The British Broadcasting Company is offering two eight-week, all-expenses-paid work experiences in London to Ball State University students. The students would work with interactive television, which is the future of television in the United States and is already prominent in the United Kingdom, Mike Bloxham, director of insight and research for the Center for Media Design, said.
However, interactive television is still relatively new and few people are comfortable working the technology even in the United Kingdom, he said.
The BBC is having trouble finding skilled people and is coming to Ball State to see what ideas students can come up with, Bloxham said.
Two BBC members from the company's Factual and Learning department, which specializes in producing documentaries, will present the contest to students at 6 p.m. Monday in the Art and Journalism Building Room 175.
The contest is open to all students, regardless of major or skill sets. The BBC only requires students come up with ideas, not have the technical skills to implement them, Michelle Prieb, project manager for research and communications for the CMD, said.
Interactive television in many cases is melding aspects of the Web and television into a seamless experience. Many people in the U.S. already use the Web separately while watching television, but with interactive television the media are combined to complement each other and enhance the programs being watched, Bloxham said.
The BBC is looking for ideas on how interactive television can be used in all areas of interest, meaning expertise in different majors will be welcomed, Prieb said.
Interactive television is in its infancy in the United States, but it should arrive soon given the rapidly changing technological market, Bloxham said. Some of the most advanced interactive content in the U.S., provided by digital video recorders, barely scratches the surface of what's being done in other parts of the world, like Europe and Australia.
"TiVo has nothing on all this other stuff," Bloxham said. "TiVo is a drop in the ocean. It's not very far down the line of interactivity."
More advanced interactivity involves the viewer sending information about what he wants to see and know to the program provider, allowing viewers to customize their experiences, Bloxham said.
While United States' companies are testing markets to see how consumers will react to the technology, Bloxham said the United Kingdom, a hotbed for interactive television, has around 70 percent of viewers having access to interactive service.
In the United Kingdom, people with British Sky Broadcasting expect every program to be interactive, Bloxham said.
However, the BBC has trouble finding qualified people because few universities have curriculum specifically teaching interactive television. Ball State is one, with its interactive television news design course, which is being taught this semester for the second time,
If the contest goes well, it may open up future opportunities for students with the BBC and other companies.
Any student who participates in this contest will have a step up on the competition because interactive television knowledge is so uncommon, Bloxham said.
After the presentation Monday, BBC and CMD staff will have a two-hour question-and-answer session Tuesday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Students will then have more than a month to come up with an idea and a presentation. The BBC staff will return in March to view the students' ideas and choose the two winners.-á
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