WASHINGTON—PILOT, the technology innovation initiative of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), today announced Backlight, Hour One and TSV Analytics as the winners of the 2023 PILOT Innovation Challenge. The winners will receive a trip to the 2023 NAB Show, April 15–19, in Las Vegas, with exhibit space on the convention floor in which to demonstrate their products to potential customers, investors and partners. 

The PILOT Innovation Challenge specifically sought products or prototypes that align with three focus areas of the 2023 NAB Show associated with the content lifecycle: Create, Capitalize and Connect. Winning submissions provided compelling solutions to key challenges and opportunities facing broadcasters over the coming two to three years. 

This year's winners are:

•  Backlight: Iconik, a Backlight product, is a cloud-native solution that gathers and organizes media securely from any storage, providing a central point at which teams can gather, find assets and collaborate using any device. With hassle-free media collaboration and powerful automation features, iconik enables teams to streamline and accelerate editorial workflows.
• Hour One: Hour One enables a single person to generate video quickly at low cost and high scale. The solution provides an AI-driven, entirely virtual broadcast video platform, complete with lifelike virtual news anchors and customizable 3D news studios. It includes script- and image-generation features to further remove friction from broadcast news creation.
• TSV Analytics: TSV Analytics is an analytical social media management platform designed to make social media content more effective. Designed to help social media managers across all stages of the content creation process, from content ideation to creation to distribution, the platform streamlines and optimizes the social media management process.

"Hour One, Backlight and TSV Analytics stood out from an exceptional pool of Innovation Challenge applications that deliver practical and business benefits our industry can use today," said PILOT Executive Director John Clark. "These startups stood out as exceptional to our judges for the direct way in which they tackle immediate and future challenges with specific, ready-to-use solutions that can help broadcasters tell compelling stories. We look forward to seeing these impressive teams and their winning products on the NAB Show floor."

Hour One represents the second year in a row a startup associated with the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Syracuse University has been named an Innovation Challenge winner, following Spalk’s selection in 2022.

To register for the 2023 NAB Show, visit nabshow.com/2023

WASHINGTON—The National Association of Broadcasters’ technology innovation initiative, Pilot, will be accepting submissions for this year’s Pilot Innovation Challenge through 5 p.m. ET on July 9.

The program will provide mentorship and promotion to winning proposals, along with an opportunity to demonstrate their products at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, Oct. 9–13, 2021. 

“The Innovation Challenge offers a platform for developing technologies that will help broadcasters better serve their audience, while providing emerging companies a showcase for their cutting-edge products,” said Pilot Executive Director John Clark in a press statement.

This year’s challenge seeks startups and growing companies that provide solutions to some of the challenges and opportunities facing broadcasters over the next two to three years. The challenge is looking for products or prototypes that are focused on the following areas:

—Edge technologies that drive new revenue opportunities for broadcasters, such as through geo-targeted content, location-based advertising, accurate audience measurement and augmented experiences;

—Technologies that enhance broadcast journalism to help viewers and listeners get more from their most trusted source of local news, including tools to better aggregate and verify crowd-sourced news reports, enhancements to news-gathering technologies such as drones, or avatar news anchors to deliver personalized updates on a myriad of topics; and

—In-vehicle technologies that deliver more value out of broadcasting, including technologies that enhance the in-car experience for radio listeners, as well as technologies that harness the mobile reception capabilities of the NextGen TV standard to deliver even more rich data services or back-seat entertainment. 

Individuals, teams, companies, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply subject to the official rules of participation. Up to 10 finalists will be selected by a panel of industry experts by early August, with up to three winning proposals being notified by September 1.

Three winners will be selected to receive relevant mentorship, feedback, numerous opportunities to engage with broadcasters and a trip to the annual NAB Show. They will be provided exhibit space in the “Startup Loft” to demonstrate their prototype to potential customers, investors and partners.

To learn more, visit NAB’s Pilot website.

WASHINGTON—NAB’s technology innovation initiative, Pilot, has announced it is accepting submissions for the fifth annual Pilot Innovation Challenge. The Innovation Challenge is just one of Pilot’s initiatives meant to support different parts of the innovation cycle.

The prompt for the 2020 Pilot Innovation Challenge is: “Develop a working prototype to improve real-time decentralized collaboration while managing live and recorded audio/video from multiple sources for media production in a limited bandwidth environment. Broadcasters should be able to implement the prototype as a supporting element within their current environment.”

More directly, contestants are tasked with creating prototypes that address limitations caused by remote television and radio operations while being able to support current production environments.

“This year’s challenge looks to answer a timely question that has surfaced in the broadcast industry,” said John Clark, Pilot executive director. “We are eager to see how technologists, many of whom are facing similar challenges, innovate to enhance remote production and overcome hurdles caused by physical distance, varying bandwidth speeds and remote operations.”

Individuals, teams, companies, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations can apply. Up to five finalists will be selected by a panel of industry experts, who will be notified by the end of September. The winners will be announced during the NAB Show New York Digital Experience in October.

Funding up to $150,000 will be allocated between as many as two winners. In addition to funds, winners will receive relevant mentorship, development feedback and a trip to the 2021 NAB Show in Las Vegas to demonstrate the prototype.

The deadline to apply for the 2020 Pilot Innovation Challenge is Aug. 28 at 5 p.m. ET. For more information, visit www.nabpilot.org/challenge.  

WASHINGTON—Now in its fourth year, NAB’s Pilot Innovation Challenge is now accepting proposals and has announced a new component for this year’s program. For the first time, Pilot will provide support to a pair of winners so they can develop a prototype to be presented at the 2020 NAB Show.

The prompt for this year’s Pilot Innovation Challenge is to build an AI character that can have conversations with individual viewers, listeners or consumers, with character traits that can be defined and trained by the broadcaster.

Individuals, teams, companies, academic institutions and nonprofit organizations are eligible to submit proposals, with up to five finalists selected by a panel of judges by the end of November. Of those five, two winners will be granted as much as $150,000, relevant mentorship and feedback during the development of their prototype. They will also be invited to the 2020 NAB Show, April 18-22, in Las Vegas to demonstrate the prototype.

The deadline to apply for the Innovation Challenge is Oct. 18. Interested applicants can review the judging criteria and apply here.

WASHINGTON—After more than 150 entrants were submitted for the NAB’s second annual Pilot Innovation Challenge, the big winner was UNC-TV for its “Next Gen TV: Saving Lives One Alert at a Time” service.

The Pilot Innovation Challenge recognizes creative ideas that use technological advances in the production, distribution and display of engaging content, per NAB’s announcement. This year, entrants had to address the challenge question, “What is an unconventional way broadcasters and other local media could serve communities?” A panel of five judges from the media, technology and broadcast industries selected the top six winners. Conference attendees at the NAB Futures event in Palo Alto, Calif., determined the final placements.

