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BCaster Launches the (Un)Official Video App of SXSW 2018
[March 15, 2018]

BCaster Launches the (Un)Official Video App of SXSW 2018


BCaster™ this week launched the (un)official mobile media app of South by Southwest (SXSW (News - Alert)). BCaster is the first mobile media app to use artificial intelligence (A.I.) and blockchain technologies to automatically manage content and create a searchable marketplace for influencers to license their video and media content.

Anyone with a smartphone now has a tool to upload news-breaking content so it can be discovered, and media have a web-based search interface where they can easily find the footage they need.

"The significance of BCaster's media platform is that influencers can now make their content discoverable to news media and CPG brands, who can license the content directly from creators," said Janne Neuvonen, co-founder and CEO of BCaster. "Conversely, BCaster's A.I.-powered analysis makes it easy for media and brands to find quality media such as video coverage of breaking news and events, while our Blockchain-enabled authentication makes sure that videos can't be faked."

Media Micro-Influencers Marketplace

BCaster provides a web-based interface for media and brands where they can search for influencers and user-generated media based on finely-tuned parameters such as overall subject matter, facial sentiment of people in the video, presence of their specific brands, quality of media image, geography, date, etc.

This nuance in video analysis and search opens up entirely new ways for media and brands to discover user-generated video and other media content and engage micro-influencers. Companies can also contract with the content creators and negotiate licensing rights from within the BCaster platform.

Where to Get It

  1. Get the mobile app at Google Play (available later this month for Apple (News - Alert) iOS)
  2. Start filming
  3. Be discovered



How BCaster Works

Influencers use the mobile app to shoot video and photos, which are automatically uploaded to BCaster's servers where its A.I. can recognize faces, brands, specific objects, emotions (such as happiness, anger, excitement), and even the presence of multiple of these attributes in one clip. The A.I. understands and describes user-generated media without users having to apply any #hashtags or keywords. The A.I. evolves very fast and is able to constantly learn to recognize new images and concepts.


For media and brands, BCaster provides a web-based interface with map-based view for content searching and playback of user-generated media. Multiple camera angles can be shown at the same time, providing a professional experience without sending an expensive traditional broadcasting crew. The BCaster platform hosts crowdsourced video and other media content, fast and reliable searching, and rights management all in one platform.

BCaster's mobile media app has been in beta for several months in pilot tests for selected markets. More than 15,000 videos have been ingested by the platform and full-scale A.I. training has begun. BCaster is also in development on a version that can be embedded directly into mobile devices for OEM hardware manufacturers. After its successful pilot tests, BCaster is now in discussions with NHK in Japan as well as publishing giant Axel Springer in Europe.

Blockchain Media Authentication (No Fake News)

BCaster is developing a blockchain-enabled authentication technology to create a provenance record and ensure that images have not been altered or faked. The blockchain ID is inserted throughout the entire video, which means the clip is handled as one entity and any frame-by-frame editing-or even in-frame modifications-are automatically revealed.

Moreover, while conventional video analysis A.I. systems have been tricked by inserting still images (in one case, a picture of noodles), BCaster's A.I. analyzes image content based on the entire video and generates keywords and rankings based on the whole clip, plus situational metadata including time and location. Because of this holistic understanding of the video, BCaster cannot be tricked.

About BCaster

The BCaster media platform was inspired during the Neste Rally when a car crashed spectacularly right in front of a group of engineers and entrepreneurs. Fifteen minutes later the local TV news crew arrived asking if anyone caught any footage of the crash, and the idea for BCaster was born.

Visit www.BCaster.com for more information. BCaster's free mobile video app is available for Android (News - Alert) at Google Play, and will be available later this month for iOS.


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