Channel 4 to launch audio trigger iPhone app for Facejacker

UK broadcaster Channel 4 is to launch a mobile app that reacts to audio triggers within a broadcast to unlock exclusive content.

Channel 4 is using technology from Intrasonics to deliver the iPhone app. The broadcaster has teamed up with Hat Trick Productions and Widebeam Digital to allow viewers with the Channel 4 app to listen in on episodes of the Facejacker show to unlock features such as soundboards, a booth to turn viewers into characters in the show, videos and ringtones. The app is triggered by digital watermarks in the content that is picked up by viewers’ iPhones.
Content made available by the app includes additional ringtones, ‘Facejack Booth’ masks and up to 30 minutes of original, unseen clips and behind-the-scenes video.

Jody Smith, multiplatform commissioning editor for Channel 4, said: “I’m pleased we’ve found a way of taking the hottest technology available right now and used it to create one of the most ridiculous apps you’ll find in the app store. We hope viewers will have a lot of fun tracking down all the audio triggers. It’s a novel layer on an already features-packed app.”