Ruwido delivers human interface

If you ever saw Ozzy Osborne struggling with the TV remote, stuck on the weather channel and claiming you needed to be a computer expert to operate satellite TV, you'd despair of the chances for interactive TV ever taking off.

But Ozzie - we hope - is not the average viewer, not unless Mr and Mrs average started off as a satanic Brummie heavy metal act and subsequently spent a lifetime dedicated to bodily abuse and debauchery via class A drugs and alcohol. Nonetheless, the point was clearly made that the technology has to be simple to use or it will be a disincentive, rather than a plus for the target users.

That's the premise behind Ruwido of Austria's multi-purpose remote, or as Managing Director Ferdinand Maier prefers to call it, human interface platform.

The basic range of infrared devices initially look like particularly ergonomic conventional remotes - except that they come in multi-colours for multiple users, and can flip sideways, where closer inspection reveals that they have additional keys to become two-handed gaming remotes.

"There's millions of dollars spent on developing interactive content, networks and hardware, but no one is really looking at the subscriber to ensure they can use it in an easy way," notes Maier.

His company has conducted extensive research 'not just back of an envelope stuff', starting at the beginning to discover how users interact with their TV - and found that it depends upon their lifestyle.

"To meet the varied expectations inside a single family - parents, teenagers, younger children - you need to be able to spot trends - which are different from fads or fashions as they have a long term viability. Our target group is the family, and our developments need durability, looking at the mega trends. Safe adventure is one - which is met by games such as playstations, in which you 'participate' in dangerous activities at no risk to yourself (Ruwido has developed wireless handsets for use with Nintendo gaming). Also, interactive entertainment has to be simultaneous multi-user to be successful - therefore our products support multi-user environments. To encourage t-commerce - such as pay per play - the functionality has to work, providing the pleasure and satisfaction sought, with a relaxed approach that is not stressful to make work. Another very important factor is increased personalisation - so for example we would provide different colour remotes for each member of the family - which would become customised to their usage.

"Also, everything needs to be plug and play, using ergonomic devices that can be operated with one hand as a remote, or two as a game console handset.

"The input device is just two to four per cent of the cost of the set top, but can vastly increase usage, providing a significant multiple of return on investment."

The policy appears to be paying off. "We are the single supplier to the next generation box from Canal Plus which is being introduced by the end of this year," comments Maier, adding that the company is also the single supplier to the entire NTL organisation. "In this field we are a technology driver," adds Maier.
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