The highly dynamic video and OTT (Over-the-Top) industries are rapidly changing in response to a radical shift in consumer behaviour. Digitisation and streaming services have made video technology and OTT the tour de force in the media and entertainment sectors. Here, we examine what kind of emerging VideoTech and OTT technologies offer innovative and game-changing solutions that empower the consumer:
Immersive Video Combined With Virtual Reality (VR)
In today’s world, immersive experiences using a dedicated VR headset is a powerful sales and marketing tool that transports the viewer to the actual physical space by merging the physical and virtual worlds. The technology showcases varying levels of interactivity, depending on specific use cases. However, the overarching objective of blending VR into video technology is to help people collaborate effectively even in the absence of physical face-to-face meetings. The easy access to VR technology makes it the ideal tool to integrate video capabilities into it to drive the future of video.
It’s important to lower the latency number drastically to deliver an effective VR display and to offer an immediate and immersive user experience. In addition to a fast download speed, the immersive video also requires enhanced latency to avoid lagging and poor VR quality that could frustrate the end-user. The arrival of 5G technology is expected to pave the way for single-digit latency. In my view, transcoding will go a long way in resolving low latency video issues as the process is scalable and can adapt the streaming for multiple devices.
Further, interacting with the audience and keeping them engaged with complete backend management is essential for video platform players in today’s competitive market. This feature generates interactive content that adds value to the event.
AI-driven video conferences
Today’s flexible work environment has widened the scope of video conferencing by leveraging the power of AI. Top-of-the-line video conferencing solutions are trending amid the pandemic that could elevate a staid video conferencing session to a highly efficient and interactive experience. Video conferencing services harness valuable user data and decipher audio data by leveraging the power of natural language processing (NLP). Sophisticated AI-driven video conferences can also lead to better business outcomes that boost collaboration among teams and conduct critical tasks, such as meeting follow-up and dissecting data in real-time.
Further, advancements in Augmented Reality (AR) and computer vision transform video content into a highly interactive and seamless experience for users.
Intelligent video analytics powered by Augmented Reality (AR)
According to industry experts, 2021 will be marked by machine learning and deep learning technologies that will be leveraged for video analytics. Innovations in video analytics will drive not just the security industry but also business intelligence.
For instance, actionable business intelligence can be gathered from video content analytics that will aid in the management of large-scale events and facilities.
The technology offers insights into the venue based on the available data and uses heat maps to help organisers track visitor demographics and other related trends. The pandemic has popularised the demand for AI-enabled video analytics as the need for remote security and surveillance measures has increased manifold. High-resolution digital cameras and smartphones with IP video surveillance systems are emerging tools that perform video analytics by following the government mandate for social distancing.
OTT Deployment in the Cloud
The OTT video market has grown to be a lucrative slice of the pie for the media and entertainment industry and is expected to touch 237.86 Bn by FY 2025. The pandemic has witnessed an unprecedented spike in the consumption of OTT content, a trend that is expected to continue beyond the current period. However, there is a downside to the upswing in OTT consumption. When the user base steadily swells for the multiple video-streaming platforms, it puts a severe strain on the traditional streaming workflows.
Thus, broadcasters grapple with the challenge of scaling up their video streaming IT infrastructure to ensure high-quality content is delivered without interruptions. As a result, many brands are shifting to a cloud-based infrastructure to manage complex workflows. OTT cloud streaming is less resource-intensive compared to traditional streaming infrastructure and offers more flexibility at affordable upfront costs. In cloud-based video streaming, a network of live encoding and streaming servers is dedicated to delivering on-demand uninterrupted streaming to viewers.
End-to-end cloud video streaming has the capability to transcode a variety of video files into formats of different sizes, thus ensuring that they get rendered into user-friendly formats and are transferred to end-users through cloud servers. OTT cloud video empowers consumers to have more control over the type of content they watch. The technology enables broadcasters to upload their videos to their OVP (online video platform) and deliver a high-quality VOD (video on demand) experience to their growing consumer base.
In my opinion, it’s critical that video and OTT players remain on top of the innovation game to best serve the changing needs of consumers. The industry lacks a fully integrated solution that results in complexity and a dissatisfied end-user video experience. Instead of offering piece-meal solutions, organisations should provide a range of solutions that deliver a personalised video experience at scale. Enterprises should also educate and engage their consumers in how to derive a superior video experience.
Undoubtedly, video technology has come of age in the digital era. The video streaming and OTT markets contain valuable data that will help broadcasters serve their consumer base more effectively in the years to come. It needs to be seen, however, whether a scalable and robust IT infrastructure can be built and sustained in the long run to deliver exceptional experiences to end-users without compromising on quality.
By - Mr. Vikash Samota, Founder, MultiTV