UNC-TV won first place, and its $30,000 grand prize, for the “Next Gen TV” service, which will enable North Carolina’s public safety community to provide timelier response to emergencies by datacasting technology over broadcast television.

In second place was the University of Maryland’s “NewsBIN Vlog,” which combines broadcast journalism and YouTube’s first-person vlogging style to create a “new format of video journalism.” UMD earned $25,000 for second.

In third was nēdl, a way for radio listeners to use speech recognition to eliminate the need to go station to station to find specific news, sports, talk and music. Third place garnered a prize of $20,000.

Three Innovation Award Winners were also selected, each earning a $15,000 prize. “Engagement VR: Transparent Community Interaction” from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism; “Immersive Storytelling & an Ethic of Care” from the University of Colorado Boulder, and “LiveWorks” from VRVideo took home the Innovation Awards.

All six of the top winners will receive further guidance, access to broadcast executives and exposure at the NAB Show. For more information about the 2017 Pilot Innovation Challenge winners, click here.

The Pilot Innovation Challenge, an initiative of the National Association of Broadcasters, “recognizes creative ideas that leverage technological advances in the production, distribution and display of engaging content.” More than 150 ideas were submitted to address the challenge question, “What is an unconventional way broadcasters and other local media could serve communities?

TV Technology recently spoke with Ayinde Alakoye, co-founder of nēdl, which has been named a finalist in the Challenge. Winners will be announced on Nov. 13.

TV Technology:What is nēdl?

Ayinde Alakoye:nēdl, as in, “The needle in the haystack,” is a search engine for live broadcast radio. nēdl is addressing a growing $39.5B global ad market by letting listeners use speech recognition to search live broadcast radio in real-time; eliminating the need to go station-to-station to find news, sports, entertainment, and talk content. nēdl not only lets you search over 100,000 domestic and international stations, but users can also create their own live stations and inject their speech into the real-time search results so others can discover them by the words they are saying. We’re building software for your home, car, and pocket (mobile, smartphone, smartwatch).

TVT:Where did the concept come from or how was it developed?

AA: We wanted to amplify one of the best qualities of live radio — serendipity. The concept came from realizing that people like the idea of finding what pops into their mind playing live on the radio. It’s similar to when you and your friend say the same thing at the same time. You feel like you are in sync with them. That’s what using nēdl’s real-time search is like. You were thinking of something and you find someone or talking about it or singing it live. You feel like you are in sync with something larger than yourself in this way. The broadcast component came from listening to consumer demand. We had a start-up prior to this one that let you listen to radio with your friends. We always got the same request, “Can you help me start my own radio station?” So this does that. We let anyone become a broadcaster now and index them by the words they are saying in real-time.

TVT:How does it work?

AA: nēdl searches more than 100K domestic and international stations in real-time to find the keywords or melodies that might be streaming at this moment and allows you to find user generated content as well.

TVT:Is it painless or does a radio station have to do anything special?

AA: We set out to create a no brainer, no pain, all gain solution for small, medium, and large radio owners. Radio stations literally do nothing and we will turn their jock’s speech to text remotely with our Pro subscription plan. This way we can make their airwaves searchable and bring them advertising dollars from our partnerships with the world’s leading display and audio ad servers. If they want the benefit of this service for about the cost of a Netflix subscription, then they can choose the DIY plan and we let them do a frictionless software install themselves. No equipment necessary.

TVT:Does this cannibalize their radio app usage or increase their streaming costs?

AA: We created nēdl to be 100% additive to a radio station’s existing revenue streams. When nēdl listeners find a radio station by the song or words they are saying, the station automatically earns revenue share from nēdl (if they are a partner) and that layer of ad share is on top of their terrestrial ad dollars and whatever display or audio ads are running in their app.

We’re also giving stations a chance to earn listeners. I just found a new hip-hop station earlier tonight — just because I searched for Big Sean and found him playing on a station I would have never heard of otherwise. I saved it as a favorite and I’m going to keep coming back. Everyone wins.

TVT:Since this looks to be based on what is said, does it have much application for a music station?

AA: Most music-dominated stations have great morning personalities that they’ve invested a ton of money in to make them great. But, if you’re not listening to the station, you don't know what they are talking about. It’s kind of like the riddle, “If a tree falls in the forest....” nēdl gives you a better return on those investments by making personalities discoverable just by the words they are saying. So it’s just as valuable to a music station as it is to news, sports, comedy, or talk radio stations.

TVT:Is it available now? If not, when will it be available?

AA: Our first skills for Amazon’s Echo (Alexa) will be around in time for Christmas and we plan to have our iOS and Android apps available not long after that.

TVT:Where did the name come from?

AA: I’m not a gamer, but I happened to play a video game that is based in Seattle. So, I think the Space Needle was rolling around in my brain when we were thinking of names that would evoke the idea of search for consumers. It didn’t click until I said, “needle,” out loud, and when I did it sounded right.

The Pilot Innovation Challenge, an initiative of the National Association of Broadcasters, “recognizes creative ideas that leverage technological advances in the production, distribution and display of engaging content.” More than 150 ideas were submitted to address the challenge question, “What is an unconventional way broadcasters and other local media could serve communities?

TV Technology recently spoke with Adam Woodlief of UNC-TV, about the “Next Gen TV: Saving Lives One Alert at a Time,” which has been named a finalist in the Challenge. Winners will be announced on Nov. 13.

TV TECHNOLOGY: Please describe the Next Gen TV project and technology behind it.

ADAM WOODLIEF: Every second is valuable to first responders and the public safety community. Unfortunately, the analog paging system currently in use throughout North Carolina (and across the United States) is based on outdated technology that is slow to deliver emergency information. The proposalfrom the University of North Carolina Center for Public Television (UNC-TV), “Next Gen TV: Saving Lives One Alert at a Time,” will enable North Carolina’s public safety community to provide a more timely response to emergencies by shifting this outdated system to datacasting technology over broadcast television. This concept will serve as a pilot to be replicated in other states and regions.

The analog paging system used by the public safety community for emergency notifications is slow compared to contemporary communication standards. Currently fire stations are alerted of incidents, which relies on tones and voice delivered over radio channels to alert specific responder groups (fires stations, engines, ambulances) of an incident. Each responder group is sent an alert from the 911 Center that can last 2-3 seconds. When multiple groups are paged all tones must be transmitted sequentially before any of the dispatch information can be delivered. This is followed by the voice dispatch taking 20-40 seconds depending on the verbal information provided. During this process other emergencies are queued waiting for the paging transmitter to become available delaying the notification for other responder groups.

