Truly Interactive TV

“Home viewers can participate in a game show, children can respond to educational shows, teen-agers can input to a discussion show on dating, and mom can alter cooking shows according to her family’s dietary needs.” That’s the claim of Michael J. Freedman, about a system he’s invented that “makes television truly interactive for the first time.”

Called ACTV (the letters are meant to suggest “inter active “), Freedman’s patented development has already been seen--in a small way. At New York’s recent Toy Fair, the View-Master Ideal company demonstrated the first device to incorporate the ACTV technology: a toy hooked to a VCR and prototype programming that enables viewers to respond to characters.

However, Freedman is looking way beyond such simple applications. If ACTV is all it’s chalked up to be, the system should have a great impact on a wide range of television/video formats. Next planned application: A Canadian corporation, Le Groupe Videotron, has signed up for ACTV equipment and hopes to transmit interactive programs on cable and/or broadcast TV by the end of this year.