Investigating the Effect of Relative Time Delay on Companion Screen Experiences

Abstract

Mobile devices are increasingly used while watching television, leading to the development of companion apps that complement the content of programmes. A concern for these applications is the extent to which companion app and television content need to be temporally aligned for live synchronisation. In this study, 18 participants watched a nature programme while being shown companion content on a tablet. Temporal synchronisation of content between the devices was varied. Participants completed questionnaires measuring immersion and affect and were tested on their recall for companion app content. While there were no statistically significant effects on these measures, qualitative interviews with participants after viewing consistently revealed that longer 10s delays in content synchronisation were frustrating. This suggests that poor content synchronisation can produce a negative companion experience for viewers and should be avoided.