The ABC’s Digital Network division today made public its research and development (R+D) site to share its work into what media experiences could look and feel like in the future.

Since launching earlier this year the R+D team has investigated areas including virtual and augmented reality, intelligent computing, interfaces that transcend screens, open platform personalised news services, and contexts such as commuting. The R+D site and its reports were previously only available to ABC staff.

ABC digital network director Angela Clark said the ABC’s investigations were being shared to support further discussion around the future of media experiences in Australia.

“The challenges and opportunities presented by digital disruption extend across many sectors so it may be that something from our own experience will benefit others. By sharing our work we hope to stimulate more conversations and support an environment of open collaboration in both the opportunities and challenges that rapid change brings,” Clark said.

The digital network’s head of R+D Alvaro Marquez said the work of R+D was focused on informing, educating and entertaining Australian audiences in future settings.

“Our role is to explore what future experiences might mean for the ABC and to envision new ways to read, watch and listen to content. The materials released today cover a wide range of topics from the rise of natural interfaces, the impact of big data and ubiquitous computing, and Natural Language Processing,” Alvaro Marquez said.

Materials available for download at rd.abc.net.au include:

• Megatrends: Introduces five key trends and shifts in emergent and growing technologies that may affect the medium-term future and have an impact on media experiences.
• Beyond the Screen: Imagines beyond the “click” and “touch” of our current multi-screen world to the next generation of digital experiences, where our interactions will be with the world around us.
• The Commute: Explores the Australian commuting experience of 2020, and how media may be consumed in that context.
• ACE (Automated Content Enhancement): A technical prototype that explores Natural Language Processing as a solution for generating meaningful metadata so content can be used by contextually aware systems in future media experiences.
• News, Place & Relevance: A research study based on personalised mobile pilots across regional Australia that examines the more immediate opportunities relating to how location impacts relevance when it comes to news and information services.