Brazil 4D: An Experience of Interactive Content Production for Free-to-Air Digital Television

Introduction

In previous studies, Castro (2008, 2012, 2014) sought to contextualize the passing of the analog to the digital world within the use of different technological platforms and media convergence. The researcher uses as an example the digital and interactive free-to-air television of the Brazilian case, developed in open source and focusing in the social and digital inclusion. The Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting, Terrestrial, Brazilian version (ISDB – Tb) was adopted by other Latin American countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Peru, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Brazil. Besides, I tried to analyze the need – from the the field of Communication – researchers have of a more comprehensive vision of their object of study, from perspectives like transdisciplinarity¹ (Edgar Morin and Jesús Martín-Barbero) and complex thought² (Edgar Morin) to understand the deep changes we are going through from the point of view of social inclusion and free audiovisual interactive digital content offer to the population.

In this chapter, it's important to refer to Management and Economy theorists, in seek of a transdisciplinary dialogue, allowing us to understand notions of innovation, development, industrial hubs and/or clusters, and its relationship with the stimulus given to research and digital content production in Latin America. The digital and audiovisual content industry is a strategic part of the process of innovation Latin America goes through in the digital world.

Innovation is a word derived from the Latin term innovatio, and refers to a created idea, method or object with little resemblance to the previous ones. Today, the word innovation is used more often in the context of ideas and inventions as well as the related economic exploration, and innovation can also be an invention coming to the market. Examples of ideas, methods or objects that have little resemblance to previous patterns appear in the new digital media: digital and interactive free-to-air television, mobile phones, digital books and magazines, on-line videogames, digital radio (that enables access to not only digital sound, but pictures too), and digital cinema, as well computers with access to internet and the possibility of media convergence.

To Freeman (1986), innovation is the process that includes technical activities, conception, development, and management, and results in the commerce of new (or improved) processes. In terms of new products, interactivity in free-to-air digital television allows the audience to answer – questions, information, researches, public services, etc. – to the field of production (companies or public channels) with their remote controls. It’s important to point out that the Ginga middleware³ is a Brazilian invention based on open source, developed in the laboratories of PUC-RJ⁴ and UFPB⁵. It’s the first technological standard developed in this country to be recognized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and it was considered the best of the world because of its interactive possibilities within free-to-air television and IPTV.

The mobile phones are another enhanced product turned into a completely different thing from its original version. Initially thought to be used just for mobile telephony, mobile phones today can be considered an extension of our own bodies (Castro, 2005), since it allows many different functions like alarm clock, agenda, internet, photography, filming, voice recording, use of data and text, among other activities, like the original function of making and receiving calls. Brazilian Digital Television System (SBTVD) can also be watched for free through mobile phones of 3G mobile phones, using the free One Seg technology, enabling the cell phone owner to watch free-to-air digital television, without impact in the mobile bills.