Interactive television

Interactive television describes any number of efforts to allow viewers to interact with living room television content from the comfort of the couch. It is sometimes called interactive TV, iTV, or ITV.

Interactive TV is often described as "lean back" interaction, as users are typically relaxing in the living room environment with a remote control in one hand. This is in contrast to the personal computer-oriented "lean forward" experience of a keyboard, mouse and monitor.

Some interactive television projects are consumer electronics boxes which provide set-top interactivity, while other projects are supplied by the cable television companies (or multiple system operator, or MSO) as a system-wide solution. Some examples of interactive television include:

• MSO systems
  • Time Warner (US)
  • Comcast (US)
  • Cablevision (US)

• MSO trials or demos
  • Full Service Network from Time Warner (US)

• Consumer electronics solutions
  • TiVo
  • ReplayTV
  • UltimateTV
  • Microsoft Windows XP Media Center