Emuse Technologies will work with Los Angeles based Red8 Studios to develop interactive TV applications for deployment in the United States.
Emuse will provide Red8 with their Modelstream interactive television authoring software, giving them access to a creative team to allow them to develop applications jointly for deployment in the United States and Asia.
Modelstream provides a drag-and-drop authoring tool for building applications targeting multiple set-top box middleware standards, including OpenTV and the OpenCable Applications Platform OCAP.
This places Modelstream head-to-head with a similar tool from Ensequence, and the race is on to establish market share. The market for interactive television appears to be gaining momentum in the U.S., with several recent announcements indicating increased interest in the sector.
The involvement of the creative community will be essential to the success of interactive services. “Creative talent must be included at a very early stage of iTV development,” observes John Bryan of Emuse. “While the iTV industry in the U.S. is presently focused on technical issues such as compliance with platforms and the functional capabilities of set top boxes, we must not forget we are essentially in the business of delivering TV-centric experiences to viewers.”