Interactive Video Player

Instead of just passively watching a video online, what if a chat program was connected? That way you could watch along with friends, making it a truly interactive experience. Add a generic chat room option if someone wants (i.e. “Watch ‘The Office’ and chat real office politics!”), or make it a private room just for friends.

Beyond text-based chat, video chat might be an option (although it’d be a performance hit, especially on older machines). Or maybe some kind of simple whiteboard-type options could be available, so friends could “draw” on the screen, possibly allow alternative audio, so friends could overdub movies and TV shows with their own dialogue or sound effects.

These are just some ways that watching video online can be a richer, more interactive experience than just watching TV on your computer. Add a sponsorship to the chat function (i.e. “This chat feature brought to you by Toyota”) and this could be a great way for Netflix, Hulu, or any other video service to take a bold leap forward.

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