FED up with all the boring bits on TV? Researchers at IBM in Armonk, New
York, have ways of turning even the most tedious commercial break or political
broadcast into an amusing interlude.
The hundreds of channels and interactive services that will be available when
digital TV arrives will call for a pretty smart control device to help viewers
keep track. And if the controller is clever enough to sort through channels, IBM
thinks it could also generate little games called 鈥渄iversions鈥� to stop people
getting bored while they wait for their favourite programme to start. These will
either be displayed automatically during commercial breaks or when the viewer
gets bored and pushes a button.
In a series of lengthy patents, IBM describes several possible diversions
which allow the viewers to play with the TV image or sound. 鈥淒oodles鈥� freezes
the picture and displays a palette of moustaches, beards and spectacles at the
side of the screen. The viewer then uses the controller to drag and drop
disguises over their victim鈥檚 face. The live soundtrack continues to play so
that the viewer can start watching the programme again as soon as it gets
interesting.
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鈥淲all鈥� lets the viewer use graphic blocks to construct a wall which
progressively obscures any unwelcome face on the screen, while 鈥淧uzzle鈥�
automatically breaks the picture into blocks and rearranges them so that the
image becomes unrecognisable. The viewer has to put the blocks back into their
correct position. To make people seem really ridiculous, 鈥淰oices鈥� lets the
viewer convert a boring performer鈥檚 speech into the funny voice of a cartoon
character. A palette appears on screen to offer a choice of goofy characters.
