1. An experiment was conducted with two groups of households to test an ambient social TV system using orb displays and lightweight messaging. 2. The orb displays provided peripheral social awareness of who in their social network was watching TV and what shows they were watching. 3. This ambient awareness helped users feel connected and motivated some to also turn on the TV to watch with others. However, most users felt the system lacked useful features for meaningful social interaction.

1. Ambient Social TV Gunnar Harboe, Crysta Metcalf, Frank Bentley, Joe Tullio, Noel Massey, Guy Romano Drawing People into a Shared Experience

2. Introduction

7. Motorola Labs’ Social TV Project

11. System Description

12. System Components

13. System Components

17. Presence

24. Communication

25. Communication Suggestions

31. Study Description

35. Usage

36. Measurable Use 185 N/A Canned text messages sent 120 59 Emoticons sent 160 62 Buddy’s show joined via buddy list 390 185 Buddy list views 181 154 Social TV watched (hrs) B A Activity

46. Findings

51. Increasing Engagement Full involvement Talking on the phone Exchanging lightweight messages Co-viewing program Viewing buddy list Peripheral awareness Noticing ambient display

55. Conclusion