EU-funded researchers are creating technologies that combine web, social media and TV to enhance our experience and interactions across media. In particular, they are working in a the project “NoTube” which has as main aim linking media together so consumers can watch shows and interact with friends regardless of the devices they use.

The NoTube 'Networks and ontologies for the transformation and unification of broadcasting and the internet' project is a European-funded project - under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) - , that brings the digital and broadcasting industries together, along with experts in platform integration, with the aim of linking media together so consumers can watch shows and interact with friends regardless of the devices they use. For instance, the project also looked at the possibility of using a smartphone as a TV remote control.

According to the researchers, the key to NoTube's approach is 'linked data', where information about a viewer - such as preferences, social networks, contacts and favourite shows - is stored 'in the cloud'. The data may be held in different databases and formats but it is made accessible by conforming to recognised industry standards for data structure, storage, access and linking. Research shows that consumers watch TV and use the web simultaneously for up to 3.5 hours daily and 42% of UK adults discussed the programmes they were watching on social networks.

The project also focuses in systems that must be secure and respect privacy data, which is often a stumbling block for commercial solutions. Recognising that people use default settings and fail to guard personal data, the NoTube architecture builds in security to ensure linked data remains secure.