Hypervideo

An article in the Economist describes the ability to hyperlink parts of an online video (e.g. a character or object) to a web page or even another site.

The rise of the web transformed hypertext—which allows readers to click on a word in one document and be transported to another—from an obscure concept in computer science to a familiar, everyday technology. Might hypervideo—which lets viewers click on a moving image to call up a related clip—be on the verge of a similar transformation? This nascent development, also called video-hyperlinking, makes it easy to link together segments of online video in novel ways. Andreas Haugstrup Pedersen, a video blogger (or “vlogger”) based in Aalborg, Denmark, who likes to video-hyperlink clips on his website, says the technology is a “vlogger’s dream”.

Hyperlinking video involves the use of “object-tracking” software to make filmed objects, such as cars, clickable as they move around. Viewers can then click on items of interest in a video to watch a related clip; after it has played, the original video resumes where it left off. To inform viewers that a video is hyperlinked, editors can add highlights to moving images, use beeps as audible cues, or display still images from hyperlinked videos next to the clip that is currently playing.

From hypertext to hypervideo | Economist.com