If you would like a more local twist to what you listen to on the radio then the good old BBC might have the perfect solution.
Boffins at the Beeb have come up with something which goes by the rather exciting name of The Perceptive Radio. The crux of it is that the material broadcast can alter automatically according to where the listener is and even the current weather conditions.
The idea has been getting worked on by the Future Media North Lab of the BBC and is believed to a unique concept. The cutting edge radio was shown to the public for the first time at the Thinking Digital Conference which took place in Gateshead recently.
What’s It Like Outside?
The model which was put on show used a computer generated voice and pulled data from external sources to allow it to adapt its script, which was about a woman who was stuck in a life. This could mean mentioning places which are close to the listener or it could even mean talking about the current weather conditions.
It also comes with a microphone which takes in the noise happening in the background and works out whether the speech levels of the broadcast need to be increased in order to be better heard.
Tony Churnside is one of the team working on the Perceptive Radio and he said that this is a look at the “early stages” of the next generation of broadcasting methods. He pointed out that before now the radio listening experience has been all about the same material being aimed at everyone and that this development makes it more like responsive web design by altering the experience for everyone who uses it.
