Brazilian Observatory of Digital Television and Technological Convergence (OBTED)
The Brazilian Observatory of Digital Television and Technological Convergence (OBTED) is a project of the Laboratory of Arts, Media and Digital Technologies (LabArteMídia ECA-USP). OBTED is dedicated to monitoring the migration scenario from analog to digital TV and the Brazilian switch off, which should be completed in 2023. At the same time, the observatory is also dedicated to the theoretical research of television in the era of mass digital production, with a focus on identifying technological improvements, new possibilities for content enjoyment and the social implications brought by the digital system to this vehicle of communication, which is still the most prevalent in homes and the most watched by Brazilian families.
The observatory is not restricted to just looking critically at digital TV or the processes that permeate it, but is born with a collaborative nature, to also propose solutions, experiment with technologies and build knowledge together. That’s why our research and actions are carried out in conjunction with universities, governments, audiovisual equipment manufacturers, broadcasters and on-demand content and telecommunications companies.
Research
Obted currently carries out research along four different lines: Digital TV, Television and Content, Social, Community and Educational Television and Television, Reception and Business. The areas cover the implementation process, technologies and contents of Digital TV, the social, community and educational possibilities of TV, especially community experiences, and the forms of consumption and fruition linked to the television device and business.
Technical and Scientific Staff
Obted is coordinated by Almir Almas (CTR-USP) and Deisy Fernanda Feitosa (Senac and FFLCH-USP) and includes associate researchers Alexandre Shirmer Kieling (UCB), Eduardo Acquarone (Globo and ISCTE-IUL), Fernanda Castilho (CEETEPS/FATEC), Fernando Carlos Moura (SET and Language Center), Francisco Machado Filho (Unesp) and José Salustiano Fagundes de Souza (USP HXD), Leire Mara Bevilaqua (TV Unesp), Mônica Pinheiro (InFormação) and Rosane Baptista (InFormação).
Museum of the Oral Memory of Television
Obted is currently developing the online platform Museu da Memória Oral da Televisão (Museum of the Oral Memory of Television) as part of researcher Deisy Fernanda Feitosa’s post-doctoral research. The Museum gathers testimonies from viewers and deals with their relationship with this media.
The Museum gathers testimonies from viewers about their relationship with TV, who also talk about the influence it has on their daily lives, considering its positive and negative aspects. The testimonies are memories of encounters between the viewer’s life and what TV portrays on screen. With the project, we aim to build a collaborative environment that also functions as a repository of academic and audiovisual documents on the history of television.