Leanback: The Latest from Google’s Video Laboratory

The not-so-mad scientists at YouTube—aka, Google’s video laboratory—just launched Leanback, their latest beta project.

As the name implies, Leanback looks to get online video viewers to sit back and just watch a bunch of videos—no mousing needed. The specific videos that YouTube shows are based on past YouTube viewing experiences (for registered users), or can be further personalized by linking YouTube with Facebook accounts.

As a regular YouTube viewer, my first Leanback experience meant a bunch of older video clips, since I like watching jazz musicians from the 1940s and 1950s, and bike mechanic instructional videos, since I always have a bike or seven that need tuning up. Sounds nice, but part of the problem is that all the videos were shown full-screen, and even with my high-res 24-inch iMac screen, none of the videos were suited for enlargement. However, other than arrow keys for going forward and back along the Leanback queue, I couldn’t readily find a way to change video sizes.

What’s more, it’s questionable how much people want a lean-back experience when watching video on the web. While the service reminds me of Pandora, the online music service—giving you related content based on your interests—unlike music, video doesn’t lend itself to such passive consumption.

However, if new YouTube services are truly part of Google’s test lab for Google TV—and if the content available is bulked up with more professional-level video—then Leanback video could be a useful incentive when people watch internet-based video on their big-screen TVs.

As I said to Laurie Sullivan of MediaPost, “It would make sense for Google to try out these incremental changes on YouTube first before integrating them into Google TV. These features could integrate into a larger package later on.”

For more info about YouTube’s Leanback, here’s their blog posting about it.