The Excite lab at Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Education announced today a 273-page research report, The Vision of Interactive TV. The report will be published and made available to cable operators.

Excite is conducting ongoing research to identify ways to foster wider acceptance of interactive television content delivered through two-way cable systems. Excite's latest report resulted from a research project sponsored by the Canadian Cable Labs Fund. Industry experts and several consultants participated in the research. Additionally, Dr. Richard Green, President & CEO of Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs), read the report and took the extra-ordinary step of offering to absorb Excite's exhibitors fees so they could present their findings at CableNET, a component of the Western Cable Show.

The report covers findings of two project goals: to define consumer requirements for thin clients, defined as set-tops or similar devices that enable low-cost, convenient access to interactive and Internet resources; and to review leading devices and technologies that meet these consumer requirements.

"We believe this report breaks new ground in the cable industry's efforts to identify and generate new sources of revenue," said John Madden, Executive Director of the Canadian Cable Labs Fund. "Excite's research reveals significant findings on consumer preferences and attitudes about interactive television - and how operators can meet their needs with interactive services."

The report probes the relationship between cable subscribers and the Internet, television, and a potential product called interactive or Internet television (ITV). Based on focus group research, the Excite R&D team created a model describing four major consumer lifestyles, and how groups with these lifestyles react to ITV content and services. Two of the groups, the report concluded, "will use ITV if it is reliable, easy-to-use, useful, and convenient as the telephone."

In addition, Excite's report analyzes what types of content will appeal to these two groups and recommends a tiered model of ITV services.

The report also analyzes the necessary attributes of user interface devices. Existing devices and technologies evaluated include various digital set-tops, set-top operating systems, and Internet-TV services.

"Excite's initial focus group showed us that a satisfying interactive TV experience is completely different from the experience of surfing the Web. Excite's ITV team is doing original research to learn how to make an interactive TV experience excel, with the limited resources of a thin client computer that's controlled by a TV remote," said Glenn Wong, President of BC operations for Rogers Cablesystems Inc., Canada's largest cable operator.

For more information about the report and to obtain a copy, contact Excite at 604-291-3615.

At the invitation of CableLabs, Excite will demonstrate its soft ITV prototype interfaces, implemented using C and HTML on the PowerTV operating system, at CableNET 97 in Anaheim, Calif., December 9-12, 1997.

Source: Excite