Development

• Forward-looking research on an area of more than 2000 square metres
• Exhibits and papers under four fascinating headings
• An afternoon when you can get involved and maybe win a prize
• Under the patronage of Federal Minister Dr. Annette Schavan

Television and web technologies merge to form new, interactive media. Screens presenting entertainment and information in three dimensions. Controlling electronic equipment throughout the house using gestures and voice commands. Robot intelligence to improve everyday life. Visions of a remote future? They are being presented right now by the Science and Technology Forum (TWF) at IFA as realistic potential technologies for innovative products and services involving digital media. On a display area in excess of 2000 square metres in Hall 5.3 the TWF is presenting exciting prospects for new markets from 29 August to 3 September at IFA. Over 20 universities, research institutes and project groups of international standing will be presenting their latest developments there.

The TWF is a unique combination of specialist exhibition and a forum for discussions about innovative media technology. In its concentrated form it represents the many technical skills and capabilities of all the various branches of industry, media and institutions participating in IFA. The Federal Minister for Education and Research, Dr. Annette Schavan, has agreed to act as patron of the TWF again this year.

Digital Broadcasting – TV, IPTV and Audio
One of the main themes of the TWF 2008 takes a closer look at the future of digital television and radio. Programmes with a rigid schedule are giving way to services with an interactive structure, formerly passive viewers are getting actively involved, and instead of media for all a number of individual services are being developed.

The TWF is presenting the technologies behind this process. Examples include production environments for interactive, audiovisual content, solutions that link TV distribution systems with telecommunication network structures, and technology that supports ideas for new programme forms and new services. Other exhibits present video signal processing for the television of the future: coding, which makes high-definition pictures look even more spectacular, and signal extensions which, from a single data flow, can not only supply content for large HD screens but also for the tiny displays on cellphones. This section also focuses on radio broadcasting, in surround sound with 5.1 channels, and using new transmission technologies such as DAB+ and DRM+.

Interfaces
What comes after infra-red remote controls? What will the screens of the future look like? Answers to these and similar questions are provided in the section dealing with Interfaces. In the future it will be possible to provide consumer electronics devices with commands in plain language, making keyboards superfluous. Alternatively they will respond to gestures, just as some games consoles already do. And of course it will be possible to communicate with the media devices of the future in any language. The most sophisticated equipment will even be able to translate like a simultaneous interpreter, for example to enable direct communication with partners on other continents. 3D displays could become a regular feature of children’s rooms even before they become established in the living room: the TWF is presenting 3D screens which can be manufactured so cheaply that they can be used as games monitors. Yet another spectacular exhibit shows how we might soon be watching films: a monitor in the form of a three-dimensional cube will enable viewers to flick through the action in the manner of a large card file, providing direct access to each scene and each shot.

MyMedia
The electronic media is no longer a one way street, and the passive couch potato is now a thing of the past. To an increasing extent a contemporary involvement with the media includes the ability to structure one’s own content, along with the personal selection and processing of videos, images and sound. The TWF shows how ideas associated with Web 2.0 are increasingly influencing the entire world of the digital media. Viewers are becoming creative collectors, film-makers and communicators. This transition is being aided by new technologies such as digital assistants, platforms for common media usage, systems for producing one’s own content, new forms of audio coding which enable music collections to be archived without any loss of data, and intelligent search systems which automatically sort music and other media files according to specific criteria.


Information – Infotainment – Living Machines
The fourth main topic featured by the TWF examines how media technologies will be used in the future to support information systems, games, traffic assistants and even autonomous robots in the home. At the centre of the exhibits is Pleo, an electronic dinosaur, which can even develop an emotional link with its owner. Its developers are exhibiting software for such digital “life forms” in association with a pan-European robotics research project.

Talk at TWF – a forum for papers, but not just for the experts
For the entire duration of the fair Talk at TWF will supplement the displays with more in-depth technical papers and discussions. These are intended not only for technical experts and decision-makers in the consumer electronics sector, because part of the TWF programme is also aimed at a wide cross-section of the public with an interest in technical matters.

On Saturday, 30 August, for example, the entire morning is being devoted to digital television. Leading figures from the industry will present the next stages in the introduction of HDTV and mobile television, and will be giving an indication of what we can expect television in 2020 to look like.

The programme of talks on Saturday afternoon is aimed in particular at schoolchildren and students, with an informal look at the opportunities offered by modern technology. The afternoon will be rounded off by a competition and a chance to win prizes.

Important dates and times for the press
Journalists should include the following two events in their timetables:
11 a.m. on Friday, 29 August, when the opening event of the TWF takes place in Hall 5.3. The TWF project will be presented by leading figures from the worlds of research, industry and politics.

At 11 a.m. on Sunday, 31 August, the TWF invites the press to tour the stands. This will be an opportunity for media representatives to obtain in-depth information about the items on display from the exhibitors on the stands.