The Interactive Video and Data System is a multidisciplinary research project involving the creation of a means for people to interact with television and printed media without the addition of expensive hardware as required by most interactive systems available today. The IVDS system consists of a Consumer Control Unit which transmits user requests, a Repeater Unit which receives transmissions from the CCUs, and a Host System which takes appropriate actions for user demands. This thesis follows the evolution of the original CCU prototype as more capabilities are added and hardware platforms are changed, focusing on the addition of a bar code interface to the CCU. / Master of Science