The BBC has today launched BBC Taster, described as a space to develop ideas for digital content and emerging technology, from across TV, Radio and Online.
At the BBC Media Cafe in London, Broadband TV News was shown concepts that included a news timeline based on a date of birth, a voice activated website that reads you the latest weather forecast and a ballerina rendered in 3D to demonstrate dance moves.
Ralph Rivera, Director, BBC Future Media, said: “We only resonate with audiences when we’re able to fuse technological innovation with editorial creativity and that’s something that the BBC is well placed to do.”
Rivera quipped that the BBC has been delivering the future since 1922 and one can imagine the BBC’s first director-general, Lord Reith, commissioning the interactive Elements of poetry featuring Holly McNish.
By calling the project BBC Taster, rather than early names BBC Alpha or BBC Beta, the BBC is emphasising that it is just as much about delivering content in different ways than it is a means to showcase the latest experiments from the BBC Future Media, Research & Development, Connected Studio and digital innovation teams.
Audience reaction will be studied through a micro-questionaire with five short questions on the user experience.
BBC Online now receives as much traffic from mobiles as it does from PCs. Social media also plays an increasingly important role among youth audiences, with 75% of 16-24 year olds in the UK claiming to use social networking sites.
Rivera said the rise in mobile traffic was particularly strong at weekends, when people were out and about, and sport was driving traffic.
The initial release of 17 projects includes exclusive content with Lena Dunham and Jennifer Saunders, Simon Reeves, hip hop duo, Run the Jewels, and several major BBC brands.
The plan is to allow each element a period of about three months on the site.
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