Video is a powerful communication medium because, unlike audio, it has has a spatial dimension and, unlike images it has a temporal dimension.
But time is a scarce currency on the web: after 2 minutes 80% of the viewers are gone and after 5 minutes 70% of the viewers are gone.
When using the video medium we should make best use of the available time. But often the sender’s message is complex with many elements, all important and it is hard to match this with the receiver's limited willingness to follow the logical thread of the message to the end. To escape the dilemma betwee making a detailed argument complete – risking the loss of user’s attention – and simplifying the message – hampering user's understanding of the message – we need to add a new "more info, more details" dimension to video.
Video bridget is the solution developed by WimLabs to solve this dilemma: a user watching a video can "know more" of a topic of his choice, without altering the "play video" experience. What is a bridget? A bridget is a link between a source video (more generally, a multimedia content) to a destination video (more generally, other multimedia content) on the same or a different device. An example is given by the figure below
The top line represents a normal linear video. When the Video1 bridget appears at the bottom of the screen and a user clicks on it, the main video stops and Video1 starts. At a certain point in time the Image1 bridget appears. If the user clicks on it Video1 stops and Image1 is displayed. If the user clicks on the back button (first button on the left) Image1 disappears and Video1 resumes from where it stopped. If the user clicks on the back button again the main video resumes from where it stops.
The WimBridge webapp is a components of the WimTV ecosystem. This is illustrated in the figure below.
You can use your WimBox repository as a source of video for your video bridgets. If you need more videos, you can get them from WimTrade, the WimTV market. Once you are done you can publish the video bridget to your web page or to WimVod.
The last few years have shown how valuable content can enter the main stream. Unfortunately this happens more on a haphazard than planned manner: some services offer their videos for sale to professional customers, some others offer the possibility to request videos for on-purpose production but no service offers the possibility to automatically enforce revenue sharing models. As a conclusion, while use of video content grows exponentially the gap between demand and supply of content that is considered relevant and of quality keeps on widening.
WimTrade http://www.wimtrade.tv is a web application offered by WimLabs that provides video trading services supporting all possibilities above. Here are a few use cases that show how the service works:
Users can respond to calls using the WimTrade webapp but can also use WimLance, a mobile app for Android and iOS with a degree of immediacy that is a must for many applications.
It should be noted that WimTrade is more than a marketplace because the service is part of the WimTV ecosystem. The figure below depicts the end-to-end (B2B and B2C) support offered by WimTV to a variety of business players.
At the starting point of the B2B chain, prosumers on the move can install WimLance on their Android and iOS devices to be notified of calls and respond to calls with their videos.
When a call issuer accepts a video proposed in response to a call, the respondent automatically grants the requested rights to the call issuer and is immediately accredited the promised amount.
Acquired videos, as much as users’ own videos (including those offered via WimLance), are stored in the users’ WimBox, the smart WimTV hosting service, whence they can not only be put up for sale to the market or proposed in response to a call, but also published on a professional’s web site. For this reason one of the terms of the WimTrade licences is “usage domain of video”. Indeed use of video can be restricted to the WimTV platform or also used outside. In the former case the “download” button is not available while in the latter case the call issuer can download the video.
Additionally WimTVPro, a plugin for WordPress, Joomla and Drupal, the 3 most popular Content Management Systems (CMS), lets users effectively manage video- and event-related functionalities. The CMS administration page lets the user perform many functions related to video distribution: publish on demand videos; create live events; offer videos and events for free or pay-per-view; offer single videos or subscriptions; offer TV-like schedules that behave like a TV when it is turned on.
At the end point of the B2C chain, consumers can use WimView, a mobile app for Android, iOS and Smart TV, and browse WimTV websites, browse/watch their videos and interact with social networks (e.g. by sending their own or other WimTV users’ videos to users of their choice). WimView can also be easily adapted to become an app for a service offered by a specific professional.
Many websites are developed on top of Content Management System software (CMS). The most popular CMSs are WordPress (~5.1 millions installed), Joomla (~1.6 millions installed) and Drupal (~0.8 millions installed). Many CMSs (certainly the 3 above) are Open Source Software projects developed in PHP with vibrant communities participating in the development of each project.
The current trend is to add the video dimension to websites. This is done in an ad hoc fashion by including an embed code representing a video in an HTML page. However, video can take many forms: it can be on demand or live, it can be free or be pay-per-view, it can be a single video or a playlist. In the last case the playlist can be activated by the end user that has the control of which video is played or it starts when a website is accessed as if when a TV is turned on and the user can see the scheduled program.
WimLabs offers a plugin for the 3 mentioned CMSs that provides all the options listed. This means that a professional managing a website based on a popular CMS has now the possibility to extend the administration page of a website with new video- and event-related functionalities, and populate them with all sorts of content such as
The WimTVPro plugin supports professionals wishing to provide video on demand and live streaming services. The former includes the possibility to stream not just individual videos but also playlists while the latter includes the possibility to stream individual live events but also TV-like schedules made of a combination of on-demand videos and live events.
All services can be free or pay. In the latter case payments made by each consumer are immediately accredited to the account of the professional providing the service.
Users can access detailed statistics that include individual videos and events, and a specific day or a period of time.
The WimTVPro plugin is free and has free access to storage and bandwidth capacity necessary for a new user to become acquainted with the many facets of the plugin. When professionals move to the actual service provisioning, they can purchase a bandwidth and storage package suiting their needs. The unitary (Gbyte) cost of storage and streaming largely depends on the package size and duration.
By getting the WimTVPro plugin, professionals get actually access to much more, namely the entire WimTV ecosystem. The figure below depicts the end-to-end (B2B and B2C) support offered by WimTV.
At the end point of the B2C chain, consumers can use WimView, a mobile app for Android, iOS and Smart TV, and browse WimTV websites, browse/watch their videos and interact with social networks (e.g. by sending their own or WimTV videos to other users). WimView can be easily adapted to become an app for the service provided by a specific professional.
Professionals can also access the WimTV platform’s B2B functionalities. The most important of them is WimTrade, a web application that lets professionals post to or acquire videos from the WimTV marketplace. Videos posted have a licence attached that includes terms and conditions, and a price that an acquirer accepts and pays for. Acquired videos, as much as users’ own videos, are stored in WimBox, the smart WimTV storage service, whence they can be published for distribution (or for sale to the market).
A valuable WimTrade functionality is the possibility for professionals to request videos of certain features (content description, terms and conditions, and price) that are not found in the market place by issuing a call where they include the features of their interest (again: content description, terms and conditions, and price).
Professionals can respond using directly the WimTrade web app. However, if they are on the move, they can respond using WimLance, an Android and iOS mobile app. In this way even prosumers can capture and offer their videos to call issuers.
If a respondent’s video is accepted by the call issuer, the relevant account will be immediately accredited and a licence with the terms and conditions set by the call issuer will be granted.
WimTrade and WimLance can not just be used to acquire content for use on a professional’s web site. It can also be used for other purposes such as to issue contests. Indeed WimTrade support a broad range of licences: professionals with or without a price, and all Creative Commons licences.