Context links
The general idea of a context link related to the idea of a channel. I'll explain by an example.
I am watching a movie, in this case 2001 A Space Odyssey. My movie player (in this case Mplayer) has the ability to do image overlays. A remote control button toggles the context link feature on/off. When activated the viewer is offered two kinds of links to more information about the content they are currently viewing.
Links for-all-time
One button activates these links at any time during viewing. Summary information about the film, the director and the cast is displayed for example:
- Other films by this director
- Links to biographies of people involved in this film
- Other films made in the same year
- Related trivia
Time coded links
These kind of links relate to a particular time period of the film. An EDL or SMTP timecode is used to store the time information about when the link will become visible. For example, we could display a link about the ape men during the early part of the film, or about HAL9000 at that time.
Accessing information
Public databases such as IMDB and Wikipedia would provide most of the information required. Others could be added later.
User interface
When a link is activated the screen dims to 30% brightness, playback pauses and text is displayed over the top of the video.
