Interactive Television

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

While you might have only heard about interactive television in the past year or so, it has actually been around in some form or other since 1980s.

With interactive television, you are not just a watcher of a TV show, you are actually an active participant. You decide how an episode (or a movie for that matter) will go, based on a set of choices that can significantly alter the final outcome.

You might have heard of Black Mirror's Bandersnatch, which is certainly the most recent famous example. In this stand-alone episode, you can make choices for the main character that wary from who to attack to what cereal you will eat for breakfast.

Another upcoming interactive piece is Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's special, which is the first interactive comedy event. For those of you that prefer survival, Bear Grylls' latest show You vs. Wild is also interactive and dependent on the viewer.

What is your opinion? Do you think this genre is the future of television or just a temporary fad?