An exploration of user needs and experiences towards an interactive multi-view video presentation

Abstract

After a literature review about multi-view video technologies, it was focused on a multi-view video presentation where the user receives multiple video streams and can freely switch between them. User interaction was considered to be a key function for this system. The goal was to explore user needs and expectations towards an interactive multi-view video presentation. A multi-view video player was implemented according to specifications in possible scenarios and users needs and expectations conducted through an online survey. The media player was written in objective-C, Cocoa and was developed using the integrated development environment tool XCode and graphics user interface tool Interface Builder. The media player was built around Quicktime's framework QTKit. A plugin tool, Perian, added extra media format support to QuickTime. The results from the online survey shows that the minority has experience with such a multi-view video presentation. However, those who had tried multi-view video are positive towards it. The usage of the system is strongly dependent on content. The content should be highly entertainment- and action-oriented. Switching of views was to be considered a key feature by experienced users of the conducted test of the multi-view video player. This feature provides a more interactive application and more satisfied users, when the content is suitable for multi-view video. However, rearranging and hiding of views also contributed to a positive viewing experience. However, it is important to notice that these results are not complete in order to fully investigate users need and expectations towards an interactive multi-view video presentation.