Students develop innovative video projects for "Digital Incubator" program from Cisco and mtvU
May 24, 2006
By Sandy Metz, News@Cisco
Oren Ross and a group of friends at New York University came up with a really neat idea. It was for a multi-media, camera phone-based scavenger hunt game. It was just the kind of idea that mtvU, MTV Network's college channel, and Cisco Systems were seeking in their first annual "Digital Incubator" contest. The program recently awarded $25,000 each to ten student teams with the most innovative broadband video concepts.
High tech companies often consult industry experts as they research trends that can drive product development. That's exactly what Cisco did by teaming up with mtvU and asking students to submit original digital video concepts for mtvU "Über," the first MTV Network channel distributed entirely over broadband.
A younger generation enamored of new forms of communication has special insight that can point the way to the future of digital video, a market many believe is preparing to take off.
"Students will innovate using the convergence of broadband technologies and entertainment to create new forms of storytelling, gaming, and interactivity, and others will follow their lead," said Dan Scheinman, senior vice president, Corporate Development, Cisco Systems.
For its part, mtvU is happy to participate in a project that promises new media forms. "The student groups on our first Digital Incubator development team are pushing the boundaries of digital media and we're proud to hand over our network as a laboratory for their creative passion," said Stephen Friedman, GM, mtvU
The students will use the grants to develop their ideas, and the resulting content will premiere on mtvU starting in July 2006 and run for six months.
The contest winners used popular online activities such as gaming, instant messaging, and podcasting to create interactive entertainment. "SNAGU," for example, combines a camera phone with text messaging and a Web site in a multiplayer, high-tech scavenger hunt. Players sign up for the activity using a mobile phone. The game provides a tag in a text message, and the players create a photograph which they feel represents that subject. So, some players might view a "me" tag as a photograph of a self-portrait or simply a picture of themselves. Another player might start with the same tag and move in a different direction by providing a photograph that represents who they are, such as their home or car.
Players upload their photographs to a Web site. Other players are then shown two different photos of the same tag, and vote for the one they like best. Players submitting winning photographs receive prizes.
SNAGU was created through the brain trust of Ross, Jaki Levy, Pollie Barden, and Cory Forsyth. All four are graduate students at New York University. For Oren Ross, receiving the grant to create SNAGU may be an important step to a career as a game designer. "I started doing this just for fun, but now I see that it has great potential," says Ross. "People are really enjoying it."
A completely different type of winning entry focused on the social interaction potential of network communications. "How Do I Say This?" was submitted by film-maker David Harrison, a graduate student at the UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television. After receiving the grant, Harrison teamed with fellow student Aaron Koblin to handle the technical development.
"How Do I Say This?" turns the traditional advice column into an online, interactive, community-based video experience. Users request personal advice by posting a description of the dilemma online. Other users post their solutions to the problem and rank the suggestions provided by other people. This process creates the script for a short film that Harrison will direct, using puppets, animated characters, or live actors. Players will be able to access the films through mtvU.com.
"The entertainment industry knows that interactive and Web-based content is going to be tremendously popular, but no one really knows how to get there," says Harrison. "The relationship between Cisco and mtvU tells us that this massive shift is beginning. Ten years from now I hope to tell people that I got my big break not from some major studio, but from Cisco Systems."
Cisco hopes that identifying consumer interests through activities such as the Digital Incubator project will help it develop products that will support the next generation of broadband applications. Many people believe that converged video and IP, which will let users access e-mail and other online content through a set-top box and television set, will be the next revolution in home entertainment. Cisco plans to be at the heart of this revolution by supplying an integrated infrastructure that delivers content over broadband to a TV or computer. The company recently gained a critical piece of that infrastructure when it acquired Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., of Lawrenceville, Ga.
Scientific Atlanta, a Cisco company, is a leading global provider of set-top boxes, end-to-end video distribution networks, and video systems integration. Cisco will merge Scientific Atlanta's technology with its wide range of networking products to provide world-class, end-to-end data, voice, video, and mobility solutions for carrier networks and homes.
"TV and PC networks are the two bulwarks of home entertainment, and until now integrating them has been tricky. We hope to make it easier for consumers to use their big-screen TVs to watch video programming as well as get content off the Internet," said Scheinman. "Whether it's TV screens, mobile phones, or PCs, Cisco wants to make sure you access entertainment where you want it, when you want it and on any device you choose."
Ultimately, Cisco hopes that this convergence of technology will create a ubiquitous network where users can make telephones calls, access the Internet, and watch television without concern for technology distinctions such as voice, data, and video. This universal network will be global in capability as well as in reach, crossing technology boundaries to provide access not only to anyone anywhere, but to anyone, anywhere, with any device. European and US telcos are already building video networks that will deliver the same type of high-value features to set-top boxes that are now available only over an IP network.
"Each new technology platform creates new storytelling," said Scheinman. "Cisco is proud to work with mtvU to discover new ways to tell stories in this medium."
Sandy Metz is a freelance writer with WordCraft (www.wordcrft.com)
