By Roland Drewell (@RolandDrewell), TokBox
15 November, 2014:Ā In an earlier post, I wrote about my teamās excitement at having been selected to showcase the Tokbox web-based communication technology at Europeās premier innovation event, WIRED 2014. Tokbox, for those not familiar, develops and operates OpenTok, a world-class cloud based communications platform for adding live video, voice, and messaging into websites and mobile applications. The service promises to bring the web to life and indeed it does.
The challenge was to bring this to life at an event that attracts the worldās most respected visionaries and innovation giants.
We needed a unique concept and ultimately came up with Tarot readings using aĀ Double Robotics Robot powered by Tokbox and a remotely based Tarot card reader equipped with a tablet. Initially, the majority of reactions from people as they walked past the āfortune tellerāsā tent inside the product demo space Test Lab was one of cautious curiosity.
It wasnāt long however before a queue formed with people interested in what the future held for them. The robot would come to life as they sat down for a reading and in doing so, this captivated people about the potential of WebRTCĀ technology. Out of all the amazing technologies that were showcased at Test Lab, Tokbox’s OpenTok platform was the only one that focused purely on communication. It clearly made an impression on people as they experienced just one of the many possible implementations using the OpenTok platform to power real time communications experiences.
Weāve seen user cases in many other industries and verticals for instance with branding and fan engagement. Today, celebrity culture is huge and many brands are using this trend to interact with a public that craves authentic experiences. Tokbox works with these on point organisations across many sectors, taking celebrity interaction to a whole new level by enabling fans to communicate face-to-face with their heroes in front of an online audience. These unforgettable conversations have proven to increase engagement and brand loyalty as fans just canāt help coming back for more. One example is Major League BaseballāsĀ āChatting Cage,ā an OpenTok-powered TokShow sponsored by financial services provider, Edward Jones which allows fans to ask players and coaches questions via live video chat. Online viewers can also join in and watch the TokShow in real time.
“If you have a question, you should be able to look someone in the eye and ask it. Chatting Cage brings that opportunity to sports fans in a way they may never get to experience otherwise.”ā Brad Iversen, CMO, Edward Jones.Ā Bob Kahn, theĀ Internet pioneer, said that “what the Internet is going to be in the future is what society makes it.”
From theĀ reaction to Tokbox at Wired 2014, WebRTC is going to be a big part of that future.
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