A new venture in television created by a San Francisco-based startup combines web content with television programming in a way that makes information-rich viewing experiences nearly seamless. InAir presents television programming side-by-side with related web content. The product’s three-person team believes that this new dynamic could eliminate the need to multitask on other devices, such as a tablet or smartphone, to glean information about a TV show currently being viewed.
A recently successful Kickstarter to make “the world’s first augmented television” might finally put 3D TV to good use, transforming your home screen into what the developers call “aMinority Report-like experience.” The device—with a pretty ungainly name, the SeeSpace InAiR—is plug and play using nothing but WiFi and an HDMI cable. Once up and running, the InAir “intelligently identifies what you are watching on TV, automatically gathers relevant Internet and social content, and then processes and places these layers of Web information in front of your TV screen in real time, on demand. InAiR can use the vast amount of readily available free content on the Internet to enrich your viewing experience at launch.”