will enable new ways to engage with
audiences. Producers can create adaptive responsive experiences
that really talk to an individual or a group of people.
BBC R&D has always strived to help the BBC to improve the quality of its
output. As a recent example, we ran trials on iPlayer to live stream the World Cup and
Wimbledon, in ultra high definition and high dynamic range over the internet.
We learnt a lot from the trial, got some great audience feedback and moved live UHD
production forward, but quality is not just about how the pictures look.
For internet delivered television in particular
quality, also means reliability and delivering reliable UHD streams
over the internet at scale is hard. At BBC R&D we've been
planning how to deal with these problems and looking towards
a future where all television will be delivered over the Internet.
We're here today to do the World's first live interactive object based drama.
So this is Studio 30D in Broadcasting House and as
part of the Orpheus project we've turned into an object based production
studio. We're developing the tools for creating end to end object based broadcasts.
We've got three characters and the audience will
be able to choose which character's point of view they hear the drama from.
OK. Right. Ready? Ready to go live in five, four, three, two, one.
So you're saying the mermaid...
Perfect.
Trust is the centre of the BBC. It's in our remit, it's so
important. How ethical can we be with this data? How can we provide this data
to you so you can make choices, informed choices
about what you want and what you don't want?
Databox is a box, that can sit in your home, it can be a real box
a physical box, but it's in your house and it's a gateway to your data
from the outside world, and the idea there is that instead
of sending data to the cloud, the data stays at the edge
of the network, and the edge of the network is your home. What it
fundamentally tries to encouraging is people not taking, or third parties,
not taking your data away but processing it locally at the edge to deliver a service to you.
So, how do you invent the future? At the BBC's Research and Development
lab we were asked to invent a completely new version of radio. Not a new radio
player. Not a new radio show, but a whole new way of experiencing radio. Yikes.
How do you invent what isn't there? Go on. Close your eyes
and invent a new colour that no one has ever seen before.
See, hard isn't it. Well, we came up with not one, but nine,
totally new radio experiences and this video will tell you how we did it.
One feature of HBBTV Is the ability to synchronise the phone
or tablet with the TV and this opens up lots of possibilities,
including accessibility ones. So you could have things like
commentaries or audio description. delivered to your phone or tablet.
Another thing that HBBTV enables is content substitution, and
this is where you're watching a broadcast, but then certain content
in that broadcast such as programmes or trailers is replaced with content
delivered over IP. This has the potential to allow broadcasting
to become a cost effective mix of traditional broadcast content
and personalised content such as local or regional programming
or trailers or programmes that are tailored to the audiences interest.
The world is changing. There are lots more possibilities for new kinds
of services and new ways of involving our audiences.
BBC R&D as an independent from industry body brings
clarity of thought and looking to the future, and that allows industry
to get stuff right. If we didn't have BBC R&D to assist in that process
we'd have to invent them, and we don't know how we'd achieve that.