London: British broadcasters are on the verge of deploying technology that allows viewers to influence television drama storylines via SMS during a programme.

The sophisticated technology, used for the first time last month by a Finnish broadcaster in a romantic comedy titled Accidental Lovers, lets viewers take control by influencing the story line using a system dubbed ShapeShifter TV. The pan-European team behind it, led by British Telecom but including 13 partners from eight countries, claims it will give rise to a revolutionary form of broadcasting combining the interactivity of video games and the Internet with the mass viewing experience of traditional TV.

While U.K.'s Channel 4 last year broadcast a series that allowed viewers to choose between two different story lines at the end of each episode, ShapeShifter TV is designed to allow viewers to exert influence over the story line even as the programme is on air.

In Accidental Lovers viewers are asked to text their opinion on an affair between a 61-year-old cabaret singer and a male pop star 30 years her junior. The text messages, analysed for keywords by computer but also guided by human moderators, are displayed at the bottom of the screen and the technology prompts different layers of voiceovers, captions and scenes to be displayed according to their content. The progress of the affair is represented by a graphic in the corner of the screen. The way the technology is utilised is expected to become more sophisticated as broadcasters experiment with it.

Doug Williams, project director, said BT was working on similar ideas since its research division formed a "future content group" to look at the creative possibilities afforded by the convergence of TV and the Net.

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

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