What Lies in the Future of Video Technology?

With the rise of advanced technologies, the video industry has evolved exponentially. It has penetrated almost any aspect of our lives, from sportscasting and advertising to social networks and education.

For example, the fast adoption of cloud-based streaming platforms and on-demand videos has changed user behaviors. Today, we expect video content to be available anywhere and at any time. Above all, we want it to be highly personalized and relevant.

So, where do video technologies stand today? What lies in the future? Let’s find out!

Video Consumption Trends in 2020

In 2020, videos have remained one of the hottest content types. Since they are used in both online and offline media, video technologies are highly immersive. They provide users with spotless omnichannel experiences, irrespective of a device or a channel you use.

Research studies show that the daily usage of video is growing. Namely, users spend approximately 6 hours and 48 minutes watching online videos. Given that, it is not surprising that most businesses focus their efforts on video content creation to engage audiences and persuade them to purchase. For 81% of companies, video is a critical aspect of a digital marketing strategy, helping them increase conversions.

The Future of the Video Industry

Considering how quickly video trends have been evolving so far, this industry is expected to keep growing fast in the coming years. Here are essential technologies and trends that will transform video in 2021 and beyond.

Immersive User Experiences

Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, the importance of video communication has grown at an astounding pace.

Many companies have started implementing virtual reality and augmented reality to improve employees’ experiences. One such example is KFC that developed a virtual reality training simulator that is specifically designed to train employees to prepare chicken.

Another example of how VR impacts video communication is holoportation that uses 3D technologies to reconstruct entire rooms, furniture, and even people. They allow users to see, hear, and communicate with other participants in real-time, regardless of their location. In the era of social distancing and remote work, these technologies could improve virtual communication by making them as realistic as possible.

Apart from remote workspaces, augmented video technologies can reinvent education. Apart from making virtual classrooms feel more like traditional ones, they will also change the way educational content is delivered. For example, with VR and AR, learners are not limited to brief descriptions and illustrations of important places and events. When combined with augmented reality, video technologies allow them to understand how people in different historical eras lived, as well as experience their culture, traditions, and values in a more practical way.

Enhanced Personalization at Every Touchpoint

Personalized content is at scale. However, it is not a new concept. For example, if a user is watching a tennis serve video instruction on an online instruction platform, it will automatically recommend similar content based on their interests. Users can also choose their interests and preferred content types to start receiving relevant email newsletters. PPC marketers use targeting to put the right ads in front of the right people.

However, we personalize videos? Users consider 60% of video content to be clutter with little relevance in their own lives.

That is where AI technologies shine. They allow brands to create hyper-personalized video content that appeals to users’ individual needs. We are already witnessing the emergence of such technologies.

For example, Microsoft’s Video Indexer uses artificial intelligence to gain insights from your videos. By extracting visual and speech metadata from your video content, you will be able to boost its discovery and improve search experiences in your apps.

MIT Media Lab also does super-exciting work to improve the effectiveness of video content. Namely, they have developed automated emotion recognition. It lets video creators track responses to content and measure audience engagement and sentiment.

Transforming Video into Actionable Intelligence

The amount of video content users create and upload daily is immense. Let’s take the example of YouTube, which remains the most prominent video platform. Studies show that users upload more than 500 hours of video content every minute.

Companies are now exploring new technologies to convert video content into actionable intelligence. One such brand is BriefCam, a video content analytics platform that makes surveillance videos searchable and quantifiable. It relies on deep learning and AI to allow video review, face recognition, real-time alerting, etc.

Technologies like that will soon help businesses decode video content with greater precision and transform it into useful and quantifiable information.

Over to You

The future of the video industry lies in artificial intelligence, mixed reality, analytics, and continuous innovation. These technologies will drive personalization and keep transforming different industries, from news to surveillance.

How are you preparing for the future of video? Which trends do you like the most?