Technology firm VST Enterprises will launch a new product, VStreams, this summer in a joint venture with ZiMovi.
VStreams is an interactive customer engagement tool that enables rich content to be sent quickly and easily to a target audience.
It also allows viewers to interact easily with recorded video streams.
ZiMovi is a provider of innovative video hosting, communication and marketing platforms.
When a viewer scans a VCode – the proprietary tech of VST – via VStreams, they will be able to join a conversation, answer a question and even respond to a channel owner with their own video.
Users can scan VCodes to instantly purchase products, get further information about the brand, product, or personality on screen. The VCodes used by VStreams can either be embedded into video content or scanned with a mobile device such as an Android phone, iPhone or tablet.
Using the VCode app, audience members can scan codes on screen to instantly interact with a video, or scan a code on any collateral or merchandise in a text or email to link directly to video content hosted on ZiMovi.
Louis-James Davis, CEO of Manchester-based VST Enterprises, said: “ZiMovi’s video platform is enabling further growth for what’s fast becoming the most popular way for audiences to consume entertainment and promotional material.
“We are proud that our VCode technology enables all functionality that ZiMovi needed in one. The VStreams joint venture will enable both ZiMovi and VST Enterprises to grow together globally as the code technology is deployed.”
Video on demand is ubiquitous in entertainment, news and marketing content. A study by Cisco estimated that by the end of 2020, video will account for 82 per cent of consumer internet traffic.
However, video content is vulnerable to piracy, which presents a persistent and costly threat to the entertainment industry.
The Intellectual Property Office has recently estimated that around 6.7million Britons access pirated films, music and other material online.
VCodes will be used to prevent video piracy on the VStreams platform, ensuring that video content is traceable, preventing counterfeit and piracy. Paul Greaves, co-founder & CEO at ZiMovi, said: “We are excited to work with VST Enterprises to make high quality video content more accessible for brands and consumers.
“The flexibility of VCode technology makes it the perfect tool to suit our customers’ growing needs. Channel owners looking for a quicker way to interact with the audience to expand their fan base will benefit hugely from VStreams.
“It will turn the passive activity of watching videos into something active that the audience is directly involved in.”
With VStreams channel owners can interact directly with their audience, enabling them to grow subscriber bases and deliver only the most relevant content. It will drive website traffic and ensure greater brand protection than open source platforms allow.
Using a VStreams code, channel owners can send direct links to content to their audience via SMS, email, social media and on their website.
The joint venture will continue to cultivate the ‘Virgin’ model approach that VST Enterprises has adopted with forthcoming projects such as VApparel, which will be used to enable instant payments for fashion while eliminating counterfeit from the clothing supply chain.