Blendo: The Blendo video synthesis engine has been developed at Sony's US Research Labs and e-Platform Technology Center, driven by the delivery of advanced Interactive Television (ITV) and Broadband IP scenarios for clients including NBC Interactive, NBC Nightly News, Fox Interactive, Sportvision, K2 Skis, So-net, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The content titles listed below are excerpted from a total of 12 rich media content experiences developed to exploit Blendo presentation technology. They all present broadcast-quality video, generated live and composited at 30 frames per second, in full interactive response to viewer's input.

News Now: ITV News on Demand framework allows the viewer to watch a half-hour newscast end-to-end, or skip stories as desired, or jump directly to any segment or story in the interactive lineup. The News Now concept features visual templates for automated reprovisioning, preloaded "push" distribution of video clips to local storage, and the option of a locally synthesized anchorperson with performance cues generated via near-line audio track analysis.

Global Beat: ITV Music Show, presenting featured artists from around the world. The viewer can watch end-to-end, or skip to selected artists at will, or navigate around the globe to discover offerings in their geographic context. Templates allow delivery of each week's music show content situated into place on the Globe; the freehand interactive Globe object zooms up to 1 meter resolution, and can be shared with other applications on the box.

Interactive Advertising: Working with the advertising agency for K2 skis, a multiway ad was developed to meet the client's interest in a more segmented audience appeal. Three skiing sequences each feature a different model of ski, woven into a single narrative. On each airing, the viewer may click to "break in" to a different skiing exploration. Shown below, a "Screen Toy" fixture overlays TV with an interactive stock ticker on demand.

SurfSpace: ITV Program Guide, employing spatial navigation to master the 500 channel universe. SurfSpace presents each show's own prime-time promotional video clip directly within the lineup. Design and development of the SurfSpace promotional interface concept was conducted with noted broadcast designer Dale Herigstad (of HDesign, Schematic), targeting next generation TV product planning at Sony's Home Network Company.

Accordion Dreams: Playstation2 connected DVD title developed in AFI's 2002 Enhanced TV Workshop. Starting with Hector Galan's award winning PBS Tejano music documentary, this Internet-connected DVD concept integrates online community, music download, cooperative gaming, e-tailing, and living, scene-linked content into the core storyline. For example, each performer's video clip links to current tour schedules and tickets.

Live interactive demonstrations of the Blendo content experience are available upon request.