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Coming soon: Google TV?
An anonymous reader writes "Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are quietly developing new search tools for digital video, reports ZDNet. Google's effort, until now secret, is arguably the most ambitious of the three, the report states. It quotes sources familiar with the plan saying the search giant is courting broadcasters and cable networks with a new technology that would do for television what it has already done for the Internet: sort through and reveal needles of video clips from within the haystack archives of major network TV shows."
great... more reasons to sit in front of a pc
I had an imaginary sig once, he said I was a loser and ran off.
Now I won't have to search for the remote
Hmm, now where can I get a remote with an "I'm feeling lucky" button? In Korea maybe?
This is a chance for Google to do something truly cool in device connectivity. Even the possibility of a Google TV-Gmail-Google Desktop Search-Google Search connectivity would send their share prices soaring.
People are realizing (yahoo, MSN) that large and bloated is not the way to go.
If I'm not mistaken, vast quantities of tv archive, much of it from the "golden age" when people expected their educational programs to be presided over by professors, is in the public domain. I'd love to be able to dig up some early BBC2.
Yeah, but just try getting at that content. It will be like scholarly journals. Anyone can search and find anything, but then you have to mortgage your house for an annual subscription to view the content. The promise of a true digital library is a long way off, so long as we have insane copyright laws.
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
Imagine being able to look up an old Seinfeld, and then watch it for fifty cents. Or the latest Smallville, or ...
If anyone can pull this off, it's Google.
Agile Artisans
...done that...
Talk to the hand.
You go girl.
Of a WebTV competitor? Everyone remember the old WebTVs that Microsoft had?
No results found
Suggestions:
- Try lowering your standards to an obscene level
"show_me_janets_breast_which_justin_saw"...
Sounds more like TV Guide, rather than content itself.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
TV Guide info and synopsis information is already available. Even a basic search using this information would be very useful to many people. Google engineers may want to add information to their database, but that would require actually wading through millions of hours of bad television. I volunteer to watch all the anime. The good:bad ratio there is significantly better.
AnimeNEXT anime convention
I'm really looking forward to this.
I'm using Google's image-search very often (and love it!) and I could really use video clip-search.
However, considering how well many sites hide the actual video clips (and I'm not talking about porn), I guess Google might face strong resistance from content providers (wasn't there last week a story about a porn website sueing Google over image-search?)
I don't need a signature.
Once we can search old TV content, it will become much more valuable. Even shows whose copyrights expired before the era of indefinite extensions will be valuable "property", though their public domain status means they have no "owner". So Congress will create owners, by retroactively extending copyrights on that content to current corporations.
--
make install -not war
I have such a bad memory, this will be great to enhance my conversational skills (insert bad joke about geeks in social setting here). I often find myself thinking "what show was that on? or what were those exact words said in that dialogue?" Google is doing so well at indexing my life (the web and my computer desktop with the new Google Desktop), if only they'd develop an application to index my closet and dresser drawer so I'd know where to find that orange striped shirt that I wore a year ago and would like to wear again.
Linux at home
the search giant is courting broadcasters and cable networks with a new technology that would do for television what it has already done for the Internet
Like you can count on networks to embrace new useful technology...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
when will adult-movies.google.com be available?
implement targeted commericals? Still, it would be better than seeing tampon and herpes medication ads (for me at least).
The one thing google does really well is harness the "collective intelligence" of the web. Basically it assumes that people creating the web pages and links by hand have some skill and will only link to "reputable" sites. For the most part this works pretty well, although I've been pointed to excellent technicall references that google hasn't found.
,will work. Searching through them can be made better than just a text match.
Searching for documents on your computer is different. People aren't hotlinking your documents. The computer has to try and summerize that 20 page report or just do a straight text match web search. (Maybe using some semantic tricks.) To do this right is really hard. I worked for a start up that used Ontology based searching, trying to understand the text and match it to search criteria. It kinda worked sometimes which isn't nearly good enough.
I've been tagging my stills. I have little illusion that anything but me typing in descriptions into the metadata files which are kinda like xml
The only way this video might work is that video is sent in "packages" ie lots of video to edit down and a story. Close captioning would be usefull as well. Indexing on the text part and matching the video would be a great and very useful thing to these companies.
What you mean like this?
----
$ cat friends_ep_247 | grep humor
$ cat fox_news | grep truth
$ cat adult_swim | grep FLCL
$
No dice.
*is run over by rotten tomatoes*
... for something good to watch on all those channels I have. I suppose this could make me turn off the TV more quickly and pick up a good book instead.
I wonder how they'll make money on this? Maybe they'll do the picture-in-picture thing and show a relevant commercial while you're watching the video clip. (AdWords would work better, but you'd need to be able to click on links.)
