Company History

In 1997, Timothy Wahlers moved to Boulder, Colorado and founded Vidiom Systems Inc.  Tim had been a leading force and pioneer in the development of interactive tools and applications for the growing CD-Interactive industry.  As a principal in OptImage, Tim and his team had developed the tool kits necessary to add interactivity to the CD-ROM.  His vision was to be at the fore front of building interactivity into all types of digital applications. 

Mr. Wahlers left Opt Image with this vision in mind and began Vidiom Systems Corporation. to enter the newly created interactive television market.  While there had been substantial developments in iTV in Asia and Europe, most of the experiments in the United States had been on a limited scale and had mixed success.  Tim believed that his experience in setting the standards and developing the tools for interactivity in the CD-I market would translate to the video market as well.

Vidiom Systems began as an engineering consulting company, with a small number of employees searching for projects that would help move the dream of interactive television forward.  Between 1997 and 2000, Vidiom undertook a number of consulting projects that would both build the company’s credentials and support interactive television.  The initial projects involved work with OpenTV on documentation and tools development projects to support the company’s HPK, SDK and OpenAuthor projects.  In addition to supporting documentation efforts, Vidiom designed and implemented training curricula for Open TV.

In 1998, Vidiom Systems also began its long standing (and current) relationship with CableLabs, the cable industry’s organization with the mandate of developing standards and certifying products used in the cable industry.  These projects started as engineering support in a number of areas but also permitted Vidiom to demonstrate its commitment to interactive television.  As a result, in 2001 Vidiom was engaged by CableLabs to assist with the development of the standards and specifications for the OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP).  This process continued through 2004.

At the same time that Vidiom Systems was working with CableLabs on the development of standards and specifications for OCAP, the company was engaged by Time Warner to be part of their revolutionary Mystro project.  Mystro was designed to allow cable subscribers to pause, rewind and fast-forward programs on live television..  Between 2001 and 2004, Vidiom worked on many components of the Mystro system including assisting with the design of the Digital Navigator User Interface requirements, the PSM set-top box middleware, the Mystro Server as well as the technical documentation, training and integration and deployment.

With the OCAP specifications nearing completion, in 2004, Vidiom Systems began work on a number of different components to enable OCAP. This included  the development of a middleware stack for Time Warner Cable, the VISION Workbench Application Development toolset and the monitor application for Cox Communications.  As a result of Vidiom’s central role in the development of OCAP, the company was contracted for a wide range of projects for a variety of companies through 2007.  Some of these included:

• continuing work on the middleware stack for Time Warner and assisting in the transfer of the project to the OCAP Development, LLC (ODL), which included both Time Warner Cable and Comcast
  
• working with the Time Warner Cable Advanced Technology Group to provide technical documentation support and assist in the development of OCAP Digital Navigator
  
• completing the OCAP monitor application for Cox Communications and facilitating the transfer of the project to TVWorks    
  
• porting the OCAP middleware stack to Broadcom’s 7038 and 7400 platforms
  
• developing the vCert automated test system for testing OpenCable (tru2way) devices

With a growing wealth of knowledge and experience in OCAP, in 2005 Vidiom was asked by a number of companies to begin work on applications for the OCAP platform that would enable true interactivity.  Some of these applications included:

• creating an OCAP demonstration application for the MTV Concierge Concept
  
• creating an OCAP demonstration application for the CSTV Gametracker Concept

Vidiom Systems’ understanding of the interactive television market demonstrated by the company’s central role in the cable industry made them the clear choice for migrating applications across multiple delivery systems.  In 2005, Vidiom was asked by Sprint/Nextel to develop demo applications that showed the cross-platform capabilities between cable and wireless networks using OCAP and Java.  In 2006, Vidiom was asked to port OCAP to the JABIL Platform for a 2007 CES demonstration.  Also in 2006, Vidiom began work on a Polycipher DCAS project.  In 2007, The Weather Channel asked Vidiom to develop an ETV/EBIF Interactive weather application.  Also in 2007, Vidiom worked closely with CableLabs and Microsoft to port OCAP to OCUR and BOCUR devices in order to support the development of CABLEPC.

With the rollout of OCAP devices and applications in late 2007 and continuing in 2008, Vidiom is now being asked by companies to assist in the integration and deployment efforts.  Vidiom is providing integration services for Time Warner Cable and other leaders in the industry.

With the company’s extensive knowledge of interactive television and OCAP and the current state of the market, Vidiom Systems has become the premier training organization for OCAP technology in the United States.  Vidiom offers regular courses on OCAP Essentials and The OCAP Developers Workshop and in 2008 will launch new Application Development and Testing courses.

In early 2006, Vidiom Systems Inc. was acquired by the Geneva based ADB Group.

More Info

Company Profile