Datacasting technology can improve public safety paging performance by providing accelerated delivery of alerts. It would provide the ability to alert multiple responders in milliseconds using a datacast digital format, many times faster than today’s analog paging system. Additionally, utilizing broadcast televisions “high tower/high power” transmission capability, a far wider reception area for paging receivers would be achieved. The advent of datacasting presents a unique opportunity to serve emergency notifications to first responders in a more efficient manner over a greater distance with better coverage than ever before. The timing is perfect for further development of this concept

These key ideas are highlighted in this proposal:

· Digital delivery of information greatly increases the speed of reception, thus, decreasing response times

· Datacasting capacity allows for dozens of separate dispatches within milliseconds

· A centralized paging system serving a large region decreases mutual aid requests

· A larger coverage footprint allows departments to notify members outside their jurisdiction

· Transmitting infrastructure is already in place

· Receivers can also support live audio streaming, video, data files, maps, and sensor data

· With the approach of ATSC 3.0 "Next Gen TV" this concept can be expanded to reach beyond to other first responders both in the field and at fixed locations. 

Next Gen TV: Saving Lives One Alert at a Time, is an idea that has the power to save lives.

TVT:What was the inspiration behind the service?

AW: As a public media service for North Carolina it is our mission to serve our community. This proposal came out of our partnership with public safety agencies. UNC-TV has been involved with many public and nonpublic facing projects with varying agencies, the shared knowledge of our capabilities led to this concept. This is not a solution in search of a problem; public safety leaders recognized a problem and asked us to help them solve it. 

Fire and EMS Emergency Response is heavily staffed by volunteer responders—as such, they continue to use pagers as a means of notification to respond to an emergency in their community. Voice pagers (not text) are by far the most common mechanism (of note, cellular systems do not qualify in the emergency response role for what should be obvious reasons). High Power-High Tower ATSC transmissions at frequencies that penetrate buildings would be a perfect way to notify these volunteer responders if there was a "pager" that could "hear" and decode ATSC transmissions. 

While considering a way to provide broad area monitoring of voice radio transmissions, the realization struck us that these frequencies, tower heights, and power levels are perfect for providing paging coverage for paging and such a capability could dramatically improve response over voice paging. Text paging is better for comprehension, faster, can provide more information, and lends itself to automated mechanisms. A 50 watt transmitter at a 70-foot elevation cannot compete with megawatt transmission from a 1000-foot tower for coverage.

TVT:How do you expect the Next Gen TV service to impact the broadcast industry?

AW: “Next Gen TV: Saving Lives One Alert at a Time” is a unique and groundbreaking initiative to use datacasting as a delivery method for emergency paging for first responders in a way never utilized. What makes this concept unique is that public safety officials approached UNC-TV with the use case. The creative use of the datacasting technology, aligned with a strong collaboration between UNCTV and the public safety community, will save time, lives and money. This public safety application of datacasting can also work as a partner with current LTE and analog delivery methods creating a more robust notification strategy. Utilization of the TV broadcast spectrum to reach a larger geographical area as well as being able to deliver more detailed information is a needed to improve public safety paging.

It also serves as a gateway between current ATSC 1.0 technology and ATSC 3.0. An idea like this offers a look at what broadcasters can provide with ATSC 3.0. We can showcase the capabilities of Next Gen TV beyond interactive shows in 4k and surround sound. This concept can accelerate the adoption of 3.0. It will also increase the viability of broadcasters as a true public service.

TVT:Next Gen TV is the widely known nickname for ATSC 3.0, will this technology only be able to be utilized when ATSC 3.0 begins broadcasting, or will it be compatible with ATSC 1.0?

AW: Our project offers a bridge of current and future technology. While limited to mainly fixed locations with ATSC 1.0, it still offers enriched data delivery and time saving delivery. As we move forward we can take advantage of the mobility and robust signal strength offered by Next Gen TV. We can use the current standard to further develop the concept and begin thinking about future advancements in the application.

TVT:What should readers know about the technology and its practical implications?

AW: UNC-TV is focused on using its technology to serve the public. We offer high quality educational and entertaining programs via our broadcast services. We can also serve our communities through non-public facing uses of our broadcast spectrum. This technology allows us to enhance our first responder’s abilities to do their jobs. Our current broadcast technology can be used in a variety of ways to help fill the gaps in current communication methods. ATSC 3.0 is a gamechanger with its potential mobile applications and better structure penetration.

The Pilot Innovation Challenge, an initiative of the National Association of Broadcasters, “recognizes creative ideas that leverage technological advances in the production, distribution and display of engaging content.” More than 150 ideas were submitted to address the challenge question, “What is an unconventional way broadcasters and other local media could serve communities?

TV Technology recently spoke with Kathleen Marie Ryan, associate professor, College of Media, communication and Information, University of Colorado Boulder, about the project her students are working on, “Immersive Storytelling and an Ethic of Care,” which has been named a finalist in the Challenge. Winners will be announced on Nov. 13.

TV TECHNOLOGY: Please explain the project in detail. What is unconventional about it?

KATHLEEN RYAN: While i-docs, virtual reality and augmented reality offer a framework for presentation and user engagement in broadcasting and broadcast journalism, the relative newness of each platform means that practitioners still do not have a full understanding of platform effectiveness.

VR producer Zillah Watson noted, “VR news still has a poor understanding of its audience both in terms of content, content discovery and attitudes to the technology and hardware.” She may have been talking about i-docs and AR as well. Studies at Stanford University and MIT’s Open Documentary Lab have both used laboratories to test VR’s potential to generate empathy. The Open Documentary Lab uses Oculus Rift to explore how social feelings are formed; Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab explores how VR can, among other things, be applied to issues such as changing conservation behavior or encouraging empathy.

While the Guardian News dubbed AR the “future” of storytelling in 2010, it’s been more successful in the public eye via gaming platforms such as the 2016 fad Pokemon GO. One exception is Empathic Media, which worked with the Red Cross to embed AR stories about human trafficking in stop signs in Serbia. No project is currently comparing all three platforms (i-doc, VR, AR) in digital humanities projects, or is determining storytelling efficacy for users.

This project fills that void. Because of its focus on platform-specific content creation as well as experimental testing, it offers a holistic exploration of best practices. It also provides a space for users to view the stories both through web/smartphone-based technology as well as high-end headsets, allowing us to begin to understand how technologies can impact viewer understanding. It will provide valuable data not only for our larger project, but also for broadcasters as a whole.

While the larger project has identified 80 contemporary and historical photographers for inclusion, this discovery testing will focus on just five to six of the women. Their stories will be produced into three distinct platforms, with each experience lasting four to eight minutes in total. The outputs will include platform-specific stories from each of the photographers. The project will also use focus group interviews, leading to the development of best practices protocols for each platform.

TVT:What led to the development of this project and the topic of “ethic of care” in viewers?