EricView your browser's HTTP headers here
The coolest thing would be if you search for a quote you rememebered from an old simpsons episode, but could not rememeber which one. video.google.com, "I'm Feeling Lucky" and after a second it starts streaming that episode.
:-)
The future is soooo cool
All interpreted languages are abstractions over Lisp
OMG, this is going to revolutionize pr0n!
My bicyles
Google recently released the top 10 most searched terms for its new Digital Video search service. However, this list cannot be printed here as all terms on the list are inappropriate for this family oriented news service...
Sometimes I wish I was a plumber, then I'd know how to deal with other people's shit.
TV shows: 1,234,567
Good TV shows: 12
Good TV shows that are legal: No results found
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
It would be really cool if google made a TV guide search. For example, if I could go to Google UK and type "BBC1 NOW" - google would tell me what was on BBC1 at the moment. It would be even better if it allowed to specifiy a date and time eg "BBC1 24/12/04 22:00". Now that would be really useful:)
On the subject of useful things for google - how about a currency converter? The convenience of being able to go to Google and type "$10 in £" rather than using XE.com would be pretty cool as well.
Will Gooogle become LCARS of Star Trek
A product called Retrievalware from a company called Convera does this nicely already.
Even though Google is big, they will have to do a lot to better this product (which is already quite a mature one used by many many large corporations).
I've used it long ago, and it is sweet!
I'm a little concerned about the future very high speed Internet being used just like television by the masses. The internet has so much more potential for education and free uncensored flow of information, but developments like these might make a lot of people use the the net only as another way to watch TV. That is a smarter way to make them dumber.
"Prelinger Archive"
At least the parent company Overture, AlltheWeb seems to be their testing grounds, more specifically their video search.
does it take to index all Mexican Telenovelas...
839*929
The good news is that Google is invariably prepared for this...I applaud their efforts!
I worked on a project a couple of years ago with a product from a company called Virage which did this very thing (in fact, it looks like I'm still on their front page). It basically mapped clip timings to the transcript, and allowed searching through the transcript for a phrase, at which point the user could simply click and start the video from that point.
We used it to archive thousands of hours of public meetings, which became available for search about an hour after the meeting was finished. When I did the training at their facility I know they had contracts with lots of major broadcasters, including MLB.
One interesting thing about their software was the clip plugins which allowed you to automatically create clips based on keywords in the transcript (or the speech-to-text), movements, or even facial recognition.
I could easily see this happening for all kinds of televised programs and, let me tell you, is really frickin cool.
Random Musings
Google's trying to bring TV to the Web the same way they're bringing books to the Web
This is a weird way to describe what Google does... if they bring anything to the Web, it's the Web itself!
But here's the best part of the entire article, IMHO:
Google has been working with National Public Radio and others to index transcripts of audio already on the Internet so that clips can be searchable from its news search engine.
Personally, I would use the video search engine only occasionally... but there is an unbelievable amount of high-quality content that NPR provides on its website, going back years -- interviews, shows, projects, special reports, hell, even Car Talk. The radio thing is a real gem, and I can't wait to use it.
perl -e 'foreach(values %SIG){$_="IGNORE";}while(){}'
Whoever brings good porn results to the search for video will rule.
In all seriousness - Microsoft and Yahoo and Google are out in some ner territory, Verity have video searching, currently google pulls media out of matching pages, and lists them that way (also alt/title text).
Video is a whole other kettle of old korean people.
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
In what way is this different from the already existing Archive.org Moving Image Archive? Is Google going to host the movies too, or will they just link to a 3rd party VoD (Video on Demand) provider (DRM comes to mind...)?
Here's an excerpt from their front page: You used to be able to sign up for a free trial (now you have to e-mail them) but the top-10 "search" words for TV were interesting. Osama Bin-Laden always held the #1 spot, and Martha Stewart was popular too.
-Fred
"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American Public." - H.L. Mencken
http://www.singingfish.com
To build the service, the company is recording live TV shows and indexing the related closed-caption text of the programming. It uses the text to identify themes, concepts and relevant keywords for video so they can be triggers for searching.
Oh great, so apologies for all deaf/hard of hearing or people looking at captions for translations, as execs play SPAM like phrases into programming, as this gets too obvious, whole scripts will be edited:
Have you seen Friends series 15? The one with the cheap pharmacy:
[In joeys apartment]
Ross: Hello Rachael, I have found the cheapest ph4rmacy
Rachael: Oh ross, viagra at the cheapest prices
Chandler bursts through door
Chandler: did someone say viagra cheap online delivery bucket?
