Ball State University is examining the next big thing in home entertainment and mobile communications interactivity while preparing students to be the next generation of highly skilled employees for a variety of emerging media fields.

Immersed in a yearlong interactive media class (iMedia), supported by the nationally acclaimed Center for Media Design (CMD) and the College of Sciences and Humanities, and the College of Communication, Information, and Media, students are developing and designing interactive news and advertising for a variety of platforms.

The course is a unique collaboration taught by professors from computer science, telecommunications, and journalism.

"This is a very innovative project that could change the way we use our cell phones, PDAs, or portable media players to consume news and entertainment as well as interact with advertisers," said Jennifer George-Palilonis, a journalism faculty member. "From the design standpoint, it is very hard to wrap your brain around the idea of working with small screens as opposed to larger computer screens. However, this generation of students has grown up with cell phones and portable media players. They get the technology because they use it from the time they get up until they go to bed."

Students enrolled in this multidisciplinary course are developing interfaces for the widely popular iPhone and iPod touch as well as other multimedia devices. The CMD's Insight and Research team is assisting with usability testing of the TV and mobile device interfaces created from this course, and the team of professors who lead the course will synthesize that data.

During spring 2008, research focused on interactive advertising and news for a television broadcast and the mobile devices. Local businesses were used for the interactive advertising and student-produced video, and information graphics were used for news content. Usability tests were performed several times during the semester so that students could receive feedback from real users about the experience.