KR: We’d argue that many journalistic stories boil down to the idea of making an audience member care about a person or an issue. This idea of care—or viewer engagement—is especially important in our short attention-span era, where emerging and legacy media are competing for viewer interest. Care implies not only engagement in the story, but a willingness to change behavior or attitudes based upon the evidence provided in the story.

We’ve had discussions within journalism at the University of Colorado about how—or if—experimentations in different storytelling platforms actually benefit viewers. A related discussion is how platforms can shape how we tell stories. Can every story be suited for every platform? This topic in particular seemed well poised to test if different platforms could enhance or hinder viewer engagement and understanding.

Part of this is because of the history of environmental photography. Photographs were used not only to document the U.S. landscape, but also to (successfully) argue for its preservation. The Sierra Club’s photos, for instance, played a large role in movements to preserve wilderness lands such as King’s Canyon and Sequoia National Parks in California. The images were designed to motivate viewers to action.

The project’s focus on place similarly makes it a logical test case to experiment with storytelling practices. Photographs (and stories) about a location can be digitally embedded at that location, which may not be possible in other spaces (an active war zone, for instance). Viewers can access these locations and experience the story at the site.

There is also an increased awareness of environmental dangers potentially posed by the oil and gas industry, and the financial benefits the industry can offer states and communities. As I walk through my neighborhood in Boulder County, Colo., homeowners post signs advocating for stricter environmental protections for landowners from oil and gas development. A home in a suburban development two towns over blew up this summer because of an improperly tapped natural gas well in the neighborhood. But parts of Colorado, along with North Dakota and Pennsylvania, are seeing the economic windfall caused by the energy development. It’s a tricky—and often contentious—balancing act.

Finally, the project comes at a strangely political time for artists and journalists working in environmental issues. When we first began developing this idea in 2013–2014, it was conceived of as an exploration of aesthetics, specifically in the strange sort of beauty to be found in human-scarred lands. While that is still a component of the project, due to recent actions in D.C., the interviews have taken on a newfound political currency. In 2017, even women working in relatively easy-to-digest “worshipful” images of the landscape are engaging in a type of political activism. Just as the “Sierra Club Religion” of the 1950s–1970s galvanized a community to advocate for preservation and protection of America’s wilderness spaces, so too can these contemporary photographers, through images that demonstrate a tension between the sacred and profane, have the potential to act as advocates for the nation’s public (and private) lands. This project’s timing offers a unique insight into an artistic and journalistic practice during a fraught moment in American history.

TVT:Can you explain the various digital storytelling platforms used by the team?

KR: We’re working in three different digital platforms, all based in user interactivity: web-based documentary, virtual reality and augmented reality.

Interactive storytelling offers a unique way to engage the public in journalistic narratives. As Judith Aston notes, the format allows for user engagement and participation of an almost-encyclopedic amount of data housed in a navigable virtual space, demonstrating a type of “embodied interaction.” If the analog documentary is a linear story with a pre-ordained beginning, middle and end, the interactive documentary, or i-doc, allows the user to “play” the story, navigating between ideas, people and things in a nonlinear matter. The order of the elements is less important than the stories that are being told. It also allows for full interviews and transcripts to be embedded within the larger story.

The first will be an interactive website to be viewed on laptops or smartphones. While we are still developing the exact type of i-doc formatting and story mapping we will use, initially we believe a map with highlighted communities/cities/regions may be most effective. The video will be embedded using a standard video player (HD) or a drag interface such as Vimeo 360 (360-degree video). The second platform will be immersive VR stories to viewed via Oculus Rift headsets. The final will be designed to be embedded in a map application to be viewed either on a website/smartphone at home or on a smartphone on location.

Our web-based story will use the content management system RacontR, which was behind the successful interactive documentary “Prison Valley.” The CMS allows for linkages to other stories and story elements (behind the scenes footage, raw interviews, PDFs of documents) to be embedded within individual videos. The platform then allows for the creator to download the source code and place it on an individual website, or host it within the Racontr platform. The advantage is that it requires little high-end coding (it’s designed on a drag-and-drop model). We plan on embedding it within a hosted website.

We’re planning on using Oculus Rift headsets as a way to “house” our VR stories. Because of the experimental design of this phase of the project, we don’t plan on offering an online home for the VR pieces; we’re more interested in learning how audiences react to the storytelling experiment. We’re of the belief that this focus offers more potential benefits to broadcasters. Additionally, it will help us to shape the project as it moves into phases 2 and 3 of development.

Our AR stories will be housed using Google Maps. CU Boulder has a close relationship with the Google News Lab (we’re one of its university partners), and we’re using their expertise to determine how to best “place” stories virtually in a mapped world. We believe that augmented reality, in particular, holds great promise for news organizations, because of how it ties a story to a specific place.

TVT:Tell us about the female photographers involved. Did gender play a role in this project?

KR: We’ll be telling the stories of five to six contemporary photographers. All but Renae Carter Mitchell have already committed to the project and been interviewed.

Nina Berman is a documentary photographer, author and educator, whose photographs and videos have been exhibited at more than 100 international venues including the Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Portland Art Museum, and Dublin Contemporary. She is the author of two monographs “Purple Hearts—Back from Iraq,” portraits and interviews with wounded American veterans; and “Homeland,” which explores the militarization of American life post-September 11. She’s received awards from the World Press Photo Foundation, Pictures of the Year International, the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Open Society Foundation. She is the 2016 Aftermath Project grant winner and the 2017 Susan Tifft fellow at the Center for Documentary studies at Duke University. She is a member of NOOR images and an associate professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she directs the photography program. She lives in her hometown of New York City.

Sarah Christianson grew up on a four-generation family farm in the heart of eastern North Dakota's Red River Valley (an hour north of Fargo). Immersed in that vast expanse of the Great Plains, she developed a strong affinity for its landscape. This connection to place has had a profound effect on her work: despite moving to San Francisco in 2009, she continues to document the subtleties and nuances of the Midwestern landscape and experience through long-term projects. She earned an MFA in photography from the University of Minnesota. Her current project, “When the Landscape is Quiet Again,” examines the oil boom occurring in western North Dakota.

Terry Evans specializes in landscapes that capture the people and places of the Midwest. In “Fractured: North Dakota’s Oil Boom,” she traveled to Western North Dakota to see how the boom cycle of natural gas extraction was changing the shape of the prairie. She says she never intended to photograph the prairie, but finds within the land echoes of classical art. Evans has a BFA in painting from the University of Kansas, and her work is collected by museums internationally. She lives in Chicago.

Renae Cartier Mitchell is a freelance photographer based in North Dakota. She grew up in the western part of the state and currently lives in Fargo. She is a contracted photographer for the North Dakota Petroleum Council.

