CollaboraTV: Making Television Viewing Social Again Mukesh Nathan Chris Harrison Svetlana Yarosh University of Minnesota Carnegie Mellon University Georgia Inst. of Technology
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Loren Terveen Larry Stead Brian Amento University of Minnesota AT&T Research Labs AT&T Research Labs
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT was first collected, a 50% increase since the 1950s, and a 12% With the advent of video-on-demand services and digital increase from 1996. The average person watches 4.5 hours video recorders, the way in which we consume media is un- of programming a day, with the average household tuned in dergoing a fundamental change. People today are less likely for more than 8 hours [10]. to watch shows at the same time, let alone the same place. Given the significant place that television holds in our As a result, television viewing, which was once a social ac- daily lives, our research focuses on understanding the so- tivity, has been reduced to a passive and isolated experience. cial aspects of television viewing – especially in today’s age To study this issue, we developed a system called Collabo- of social behavior-altering technological advances – and the raTV and demonstrated its ability to support the communal utility of social television systems for meeting the new chal- viewing experience through a month-long field study. Our lenges that such advances bring about. study shows that users understand and appreciate the utility of asynchronous interaction, are enthusiastic about Collabo- Declined Social Interactions Around Television raTV’s engaging social communication primitives and value Television was once championed as the “electronic hearth” implicit show recommendations from friends.