TELEVISIONS that select only the bits of programmes that you want to see are
being developed at an AT&T lab in New Jersey.
Researchers are designing an audio-visual search engine and indexing system
called the Digital Video Library. 鈥淚t lets you locate just the few minutes of a
programme you are interested in,鈥� says AT&T鈥檚 Behzad Shahraray.
DVL uses speech recognition software to scan programmes for who is talking
and what they are talking about. So if, for example, you were interested in
President Bush鈥檚 recent speeches, the search engine would employ an algorithm
that recognises Bush鈥檚 inimitable speaking style and another that recognise his
face. A third algorithm searches for specific words, allowing you to home in on
speeches on a particular subject.
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Since speech recognition is not infallible, the system will also search the
subtitle data that many TV stations provide for deaf viewers. AT&T hopes the
makers of TV sets will want to build the technology into their products.