The Bridge...

...is a new concept in research and development which aims to furnish broadcasters and content producers with the knowledge and tools to produce content for a growing diversity of media and interactive services.

The technologies for delivering immersive and complex interactive services are becoming a recognised part of the media landscape.

But providing the best content to take advantage of these technologies remains an art practiced by a lucky few, because the tools, skills and and grammar have yet to be fully defined.

The Bridge aims to start the process of defining this creative opportunity and open up this learning across the board, working with industry to share best practice, innovate within the new interactive media and prepare a new generation of convergent media producers.

Why do we need the Bridge?

It is an accepted fact that industries which fail to innovate, die.

Competition often comes from unexpected directions (iPod, MTV, K-Tel, Easyjet, Nokia, Linux, Peercasting). In the rapidly developing new media sector, constant change demands continuous innovation.

For broadcasters and media producers this is the only realistic survival strategy and the main issue is how to evolve the television (and radio) experience with a range of new interactive and dynamic media.

The technologies for immersive interactive media are here now. Digital Television, broadband internet, TV-over-IP, DVD, GPRS and 3G mobiles will evolve to exploit new standards such as MPEG-4, MPEG7 and MPEG 21.

But whatever the technology, whatever the roadmap, the eventual success of the new media technologies will depend on content and the tools to produce it.

The gap

Content creators already have a much broader palette than ever before but very little groundwork has been done on issues of truly immersive interactive content creation.

We believe that companies will not see significant returns on their investment in interactive technologies unless the technologies deliver content that truly engages audiences on all levels.

But creating a new kind of content requires new tools, new skills and new grammar. Today we even lack the language with which to describe this kind of interactivity.

Currently there is a gaping void between:

• the potential of interactive content and the conceptual and technical tools that we currently use to create it;
• the idea of interactive content and the reality of interruptive content;
• the public expectation of what new media could be, and the rear-view mirror of current content-creation.

We, the authors of this paper, want to help bridge that gap.

Bridging the gap

With an explosion in the volume and diversity of new media, it is becoming increasingly difficult for industry to bridge the gap on its own – for any number of reasons.

By collaborating with the London College of Communications (LCC), a centre for research and experimentation in interactive media content creation and part of a University with a world-class reputation, industry could explore opportunities for innovation and development in what will become an increasingly competitive environment.

This is why we are asking for help from industry partners to fully define and create the Bridge.

What does the Bridge stand for?

Industry practitioners and our Media Schools (Journlism, Film, Television, Video. Multimedia and Sound Design) working together to:

• create the blueprints for new tools for interactive media creation;
• develop strategies, tools and new skills for continuous innovation;
• inspire and encourage creative entrepreneurism;
• define and create powerful new grammar; a new vocabulary and syntax for rich immersive mediacasting;
• experiment and develop showcase ideas;
• rapid-prototype new formats;
• converge ideas from different sectors;
• develop an industry-wide resource of case-studies, exemplars, theoretical, experimental and technical information relevant to interactive content creation and development.
  

To do this efficiently, the Bridge will need a carefully defined focus, which in effect means it will only consider content with a non-linear narrative structure.

How will the Bridge work ?

Hosted by the University of the Arts London at the London College of Communication's Media School, post-doctoral researchers, research fellows and postgraduates will work at the Bridge on theoretical or practical projects.

At this stage we envisage they will work with industry partners on projects proposed to and approved or suggested by a steering group of university staff and practitioners with agreed time-limits and deliverables.

In addition, the Bridge will be responsible for:

• running a competition for experimental interactive content design and new mediacast formats;
• hosting annual conference on Content Creation for Interactive Media;
• publishing a refereed journal on issues of interactive content creation and development.
  

Creating the Bridge

Step 1

The LCC would like to host a one-day symposium for creatives and technologists in the media industry, to test these hypotheses:

• That to remain competitive, the broadcast and other media industries must continually innovate;
• That returns on investment in new media technologies will depend on the provision of content that fully optimizes these new technologies;
• That broadcasters and content producers must understand their place in a much broader entertainment and information media environment that embraces telecommunications, games, peer networking, smart programming, consumer media-tools, and much, much more;
• That time is right to create a research base where industry and university work together to bridge the gap toward compelling interactive content.

To focus that thinking, we are issuing a call to industry, by asking practitioners to consider these questions:

• What do you need to help you innovate and stay competitive?
• What tools do you wish you owned to create interactive media content?
• What tools would you not like competitors to get their hands on before you?
• What are the mistakes people made when changes in technology occurred in recent history?
• How can we avoid repeating these mistakes?

We then want proposals for 10 minute presentations to show one specific development that you believe:

• Will make a significant difference to content creation for narrative film, documentary, news, games or entertainment with embedded interactivity;
• or, is a major hurdle to be overcome in your area of interactive media content.

Step 2

If, as we expect, industry practitioners accept some form of these hypotheses, then we will need to set up a steering group to establish the Bridge.

Eventually, we hope to have a small team who manage the research proposals and determine which become full projects, their duration, the deliverables, how many students are assigned, how they work with the industry partner(s) concerned and how the projects are funded.

Some projects may be short pieces of research, 3-6 months long, which produce a simple report or paper; at the other extreme may be projects lasting 2-3 years involving several students working with the industry partner(s) on pilot services or programmes.

Conclusion

We believe the Bridge, with its partnership and knowledge-sharing approach, could be an important step forward in research and development for the new media sector.

We hope you will support this vision and join us at the symposium in September to define how this new facility could become a reality.