TV commercials out
Israeli patent blocks ads
Three local students develop software that mutes television during commercials
TEL AVIV – Sick and tired of commercials? Israeli students come to the rescue.
Three local third-year computer science students managed to develop a software that allows television viewers to record commercial-free shows and mutes the sound during ad time, newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday.
“We were looking for a project for a school assignment that would also be practical and help the public,” said Tal Sharasta, one of the developers. “Then we realized that just as we start flipping channels the moment there is a commercial break, the entire nation does the same.”
This realization led to the innovative idea, namely creating a software that can spot commercials and circumvent them.
Looking for an investor
The software developed by the students works by spotting the TV station’s logo, which disappears once a commercial break starts. This allows the device to mute the sound once a show goes into a commercial break, and turn it on again once the show resumes.
The software can also be used through the Internet, so viewers can control the way they record their favorite shows even while at the office.
The developers, however, are still grappling with one problem - teaching the software to recognize promos for other shows and block them out, too.
Meanwhile, the software passed all the tests successfully and was presented to school officials a week ago. Now, the students hope to find an investor that would help them turn the patent to a commercial product to be offered in stores.