Martha Rial’s photographs have received international acclaim, including a Pulitzer Prize for work documenting the lives of Burundian and Rwandan survivors of the 1994 genocide. She is a photojournalist specializing in documentary, editorial and portrait photography. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of the Carnegie Museum of Art, BNY Mellon and the Newseum in Washington D.C., and has earned the Scripps Howard Foundation Award for Photojournalism, a National Headliner Award and the Distinguished Visual Award from the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors. She is a graduate of Ohio University's School of Visual Communication.

Victoria Sambunaris received her MFA from Yale University in 1999. Each year, she structures her life around a photographic journey crossing the American landscape. Her most recent project has been working in South Texas photographing the intersection of geology, industry and culture encompassing the petro/chemical and shipping industries situated around the Gulf Coast. Her work is held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the National Gallery of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Lannan Foundation. Radius Books published her first monograph “Taxonomy of a Landscape.” She is based in New York’s Hudson River Valley.

One of the questions we’ve asked each woman is [whether or not] there is a female ‘eye’ in landscape photography.” It’s a difficult question to answer. Landscape photography historically has been considered a male domain, which historian Naomi Rosenblum says “presupposed a definition of landscape photography limited to images that capture sublime grandeur.” That’s not to say women weren’t photographing the land, but rather that their images weren’t considered to be part of the larger “landscape photography” movement. Images close to home or of human interactions with the land tend to not fall into the traditional “landscape” tradition.

But as the recent kerfuffle surrounding Nikon’s selection of 32 male photographers to test-drive (and promote) a new camera illustrates, photography is a male-dominated industry. The New York Times reported that even though women make up the majority of students in collegiate journalism programs (undergrad and graduate), “about 15 percent of the entries to the prestigious World Press Photo awards... and the vast majority of photos in many major publications’ collections of the most significant images of 2016 overwhelmingly carried male photographer’s credits—ranging between 80 and 100 percent.”

As the women who’ve spoken to me for this project have said, they don’t often get the same sort of “important” assignments, or get the same sort of recognition for their work, that their male colleagues do. This project seeks to remedy this oversight.

TVT:How do you see this experiment impacting the broadcasting professional?

KR: Broadcasters know about the importance of experimenting with new “toys” and emerging technology. And our discussions with the Public News Service (our industry partner) indicate there is an interest by broadcasters to present innovative content to viewers. But in the case of virtual and augmented reality, there isn’t a lot of research about how users react to and engage with the specific platforms. It’s not as simple as plopping a broadcast-ready story into a platform and hope the viewers will come. If an organization doesn’t have the reach (or financial wherewithal) of the New York Times, they may not have the ability to experiment with these sorts of platforms without knowing how, or even if, viewers will view the stories.

This is where this project comes in. We hope to develop a template of best practices for storytelling in these emerging platforms.

The answers will come through focus groups in three locations connected to the project (Central Pennsylvania, Western North Dakota, Colorado Front Range) to test the efficacy of the platforms. The i-doc and VR focus group participants will be asked to view stories either through a computer-based website or via VR headsets; groups will be set up in the three locations. The AR participants will be taken to a location where the story is embedded to explore the story on site (one group in western North Dakota, one group in the Pittsburgh area, and one group in Bradford County, PA).

For each group, we have a pre-exposure questionnaire that will establish a baseline of their environmental attitudes. Once the various groups have experienced the content, they will take another brief post-exposure questionnaire, and then participate in focus group discussions of 60–90 minutes to talk about what they learned from the content and how they feel about the issues discussed in the stories, as well as their orientation to the environment itself. We will be looking for changes in their sense of care for the environment, as well as any differences from one group to another based on the type of story format viewed. The focus groups will be recruited using contacts at local universities in each state and using snowball sampling.

While this discovery project isn’t designed to develop external viewer engagement, the i-doc and AR components will be published on public websites and apps; anyone with access to the site or app could feasibly look at the project. We will use some social media strategies (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) to experiment with protocols, including integrating the work into a class offered at the University of Colorado in social media storytelling. We also plan to work closely with PNS (both national and with local producers) in both storytelling and in framing focus group testing.

TVT:Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about the project?

KR: Because of the project's focus on platform-specific content creation as well as experimental testing, it offers a holistic exploration of best practices. It also provides space for users to view the stories both through web/smartphone/headset-based technology as well as high-end headsets, allowing us to begin to understand how technologies can impact viewer understanding. It will provide valuable data not only for our larger project, but also for journalists and broadcasters as a whole.

Logistically, Media in the Public Interest provides news coverage in 36 states, including Pennsylvania, North Dakota and Colorado, through its partnership with Public News Service. Through our partnership, we hope to be able to share the process of the story (as well as story elements), recruit for focus group participants, and develop questions for focus group participants that can best help broadcasters. 

The Pilot Innovation Challenge, an initiative of the National Association of Broadcasters, “recognizes creative ideas that leverage technological advances in the production, distribution and display of engaging content.” More than 150 ideas were submitted to address the challenge question, “What is an unconventional way broadcasters and other local media could serve communities?

TV Technology recently spoke with Karly Choi, marketing director for G’Audio, about the End-to-End audio solution for VR live streaming, which was named a finalist in the Challenge. Winners will be announced Nov. 13.

TV TECHNOLOGY:Please describe the End-to-End Audio Solution for VR Live Streaming and the technology behind it.
Karly Choi: G’Audio Lab’s End-to-End Audio Solution for VR Live Streaming is a spatial audio solution that brings a realistic sonic experience to VR livestreaming. The current VR audio solutions in the market serve the VR content playback for streaming and sideloading, but not livestreaming. G’Audio Lab tackles this issue through our innovative encoding and decoding system for VR livestreaming.

There are two different ways in which audio is recorded and delivered live, so we had to take both of these scenarios into account for the encoding system. The first way is the all-in-one style where the 360 camera already has built-in Ambsionics microphone. The second s is when a 360 camera and Ambisonics microphone are used separately. G’Auido Lab has a prototype ready for the first scenario and is currently finishing the prototype for the second. We came up with another scenario for which we are still developing the prototype. This third is to record audio using the G’Mic solution, and if completed, would let the user create directional audio without the costly Ambisonics microphone. This method would also be able to synchronize audio and video. Using multiple regular omnidirectional microphones, our solution can create one Ambisonic-like audio signal that has x, y, and z directional information.

Our VR Live Streaming solution will contain the most efficient and highest-quality binaural renderer at the decoding system. Binaural rendering is needed to deliver three dimensional audio with just regular headphones. It will allow audio to be adjusted to VR user’s view while watching livestreaming video. Using a good renderer is important because the rendering process decides the quality of the final audio. Our team are experts in binaural rendering and have developed the algorithm that was adopted into the international standard, MPEG-H 3D Audio. With our algorithm and renderer, 360 video will be played with the highest quality audio while requiring the minimal computation power, which would eliminate heavily burdening a mobile VR device.

