Leading Edge Ad Lab for Disney

Media giant Disney is planning to open a laboratory in Austin, Texas which will conduct year-round research to test the biometric reactions of consumers to emerging media and interactive advertising.

In a controlled living room setting within the 3,000 square-foot lab, scientists will evaluate viewer engagement by measuring heart rate and skin conductivity as well as tracking the gaze of participants who are exposed to new ads over the Internet, mobiles and TV screens. The lab will also house a small theatre and an adjacent observation lounge.

Headed by Professor Duane Varan - who is the Executive Director of the Interactive Television Research Institute and holds the inaugural chair in New Media at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia - the facility will examine audience reactions in a way which the firm says can be missed by focus groups.

'TV is not a rational medium, it's an emotional medium,' Varan said. 'We can get to a deeper layer of what's motivating people by seeing how they behave, observing them in experimental settings and seeing how their body reacts.'

Disney , which owns entertainment and news TV networks ABC and ESPN, plans to open the lab by the end of the year, with first results expected by early 2009.

Web site: www.disney.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.