Snell is to partner with The Application Store (TAS) at NAB to show how its Morpheus automation can drive essential metadata to ‘second-screen’ Apps on iPad tablets and mobile platforms including the TAS Screentoo App. Morpheus will supply the TAS Screentoo App with real-time date essential to maintaining synchronicity between the primary broadcast and interactive timeline-sensitive elements within the Screentoo App. “Snell’s Morpheus is a good fit for our Screentoo App because it can accommodate the volume and granularity of information required by second-screen Apps,” says Vincent Parisis, CEO at TAS. “In particular, the MediaBall element of Morpheus is a uniquely powerful feature that provides valuable flexibility in handling the metadata that makes the second-screen model effective.” The Screentoo App allows media and broadcast organisations to distribute their own branded applications to provide services such as polls, chat, voting and e-commerce related to specific shows or channels; and the metadata provided by Morpheus enables the Screentoo App to provide the consumer with options that directly correspond to events within the primary broadcast. Metadata about the program and its contents allows the Screentoo App to trigger targeted advertising, provide information about a character or actor in a show, or launch a viewer poll. Viewers can enter competitions, vote, participate in quizzes, and purchase items; and the technology allows broadcasters to monetise their content and generate new revenues from premium interactions. “Morpheus allows broadcasters to extend the experience onto a second device, where complementary interactive content drives up interest in programming and enables new levels of highly targeted advertising,” explains Snell’s chief architect Neil Maycock. “There are clear trends in consumers increasingly engaging with media through multiple devices at once; and the combination of Morpheus automation with Apps such as Screentoo opens the door to some exciting new opportunities.” Stand N1280
