BBC hackers get mashed

by Davey Winder

Saturday, 28 June 2008

Page 2 of 3 The BBC reports how one group of hackers, having just been introduced to a new interactive television programming language called MHEG during a seminar by the BBC, were quick to prove they could mash something up using it. And so it was, for the first time in 52 years, a TV signal was broadcast from Alexandra Palace. Not a very strong one, mind you, but it had the range to fill the hall which was all that mattered. The developers got stuck in to using this full DVB-T multiplex broadcasting to a number of channels, along with the provided back end interactive systems, to create an automatic language translation for live television. In fact, the collected judges were so impressed by the efforts of the Northender team that it was awarded the 'best hack of the event' prize. The mashup worked by feeding the digital subtitles sent in a broadcast into a computer which then translated them into another language before passing the end result through a speech synthesizer, and all lip-synched to the TV output. To demonstrate this mashup, the team used a broadcast of the popular UK soap 'EastEnders' nut turned the cast from cockneys into a bunch of robotic sounding Germans instead. Another team also used the subtitles but to a much different effect. Team Bob parsed them for certain keywords which were then painted by the computer onto the cards being held by Bob Dylan in a broadcast of the classic Subterranean Homesick Blues video. Saving the best until last. Read about the carbon goggles on the next page... CONTINUED << First page <   1 2 3 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

< Next story in category		Previous story in the category >

Visitors last 30 days Suscribers

904,266 13,751