Ross: Hey Chandler how is you live teeen sex insurance doing?
Chandler: [puzzled look] fine I guess Ross... How is your realtionship with britney spears breasts
Rachael feigns horror
Ross: Don't you look like that, I know about your lesbian teen sex orgy with britney spears.
Chandler: OMG I don't need viagra anymore, thank old korean people for that!
Monica comes through door
Monica: Did I hear correctly, oh yes, lets have sex here right ont he table, so ross and rachael can see our voyeur incest penis enlargment without viagra herbal remedy.
ext joeys apartment - joey walking down hall, two brown paper bags - fiddles for keys and opens door
int - ross, rachael, monica and chandler are having sex on table, feebie is playing smelly cat on guitar, also naked
joey: guys, hey, why didn't you wait for me, i have just been shopping at the gap, they have great prices. oh, and ross, make sure you update your longhorn license, microsoft sent me a letter yesterday
ross: ungh, huh, ok, but I thought in korea only old people pay microsoft licenses...
cue end credits.
---
OK, so maybe a bit far fetched... I have too much time on my hands....
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
All we really want is an updated image index instead of the current perhistoric one.
The digital library exists. But to get access you have to go to the paper library.
Why should that be the case ?
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
This is nothing new. This has been done with the SCOLA feeds by grad students. The military has been using such an idea as far back as 911. Index the closed-captioning, search it. The TV executives can't do this already?
I think this whole google revolution is starting to get out of hand
It's called Virage Video Logger. Large companies like ABC have used this forever. Search through news , tv shows, etc... http://www.virage.com/
More pointless usage of `cat`. What's wrong with:
$ grep humor friends_ep_247
http://chalksidewalk.com/epic/ isn't so farfetched as it looked. Google EPIC
If I'm not mistaken, vast quantities of tv archive, much of it from the "golden age" when people expected their educational programs to be presided over by professors, are going to be put online for free through the BBC's Creative Archive. I'm sure you'll be able to dig up some early BBC2 there.
:)
Assuming you've paid your UK TV license fee of course.
...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
The UK TV License isn't such a bad idea. The BBC is publicly funded. If you have a TV, then they charge you because you have access to the channel. Better then in Canada where they charge you in Taxes for the CBC, even if you don't own a TV. I mean, they really should only be charging you if you watch the channel. But that would require that they monitor what you watch. Which i'm sure nobody wants.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I can't agree that the digital archives of any major network are in such a state that finding a clip can be described in terms of needle and haystack.
From my work with the BBC, on a project known as Motion Gallery I'd say that video footage already in a digital format is extensively catalogued and mapped to keyword architecture.
I am also aware of at least 4 other digital archive projects within the BBC. Some of these cover the digital storage of newly filmed material, others like Creative Archive are relevant to making historical footage available online.
The needle in a haystack metaphor is really only relevant to archive materials that are not digital and have been stored on tape or film. Then there is an issue around the cataloguing and ease of searching such material. Even so, the BBC has it's own search system known as Infax. Other broadcasters, such as ITN, have already made their text based archive search available on the Internet.
I think Google can certainly bring some interesting technology and approaches to searching video archive content. This could be in the area of better indexing for existing digital archive footage, or perhaps a search aggregation of text based archive systems in much the same way they provide an image search service now.
Can Google overcome the problem of poorly catalogued tape based media archives? In short no. They could however assist organisations to effectively structure their keyword hierachies when migrating to a digital video format.
Brought to you by the author of such childrens' classics as "Some Kittens can Fly!" and "All Dogs go to Hell."
www.google.tv is registered and goes to the regular Google page. Rememeber how they denied gbrowser.com meant anything.
Maybe they should just hire the guys who did it wonderfully at Carnegie Mellon 5+ years ago. On the other hand, maybe they have.
Just imagine being able to click "Find similar pages" on a TV show that you enjoyed.
Thanks for browsing at -1
Please vistit my blog: www.framtiden.nu
It knows when the commercials are, and you have to watch them.
Against what the article states, Singingfish.com is already searching web video in addition to the audio mentioned.
I should mention that I actually work for Singingfish and we index web audio & video that is publicly available.
Doesn't Shadow TV, http://www.shadowtv.com/index.html, already do this very thing?
-- NeonRonin
If you read the MPEG-7 proposals, you'll find that there are provisions for searching based on varying granularities of characteristics of the video and audio both in metadata and within the clips themselves.
I wonder if the frameworks that these guys are developing are within the standard, or if they're going on their own to do this to sidestep patent licensing obligations?
