During the last week viewers in Germany could actively participate in a live TV show with nothing but their smartphone and the augmented reality browser junaio. The occasion was a live quiz of the popular German science show ProSieben “Galileo” and it was described as “just like having a TV set with a touchscreen.” Pointing the phone’s camera at the displayed choice of answers and clicking on one of the options was all that was needed to get instant feedback on whether the viewer’s choice was right and how well he or she was doing compared to others.
The idea of interactive television is nothing new. The difference here is that the AR image recognition assures that only those actually seeing the show can participate and it is not hard to imagine the different opportunities this technology opens up.
Unsurprisingly (at least for the geeks among us), the public showed great interest in this technology. The number of junaio downloads was staggering, and for ProSieben “Galileo”, who advertised the show well in advance, it was a huge success. “Galileo” was number one in German twitter trends and ratings shot up to 14% in marketshare among 14 to 49 year old viewers. ProSieben is committed to continue integrating such augmented reality services in future shows…