EXPERIMEDIA

The Experimedia project complements the larger EU program FIRE – Future Internet Research and Experimentation. But while FIRE focuses on the technical aspects of the future internet, the goal of Experimedia is to take a user-centric perspective and explore opportunities in different contexts. The project asks questions like ‘How can the new technologies be used?’ and ‘How are different services experienced?’

Three disparate sites are used as experimental settings. Schladming in Austria is an alpine ski resort, interested in exploring new ways of creating value for their visitors. The High Performance Center of Catalonia is a sport facility, and provides the-athletes-of-tomorrow with extensive training resources. The Hellenic Cosmos Cultural Centre offers educational productions and multimedia exhibits related to the Greek cultural heritage.

There is a general trend in society that the value of information is declining as time passes. What is unique and happens right now carries more value compared to pre-recorded information. Therefore, the project focuses on real-time services. The goal is broader than just creating new "killer apps". Instead, it is about a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of different services.

The three year project started in October 2011. RISE Interactive acts as a tools developer and also has a cross-border function, making sure the technical side understands softer perspectives such as psychology and sociology. RISE Interactive is also responsible for the experiments being executed in a scientific manner, including collecting quantitative and qualitative data. An additional role is to attract new partners interested in performing experiments.