TVT:What was the inspiration behind the solution?
KC: G’Audio Lab is dedicated to bringing the most immersive and interactive 3D sound to VR experiences. Our team has been serving both content creators and distributors through our different suite of products for VR streaming and sideloading. We realized there was a growing demand for VR livestreaming, yet no existing VR livestreaming platform that offered this spatial audio. Existing distributors offered sound that was just static stereo, rather than delivering sounds from three dimensional space to fully utilize VR’s characteristics.

At NAB 2017 Show, we realized we are the team capable of building the encoding and decoding systems for VR livestreaming and can definitely commercialize the solution. We displayed the concept at our booth, and received positive feedback from broadcasting professionals interested in or already delivering 360 video. They were fascinated with how our spatial audio technology can elevate an experience, bringing it to the next level.

We were already integrating the binaural renderer at the decoding system efficiently. However, dealing with the encoding system could have been much easier. But, our ultimate goal is to replace the costly Ambisonics microphone, offering more realistic audio that is accessible to the public. We have invented an algorithm that will process the multiple regular microphone signals as one combined Ambisonics signal. Furthermore, we believe our solution will lower the current barriers facing both creators and publishers, thus enlarging the VR industry as a whole.

TVT:How do you expect this technology will affect the broadcast industry?
KC: With this technology, the broadcast industry will be able to deliver what people hear in the real world, which is how it should have been all along.

Currently, one can either listen to a concert in real life or through traditional media. What one hears at a live concert is dependent on how close he or she is to the musicians, where a person towards the back will hear more noise from the audience than one who is sitting in the front row. Through traditional media, a listener will hear what was recorded at the time in respect to where the speakers are positioned. In VR, we will be able to detect sounds where they are physically located and coming from, creating an audio experience even clearer than what is heard in a real life situation.

TVT:The description says it’s a solution “that can be adopted into any 360-degree video rendering platform,” but could it be adapted for radio broadcasts or other nontraditional VR environments?
KC: This technology opens doors and creates an entirely new way to experience sound even in a traditional flat screen environment. Instead of using an HMD, one can use either the remote control or keyboard/mouse to change the direction of one’s view. The audio will be interactive and immersive, where sound will be adjusted to what one looks at. The best part is this will all be heard through regular headphones, not with an extra device or hardware. As long as 360 video is supported in a non-VR environment, our audio solutions can be integrated in non-VR environments.

This is the same for radio broadcasts. The true 3D audio includes the height that will be heard over regular headphones, such as above and behind. Instead of traditional stereo signal, one can now deliver 3D music or multi-directional podcast stories.

TVT:What should readers know about the solution and its practical implications for media consumption?
KC: Since this new medium is all about complete immersion, ‘being there’ is the key to the experience. Even if intricate graphics dictate one is in a giant church, if one hears dry and non-echoic sound,he or she immediately knows this scene is fake. This proves that audio is half the experience if not more; it drives your emotions, as well as completes and transports users into the scene. G’Audio Lab’s solution proves how far sound can go in VR, as well as possible future avenues. Spatial audio will be maximized for sports game, music concerts, virtual tour experiences and so on, all in livestreaming.

The Pilot Innovation Challenge, an initiative of the National Association of Broadcasters, “recognizes creative ideas that leverage technological advances in the production, distribution and display of engaging content.” More than 150 ideas were submitted to address the challenge question, “What is an unconventional way broadcasters and other local media could serve communities?

TV Technology recently spoke with Hans Meyer, an associate professor at Ohio University, about Engagement VR, which has been named a finalist in the Challenge. Winners will be announced on Nov. 13.

TV TECHNOLOGY:Please describe the Engagement VR project and technology behind it.

Hans Meyer: Engagement VR is a simple solution for broadcast news organizations to connect with the parts of their viewership areas they don’t report on often in a way that brings the community together around something positive. Too often small towns get coverage only when something bad happens and reporters parachute in. Instead, Engagement VR encourages reporters to talk to the community to build interactive tours of the places they find important. VR technology and 360-degree video ensures the presentations are transparent and show everything about the community, not just what reporters choose to focus their cameras on.

TVT:What was the inspiration behind the service?

HM: As a community newspaper reporter, I was always discouraged when the national media would descend on my town to cover a big news story. The last city I worked in, Barstow, Calif., was constantly shown as a run-down, economically disadvantaged hamlet and the butt of Jay Leno’s jokes. But I knew differently. I knew the diversity the community offered, but I lacked the tools to show it. I see the same thing happening in the Appalachian area I live in now. When I hear about Ironton, Ohio or Harlan County, Ky., it’s only because a crime or natural disaster has happened. I know the TV reporters that serve these communities do their best, but they are limited by time, distance, and budgets.

We hope Engagement VR shows news organizations they can cover communities without relying on a “news peg.” We also hope it engenders goodwill and helps journalists fulfill their community building role, especially in areas they don’t often reach.

TVT:How do you expect Engagement VR to impact the broadcast industry?

HM: I see two key impacts Engagement VR could have on the broadcast industry. First, we hope these simple VR stories can encourage and model how broadcasters can apply their skills to digital media. Local newsrooms aren’t providing enough unique content to the web, relying instead on broadcast programs to keep traditional audiences and online shovelware to build digital ones. As a new and immersive technology, VR has the potential to attract new viewers, and Engagement VR shows how simple it is to create compelling, guided tours with the tools and tracts broadcast journalists already have.

TVT:You stress that the technology can be used with cell phone technology, why was that an important issue for Engagement VR?

HM: Cell phone technology is intrinsic to this project because many of the rural communities TV newsrooms don’t often reach suffer from limited broadband internet access. A cell phone, however, can bridge the gap because they’ve become nearly ubiquitous. In addition, it’s much easier to connect far flung cities and towns with cellular towers than fiber optic cables.

Just as important, however, is overcoming the hurdle that keeps many people away from VR. They think they need an expensive and cumbersome headset and a beefy PC to experience it. We’ve spent a lot of time researching existing and inexpensive technologies that will provide a true VR experience with a cell phone. We anticipate these technologies will propel VR into the mainstream, not Oculus or Vive or Playstation Vue.

TVT:What should readers know about the technology and its practical implications?

HM: We think this technology has many practical applications outside of journalism. Community organizations could create their own virtual tours using one of the platforms that already exist. Most already offer free trials that allow a user to create one project.

We think journalists could serve as valuable guides in the process, and that’s one reason why we created this project. We strongly believe journalism enjoys First Amendment protection because communities need someone to bring them together in a spirit of public comment and compromise. By virtue of their jobs, journalists are often the best informed citizens. We hope Engagement VR empowers them with the tools to share their knowledge and informed opinions toward bringing people together in a time where the media is increasingly being accused of driving them apart.

