Avatars, interaction and next-generation television

A recent advance in the domain of consumer electronics is the emergence of the digital video recorder, which couples television with computing. Its ability to provide automatic program recommendation and access to Internet-based content is available from the comfort of the user\´s sitting room. The Internet has fostered many new computing applications, and arguably the most powerful are those which enhance communication (i.e. instant messaging). We discuss some functional extensions to the "classical" DVR which combine aspects of 3D virtual worlds, community-building and television content within a single integrated platform.