I think using a real-time synchronized database is probably the best way to provide these sorts of seamless multiscreen applications. The way it works in Novacut, each system keeps a synchronized copy of the database. Each application using the database communicates only through changes in the database, so when the user makes a change with one client, the client makes the appropriate change in the database. These changes are then replicated to any remote databases in real-time. The changes feed is sent to each application, which update themselves based on the new changes. This actually has a couple of benefits. If you implement this sort of architecture, you essentially get real-time collaboration almost for free. It also makes it much easier to make sure the backend and frontend components are loosely coupled and enforces a consistent data model, which makes creating stable, robust applications much easier. Now the database behind this needs to have properties fairly similar to couchdb: It needs to be document oriented, and in terms of sync it should probably work fairly similarly to how couchdb _rev works. In terms of how the user interacts with applications on the TV, having a set of documents in the database for each state you want to control. Then have a client on the tablet or phone that makes changes to the document. In terms of what the user sees, they would press some buttons in a GUI on their tablet or phone and the client on the TV would respond. You might setup general controls for the system the same way. Setting up Synchronization: Initially you would need some way to pair devices, which would amount to finding the remote device, handling authorization as needed, and setting up synchronization. We could use something like Avahi to make discovery easy on the local network. Some way to control access to the device owner is probably a good idea. Something like a captcha or qrcode displayed on the screen during pairing with an optional password to allow the device access to the database. At this point the two databases should be able to synchronize any time they can see each other. Synchronization over the local network is great for low-latency input and for letting friends pair their devices with your system while they're over. One could perform similar synchronization via a service like Ubuntu One if it supported real-time sync. David Jordan
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