we write about the things we build and the things we consume
project leaf: a platform for making exciting broadcast companions
As usual, we’re cooking plenty of things in our ovens… that we can’t mention yet. Project Leaf, however, has just been partially ousted on The Archers’ blog, as a public test is planned for next Monday. We don’t expect our work to be visible then, but we do hope there will be enough Twitter activity to inform our Twitter data visualization so that both BBC and MetaBroadcast learn what to tweak to make it better.
While this is not our first foray into Twitter or real-time data, January 2nd will be the first time we bring them together in public on the occasion of the double episode celebrating the 60th anniversary of The Archers. And we might get another go on January 3rd if all goes well. It is rather quite exciting, as I believe Archers speech would have it, and it’s the spitting image of the unusually colourful wireframe below.
However, this isn’t just another example of beautiful data based on data collected in the past. All graphics and animations are generated in real-time, with real-time data, using complex JavaScript and HTML/ CSS instead of Flash (allowing it to work in more browsers than you can count on your fingers), CometD event routing and a powerful configuration able to handle 20,000 users per server simultaneously. Moreover, each instance of Leaf can be deeply configured to suit one’s needs (official accounts, hashtags, speed of replay, controlled vocabulary) and Twitter activity (we often tested it with Apple, The X Factor, and The Apprentice), and then it also allows moderators to publish selected tweets and pick word cloud additions suggested in real-time.
Project Leaf proposes a companion to broadcast programmes: by adding an extra level of interestingness to a programme, it addresses the attention fragmentation that has become de facto nowadays and hopefully helps audiences to keep listening/ watching. On top of that, we believe it can delight old fans and bring in new ones. Broadcast companions, second screen experiences and the likes work for shows that aren’t immersive, and most broadcast isn’t; radio has nearly always been a companion to our other activities (waking up, driving, running, reading, etc.), and TV has long become, as Charlie Brooker once said, the big electric bastard running in the corner at all times—whether we cook, iron, have a friend over, potter about the house, or, for that matter, dose off.
It used to be that people discussed shows in real-time over the phone with family and friends, or next day at work or the pub, with mates. In the last years, and for a particular demographic, enriching one’s own radio and TV experiences through a layer of views expressed in real-time by large audience groups has become a stronger incentive to stay with the programme. And whether we rush to Facebook to discuss a gripping reality show with our friends or chat away to total strangers on Twitter, it’s generally fuelled by not waiting any more than needed to make sense of what we hear or see—next to usual suspects, needing to belong and to kill time during ad breaks and in between shows. It is our belief that Project Leaf helps on all these levels, so if you like what you hear, do get in touch for a demo.
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