The Pilot Innovation Challenge, an initiative of the National Association of Broadcasters, “recognizes creative ideas that leverage technological advances in the production, distribution and display of engaging content.” More than 150 ideas were submitted to address the challenge question, “What is an unconventional way broadcasters and other local media could serve communities?

TV Technology recently spoke with Michael Ricciardi, a freelance writer and research, whose Resilience – Preparing for Climate Change project is one of the finalists in the Challenge. Winners will be announced on Nov. 13.

TVT:Please describe the Resilience project and the technology behind it.

Illustration Ricciardi included with his submission for Pilot Innovation Challenge.

Michael Ricciardi: The Resilience project proposes a suite of services to local communities to help community members, groups and organizations prepare for, and adapt to, climate change impacts — working with/through local TV/radio stations.

These services may include data collecting and analytics (e.g., collected via cheap, ground-based sensor networks, CubeSat satellite networks, with the TV/radio station acting as data “hub”), preparedness tools (e.g., mobile/SMS messaging/bulletin services/apps for monitoring/mitigating local GHG emissions and reporting this data), and educational/instructional resources (e.g., lectures or workshops offered through local colleges/universities or nonprofits).

The impacts from climate change may be gradual or sudden, sporadic or continuous, and likely will be quite variable [in local extremes] depending upon the region of the country involved, as the ecological, geographical and native weather conditions vary greatly from region to region in the US. In many case, climate change impacts will be dramatic and can potentially impact an entire region’s infrastructure or economy (as in the cases of severe flooding, prolonged drought impacting our nation’s farm belt, or protracted wildfire seasons).

Climate change will also incur costs — impact costs, mitigation costs, and recovery costs. Some of the financial costs of climate change impact can be reduced or mitigated with proper collective actions (e.g., undertaking community climate risk assessments) and preparedness policies (e.g., developing disaster plans).

Resilience proposes that local TV/radio stations positioned themselves as the central hubs or “integrators” of these services, on a continuous basis, thus making them indispensable to local communities’ on-going efforts to successfully meet the challenges of variable impacts from climate change.

TVT:What was the inspiration behind the service?

MR: The idea of Resilience has been floating around in my brain for quite some time. It was no doubt partly inspired by my years as a science writer (and thus, as a science reader) and reporter. As it became clear to me that climate change would impact some communities more than others (e.g., rural/isolated or poorer communities), and that these impacts would be highly variable from region to region — within the US, globally even more so, I came to see that said impacts would be critical challenges for some, and that successfully dealing with them would require a certain capacity or trait: resilience. But it was still a mostly unformed idea. What gave it form was the Pilot challenge. The Pilot challenge provided a structure, or context, in which to situate this idea, to actualize this idea, by targeting and fulfilling local TV/radio stations’ community service missions [through offering Resilience services to the local communities they serve].

TVT:How do you expect Resilience will affect the broadcast industry?

MR: In the medium to long term, I believe the impact will be highly positive, insofar as it will be providing real value to the community in addition to providing general news and entertainment. Resilience will help make local stations the central hubs and integrators of climate change preparedness/adaptation data, tools, and resources. I foresee a type of social contagion happening within a short time frame (2–4 years) in which more and more radio and TV stations adopt and implement locally-tailored Resilience projects and services…eventually covering the entire US. Resilience-type projects/initiative are, in my opinion, inevitable. At the heart of this movement will be the local TV/radio stations that were/are prescient enough to identify the critical and increasing need for such services in the not-so-far-off future.

TVT:Are there tools that make Resilience more ideal for one type of media rather than another? Do you anticipate local radio stations or television stations using it?

MR: I anticipate both local TV and radio stations to provide Resilience services — perhaps working cooperatively towards this goal. In the case of data communication: both media (radio and TV) can communicate this, however, data visualization [which helps people understand data better] is best served through a visual medium. That said, many radio stations have web presences and/or have radio shows that are televised. Thus, listeners to a radio show or segment dealing with climate change impacts can look up a webpage for “more information” via their laptops or mobile devices if they so choose. As an example, a local college or university may be conducting a “citizen science” project centering on climate science. Interested citizens can sign up via a companion website, take part in the project and also gain valuable experience and knowledge. This web presence for audio media will help equalize the data communication/visualization “divide” that one might assume exists between TV and radio. Beyond this function, both TV and radio have inherent advantages they can exploit to best provide Resilience services.

TVT:What should readers know about the technology and its practical implications?

MR: There is no single technology that the Resilience project depends on to “make it work.” A number of existing and fairly new technologies can be utilized to provide the services noted. Those already noted are by no means the only ones but are simply some of the more practical and useful technologies. Accessing some of these may have some associated costs but they were chosen because of the relative affordability.

For example, designing and implementing a local sensor network or web of sensor networks (e.g., for monitoring soil moisture content in local farming communities) can be achieved cheaply with “off-the-shelf” components (with the set-up perhaps assisted by engineers from the local university) — with sensor data being transmitted via radio to a central hub for acquisition/aggregation/analysis/announcing (A4) — and having real-world implication: continuous monitoring of local soil moisture content can help predict flooding, monitor droughts and even inform farmers as to which crops to plant (as just one example of one type of data collecting/usage). This can potentially save a community considerable cost and even enable it to thrive despite the climate change impacts.

GeoOptics CubeSats (also known as “nanosatellites”) can be deployed cheaply and in larger numbers than traditional “big science” satellites. These small scale, low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites provide finer time resolution than large NOAA or NASA satellites and can therefore supplement the data from these latter types to provide continuous updates in key climate data metrics (e.g., temperature, pressure, and humidity at various altitudes). Acting as a community liaison, a radio/TV station can partner with community groups and local university aeronautics departments (and/or their private space sector affiliates) to coordinate a CubeSat deployment that will serve the specific local community's weather and climate impact needs. CubeSat weather data from private space sector start-ups is already slated to augment local weather data for NOAA’s weather service by 2018 (GeoOptics and Spire are two such CubeSat companies).

These are just a few examples of what types of technologies can be used and what they can be used for. The nature and type of content offered by any given region’s Resilience services will vary significantly and be shaped by each community’s unique climate change risks and challenges.

The PILOT Innovation Challenge, an initiative of the National Association of Broadcasters, “recognizes creative ideas that leverage technological advances in the production, distribution and display of engaging content.” More than 150 ideas were submitted to address the challenge question, “What is an unconventional way broadcasters and other local media could serve communities?

TV Technology recently spoke with Josh Davidsburg, a lecturer with the University of Maryland, about NewsBIN Vlog, the project his students are working on, which has been named a finalist in the Challenge. Winners will be announced on Nov. 13.

TV TECHNOLOGY: Please explain the project in detail and the new format of video journalism. How many students are involved?

