Interaction with content-augmented video via off-screen hyperlinks for direct information retrieval

Video presentation systems currently available provide users with only a few functionality options. With the introduction of an Internet-based back channel, the way is now open for wide-spread interactive video systems. The convergence of the Internet with broadcast services gives rise to a variety of new application types. It extends the opportunity for a client to retrieve additional video content-related information or to affect the content of a video presentation itself, whether it is a live broadcast or a video-on-demand. The system presented in this paper represents such an interactive application with a number of new options concerning local and global functionalities. To influence video content, a "off-screen" hyperlink technique is introduced. This technique enables the annotation of hyperlinks on a separate display from the actual information with which it is linked. In the following, a scenario is given demonstrating the advantages of such a technique