It will be really interesting to see if Google can come along and topple them. I think it would require to remain even more neutral and not filter any of the content on there. If they can do that, I'm sure Google's superior experience and technology would enable them to build a video search library that would dwarf Suprnova and be easier to use (though I don't know how much they could improve on it).
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Seeing the train-wreck that G4TechTV has become in such a short period of time, perhaps it would be nice for Google to pick up the pieces once the Comcast shareholders revolt at the further ratings erosion after having spent $700 million on the failed network. Prior to the "merger," TechTV had better Nielsen ratings than Bravo. And somehow I think Google having a cable network would be a far more successful mouthpiece for Google than what MSNBC has turned out for Microsoft.
The Lynxpro
at http://google.tv
Yes, this is a joke
-- Is "Sig" copyrighted by www.sig.com?
Let me speculate....
Google will create an appliance akeen to Tivo. It will have a PILE of disk space and allow you to record EVERYTHING ALL the time. In other words, you won't have to instruct your device to record certain programs, it will have enough memory to save it all. You will then be expected to come home, turn into a couch potatoe, but instead of rewind/forward and such functions, there will be search, label, recommend, archive, share with friends, etc. They'll hook it up to your desktop/laptop via the network, as well as Google.com and Gmail.com. All information you can tap into will be accessible from any of your devices. Since fridges nowadays come with built-in TVs, this means you will quickly and easily be able to pull up a recipe stored on your computer or anywhere on the Web from the kitchen, and that you will be able to IM while cooking. Add to that some voice recognition, and you will no longer be forced to sit in front of a device and type/click to control it. I need another life to see all this! Anyone knows if Google is working on eternal life?
Simpy
License fee? Is that like the SCO license fee on Linux? How can they charge you a license for merely owning a TV? Why not just fund the BBC out of income taxes?
How would Google make video thumbnails? Macromedia has a very neat flash technology for video thumbnails. Or they could use retro video animated gif .
In his book, "Emergence - The connected lives of ants, brains,cities and softwares", Steven Johnson predicts the next generation of channel surfing.. Basically, the assumption is the the number of programs would be so many that it would painful to manually search it. What will emerge is a Network of viewers powered by Networked TiVos.. where programs would be moderated by viewers slashdot-style.. When you want to watch a program, the programs would be presented to you in a moderated format already, so you can access better programs directly without the constraint of time.
promising news: googletv.com is registered by Google.
not as promising news: they registered it in March of 2000.
In 1999 a system went live at the BBC that allowed them to search metadata on all their video archives.
I mean, ALL. Even the old stuff - 1870s, IIRC.
They had a big (stonking) database which held the metadata (right down to the equivalent of "This image clip is of Princess Diana wearing a blue dress and kissing a baby"), which was extracted and put into a proper document search engine.
A web front-end was created that performed used the document search engine to get a list of results, then did a lookup to the original database to get the reference for the video clip in question.
Said reference telling you where on which shelf of which row of which large shed to go and look for the video tape/film reel/wax cylinder that contains the clip in question.
Darn good system, reasonably good performance, sucky technology (java applet using CORBA to connect to Java server, HTTP to connect to document search engine, JDBC to connect to original data source).
How do I know this? I wrote the darn thing..
Of course, it'll be obsolete and replaced by now.
I hope.
~cederic
Hopefully I can now locate the Keenan Ivory Wayans Show episode that featured an 80 year old, breakdancing cowboy. Wonderful episode...and possibly the only one I ever watched.
Shameless plus: You can already watch TV 24/7 on your computer at www.ManiaTV.com
To paraphrase from the previous poster who said "better then in Canada where they charge you in Taxes for the CBC, even if you don't own a TV," basically if you don't own a TV then being charged for television programming through taxes is unfair and ideally only those that watched the public programming should get charged.
Whats crazy is that because of this the British Government actually developed equipment to detect whether or not you have a television in your home from the street. They drive around special TV detecting vans ensuring that noone tries to shirk the tv license fee/tax.
TV detecting has been going on for 52 years now.
Insane!
Of course there is the other side of the argument, that public broadcasting has benefits to you even if you don't watch it yourself.
That TV detecting thing was unreal when I first heard about it.
...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
I was just reading this paper. Towards the end of the paper they apply their kernel methods to clustering video clips from the movie "Kill Bill". The technique directly works with the video data.
Simon.
j.
a.
r.
g.
They're still staffed by a few. It was a couple of northeastern profs. They had an ontology with medical data, so that was there field.
I'm interested to see where your data came from, because everything I've ever heard on the topic was more along the lines of creativity and artistic expression being a distant second to any change that might increase profits. Mass media (feature films especially) are about exploiting art for profit. Art is art, capitalism is capitalism.