{{Infobox company
, name = Thinking Pictures
, type = Private
, foundation = 1993
, founder = Stephan Fitch
, location_city =
Redwood City
Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a po ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, location_country =
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
)
, area_served = Worldwide
, industry =
Software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
...
,
Media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
, services =
Consulting
A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization.
Consulting servic ...
multinational corporation
A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...
specializing in
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
...
,
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
, and
consulting
A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization.
Consulting servic ...
. It was founded in 1993 by Stephan Fitch and Olivier Pfeiffer. Thinking Pictures has introduced a number of innovations in the fields of
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
technology,
interactivity
Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...
After its foundation in 1993, Thinking Pictures established partnerships with the
media industry
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit informatio ...
. One of its first large projects was an Internet broadcast of a Rolling Stones concert. 20 minutes of video were broadcast at 10 frames per second, utilizing the
Mbone
Mbone (short for " multicast backbone") was an experimental backbone and virtual network built on top of the Internet for carrying IP multicast traffic on the Internet. It was developed in the early 1990s and required specialized hardware and s ...
. This was the first time a major artist had broadcast a live concert over the Internet, paving the way for modern
webcasting
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...
. Thinking Pictures was a finalist for the first annual 1995 NII Awards in the category of Arts and Entertainment for this event. Thinking Pictures continued to broadcast concerts by other recording artists, including
Tori Amos
Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
and
Duncan Sheik
Duncan Sheik (born November 18, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and composer. Sheik is known for his 1996 debut single " Barely Breathing", which earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. He has composed m ...
.
In 1995, Thinking Pictures launched rock.com, which used a proprietary webcasting technology to provide on-demand
music videos
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
. The site was one of the first to integrate web-based media,
e-commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain managem ...
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
to develop a digital content description language. This was integrated into the Universal Media Player interface, also developed by Thinking Pictures and licensed to UMG, and distributed on over 1 billion music
compact discs
The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in October ...
between 1998 and 2005. This was a major innovation in digital rights management, providing a way for artists to include electronic press kits (EPKs) or other information on CDs. Thinking Pictures continued to develop the UMP as a platform-independent device which could make DRM more widely available within the music industry.
Thinking Pictures founder Stephan Fitch also founded Squib International in 1999, gaining a patent for wearable video. Fitch partnered with MSN, which featured the new technology at a conference in May 2000.
In 2000, Thinking Pictures partnered with a number of national movie theater chains to produce interactive displays for theater lobbies. The ThinkPix Smart Displays are capable of showing full-motion video. They also integrate cameras to report on the performance of trailers and posters shown on the display. The Smart Displays are also capable of interacting with viewers; planned future upgrades include the ability to read
smart cards
A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...
provided to moviegoers by theaters, tailoring trailers and other content to the preferences of individual moviegoers.
Around this time, Thinking Pictures also began developing the proprietary Interactive Visual Content Architecture (IVCA). The technology is intended to use information about audiences and feedback from sensors during a film screening to alter the film, giving each audience a tailored narrative and increasing satisfaction with the experience.
Recent company developments
Thinking Pictures is currently collaborating with The
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
on a network of digital newsracks, called the Timestation Digital Newsracks. The Timestation devices display random samples of a newspaper’s content and allow users to manage their online subscriptions. About 50 Timestations are deployed, mostly in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. The
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
is also experimenting with the technology.Rosenberg, Jim. “Selling print with video.”
Editor and Publisher
''Editor & Publisher'' (''E&P'') is an American monthly trade news magazine covering the newspaper industry. Published since 1901, ''Editor & Publisher'' is the self-described "bible of the newspaper industry."
Originally based in New York City, ...
Webcasting
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...