JOSH DAVIDSBURG: What do your kids watch? Chances are they are watching YouTube. One of the most popular formats of video production on YouTube is “vlogging.” At its core, vlogging is a cross between personal blogs and video, but it has evolved into so much more. Vlogging is a very stylized, personal form of video storytelling. It consists of a mix of raw, natural elements, such as high-quality editing full of jump-cuts and in-camera transitions. It is a medium native to streaming media and not seen on traditional television. 

[An example of a vlog] that is most interesting for the scope of this project is Casey Neistat’s channel. Neistat not only boasts 7.8 million subscribers, but his company was also bought by CNN for $25 million.

I have eight students working directly on the project and a second class has another eight covering similar stories in a more traditional format. 

We are going to look at vlogging-style video production and editing, popularized by YouTube and Neistat, to explore how we can apply it to local journalism. We will create a proof-of-concept news vlog, covering the Maryland General Assembly and use YouTube analytics to compare it to traditional journalism pieces covering similar stories. My students will be vlogging throughout the 90-day session, covering similar stories as our traditional broadcast students, and analyze statistics such as the retention rates to see which is more successful. We will also create educational materials (videos or a website) for local broadcasters and journalism outlets to explore journalistic vlogging. 

TVT: What led to the development of this project?

JD: I currently teach a class a class called “Broadcast Innovation” at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. After brainstorming with students a few semesters ago, we developed a behind-the-scenes YouTube vlog showing what was happening in our class. When NAB’s PILOT Innovation Challenge announced a call for entries, we decided it was time to take vlogging from behind the scenes to see how we could use it to create external journalism. 

TVT: What is unconventional about it?

JD: This is a format that exists only in streaming media, mostly on YouTube. While all vlogging is personal, no one is exploring the intersection between local news and vlogging. It's not only a cost-effective format (shot on DSLRs or mirrorless cameras, usually by one-man-bands), but it is a popular format, especially with the coveted millennial audience.

A story published by The Guardian noted: According to a study by Global Web Index, 42 percent of internet users say they watched a vlog within the month of January 2015, although this rises to 50 percent for 16–24 year-olds and 25–34 year-olds. The vast majority of vlog viewers—93 percent—are watching them on YouTube.

TVT: What equipment are the students learning to use when producing the videos for YouTube?

JD.: The students will be using DSLR or Mirrorless cameras on small Joby tripods with a RØDE Videomic shotgun mic. It's a setup popularized by YouTube vloggers like Casey Niestat. 

TVT: How do you see this project impacting the broadcasting professional?

JD: As our TVs become more and more connected to the internet, we will become more accustomed to web-style video production on our large screens. In addition, as millennials and cord-cutters grow up, they will look for similar content. Local broadcasters will see more video competition from newspapers and vloggers, so local TV must evolve and adapt. Whether we like it or not, we're going to start seeing challenges from nontraditional video producers. 

Vlogging is a format that is inexpensive to produce, but resonates with younger audiences. Local news professionals can create vlogs to connect with millennials, both in covering traditional stories and producing behind-the-scenes content.

TVT: Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about the project?

JD: My students are incredibly excited about this project. They're finally working in a medium of video production that they connect with and watch on a regular basis. 

LAS VEGAS—What is an unconventional way broadcasters and other local media could serve communities? That is the question posed to interested participants for the NAB’s second annual Pilot Innovation Challenge.

The Pilot Innovations Challenge seeks to recognize creative ideas that leverage technological advances in the production, distribution and display of engaging content and subsequently provides support to the winning entries for development.

Applicants will be required to submit a title, descriptions of their proposed concept, illustration and a business case explaining the concept’s viability. The submission must address the challenge question and will be evaluated based on its creativity, value proposition it holds for both broadcasters and consumers, and its viability. Judges will be made up of local broadcasters, academics, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and other media-related entities.

This is expected to be the first of two challenges from the Pilot initiative over the next two years that will focus on uncovering local projects that serve the needs of communities. These challenges are supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with a $200,000 investment. In addition, NAB and Pilot is expected to build a network of broadcast news innovators who can provide guidance, support and industry exposure to winners.

The call for entries is now open, with an application deadline of Sept. 22. NAB will announce the 2017 Pilot Innovation Challenge during the NAB Futures Conference in Palo Alto, Calif., from Nov. 12-14.

For more information on the program, visit nabpilot.org/challenge.

WASHINGTON—It was all treat and no trick for the three winners of the first PILOT Innovation Challenge, which were announced Oct. 31 during the NAB Futures event in Pebble Beach, Calif. First prize went to Robinne Burrell and Trina DasGupta of Redflight Media Innovation for their VR program “In Your Shoes.”

(L to R) NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith; Robinne Burrell and Trina DasGupta of “In Your Shoes”; Elise Hackney and Jordan Sales of “History Go”; Chandra Clark of “The News Call”; PILOT Executive Director John Clark

The PILOT Innovation Challenge sought to recognize creative ideas that “leverage technological advances in the production, distribution and display of engaging content,” per NAB’s press release. The organization said it received more than 150 submissions, which was narrowed to a top 10 before a panel of five judges determined which three best answered the prompt question “How might local television and radio broadcaster engage their communities with next generation content on any device?” The top three chosen by the judges presented at NAB Futures and voted on by the conference attendees.

Emerging on top was “In Your Shoes,” an immersive storytelling platform that utilizes virtual reality to document the lives of multiple people involved in a single situation or issue. Second place was awarded to Jordan Sales, Elise Hackney, Alberta Lin, Eric Asencio, Mike Le, and Claire Lohn of Texas A&M University for their History GO app, which utilizes augmented reality to display facts and videos about an area. Chandra Clark from the University of Alabama won third place for “The News Call,” a DVR-type phone service that calls a user at a pre-determined time with pre-programmed customized news.

First place received $20,000, $15,000 for second place and $10,000 for third place to assist with prototyping their concepts. The winners will also receive access to broadcast executives at future NAB events including the NAB Show and the Innovation Celebration at NAB Show New York.

WASHINGTON—The National Association of Broadcasters’ technology innovation incubator Pilot has announced the 10 finalists for its first Innovation Challenge. 

The NAB phrased the challenge in the form of a question: “How might local television and radio broadcasters engage their communities with next generation content on any device, whether big, small or moving?” The competition was open to all — “entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and creative thinkers.” 

The first place prize is $20,000, with $15,000 for second and $10,000 for third. The winners will be selected by a panel of judges and announced at the NAB Futures conference, Oct. 31, Pebble Beach, Calif. 

The finalists are: Broadcast Us; Chapters; GeoTunes; gNews; History Go; In Your Shoes; Story Builder; Lokita; The News Call; and You Win. 

This story first appeared on TV Technology's sister publication Radio World.