BlogicBlog: View from the trenches

The blog about Java and XML with focus on troubleshooting issues and tools.

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Thoughts on: Google Video Search

Permanent article link

So, now Google can search TV programs based on the subtitles. While there is still a lot of improvements, I can see one interesting use of it straight away (well, within reach anyway).

Connect Google Video Search, Google alerts and Tivo (or more probably a custom coded PVR) and you can chose shows to record in slack time based on how often those shows mention your favourite keywords. Make the interface real-time (probably not very likely) and you might be able to trigger PVR to start recording a program when a keyword is mentioned.

It might be possible to do this now in PVR software by making it watch the captions keywords, but from what I understand you need to actively monitor specific channel for that. The Google method would allow to collect the statistical information and fine-tune the results over time.

Actually, there is a business idea here for a paid service. Somebody could setup several capture cards in parallel and have subscribed keyword watches with real time ping triggering user's PVR. Let me know if you make a business out of this idea or want more details on how that could work. It is quite possibly not a new idea in its basic form, but with more people building PVRs it might be the time to reexamine it.

If you have any feedback on the Google's new feature, you can always comment on Google's discussion group that is setup specifically for this.

BlogicBlogger Over and Out