Background Removal with the Vonage Video API
Introduction In a previous blog post we looked at how we could do background removal with Tensorflow in an Agora Video Chat. We saw how semantic segmentation can be used to detect background pixels in a video stream, and how we could use that information to apply a virtual background. This time, we'll take a look at integrating background removal with the Vonage Video API, as well as some optimizations that we found that improved
One for All, All for One: WebRTC Mesh Architecture
In its simplest incarnation, WebRTC allows you to set up a live peer-to-peer connection between two browsers to exchange private video, audio, and data between them. It looks like this: WebRTC in its simplest form Of course, you and I both know that we also need signaling and a couple of STUN/TURN servers to do the trick. For now, let’s leave out these components. Just remember that they are still there! Let’s make it a
Watch WebRTC Live #55 – Around – Building the Future of Collaborative Audio & Video Experiences
On the May 19, 2021 episode of WebRTC Live, Arin Sime was joined by Manik Sachdeva, Director of Engineering at Around. They discussed building the future of collaborative audio and video experiences. Previously a Software Engineering Manager at Vonage, Manik led the development of video APIs for web, mobile, and desktop applications. "Are meeting tools dead?" asks Arin. "No, but meetings are." Manik explains why he believes this is so and provides insight into the
Resources to Learn WebRTC
WebRTC is heralded as an easy way to access the camera and microphone from javascript and build peer-to-peer video chat applications with no downloads needed--and no expertise beyond javascript skills. This is a completely true statement for the simplest of scenarios. But as any technologist knows, the real world is rarely as simple as even the best of blog posts portray it. The truth is, learning WebRTC is not easy. And the many changes and
Watch WebRTC Live #54 – Unleashing the True Power of WebRTC with Real-Time AV1 SVC
On the April 28, 2021 episode of WebRTC Live, Arin Sime was joined by Sergio Garcia Murillo, founder and main developer for Meedoze technology, CoSMo's Media Server Tech Lead, and Millicast's Principal Engineer and Solution Architect. They explored enabling the next generation of live video architectures with Real-Time AV1 SVC. With Google Chrome announcing support for Scalable Video Coding (SVC) and a forwarding header extension, AV1 real-time encoding can be enabled for WebRTC. AV1 was
WebRTC Browser Compatibility
A WebRTC peer to peer connection allows two users to communicate directly, browser to browser, using the RTCPeerConnection API. However, each browser has implemented WebRTC independently and at different times. As a WebRTC developer, it was crucial for quite some time to know in which browsers things would work as expected. And, in which browser you could expect things to fail. WebRTC was added to Chrome in 2011, at the same time that it was
Watch WebRTC Live #53: Building a New Generation of Interactive Real-Time Streaming Solutions With WebRTC
On the April 14, 2021 episode of WebRTC Live, Arin was joined by Millicast Streaming Media Engineer Ryan Jespersen, to explore how the use of WebRTC is expanding beyond the initial core design. The last year has proved just how much human beings crave interaction. And also that interaction leads to engagement, which we saw in the proliferation of virtual watch parties and virtual audiences at sporting events. But for that engagement to be genuine,
Our WebRTC Development Process
Last week, we spoke about the skills and roles WebRTC.ventures can bring to your live video project when Hiring a Development Team. Today, we’ll continue that conversation with more about what happens after you hire us: contract models, our agile development process, and timelines. You can get all the information in both posts in one WebRTC Tips by WebRTC.ventures YouTube video. Or, read on: Contract Models We can build the complete application for you if
Hiring a WebRTC Development Team?
Working with WebRTC is in some ways a bit easier than it was a few years ago. In other ways, it has become more complex. Because WebRTC is being used in a larger variety of use cases with different needs and concerns and also at a larger scale than ever before, it helps to have a partner with a lot of experience. That's where we can come in play. WebRTC.ventures is a custom design agency
Job Opening: WebRTC Engineer (North/Central/South America-based)
Join our growing team of WebRTC engineers! We build live video applications for a variety of industries and seek additional talent in this growing field. We have several job openings for developers with a strong technical background that includes work in WebRTC or similar technologies and experience working in a collaborative, client-facing environment. English fluency for business/technical meetings is a must. As we work in a very agile team environment, we can only accept applications
Watch WebRTC Live #52: Automated Testing for WebRTC
Just a few years ago, many of the people knocking on our door at WebRTC.ventures were startups, really just exploring ideas around live video applications. We are now seeing a much more mature client base wanting production-ready apps and wanting to scale those applications as large as possible. Automated testing, or the use of software to validate your application behavior, is now more important than ever. As we've said before, the only thing harder than
Using 8×8’s “Jitsi As A Service” with WordPress
At WebRTC.ventures, our speciality is building completely custom live video applications. We build applications where live video is a central part of the workflow. Use cases include telehealth, interactive events, collaboration tools, and many others. There is, however, a problem we run into frequently. We're happy to report here that 8x8 (which acquired Jitsi last year) has come up with an interesting solution with their new Jitsi as a Service. 8x8's Jitsi as a Service solves a
Adding Recording to Your WebRTC Application
Building recording into your WebRTC video or audio application should never be an afterthought. When clients come to us at WebRTC.ventures looking to develop a WebRTC video or audio application, one of the first questions we ask is, “do you need recording?” If the answer is yes, the next question is always, “what for?” And then, “how much recording?” It is essential to think about these things up front. The answers will be an important
Notifications Can Make or Break Your WebRTC User Experience
There are a number of roadblocks that can prevent users in a WebRTC video, audio, or chat application from connecting. Making this connection is the make-or-break moment in terms of providing a quality user experience. Adequate and timely notifications provide essential feedback to mitigate these issues. User experience (UX) design is the process design teams use to create products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. Delivering quality experiences within your application is all
Integrating Telephony into Your WebRTC Application
How can you add dial-in or dial-out capability to your WebRTC video application? What are the use cases where you would want to connect a traditional phone call on a public switched telephone network (PSTN) into your WebRTC video and/or audio conference? Let’s explore integrating telephony into WebRTC. You can watch this and other tips from our WebRTC.ventures engineering team as part of our WebRTC Tips YouTube video series. Or, read on below. Use Cases
WebRTC Assessments and Consulting
Our team has built countless WebRTC applications over the years. We’ve integrated live video and audio for a variety of industries, use cases, and using different WebRTC communication platforms and libraries. We work closely with the teams at Vonage, Agora, Twilio, Janus, Jitsi (8x8) and others. Many take advantage of this deep expertise by contracting with us for our WebRTC development services or for our WebRTC testing services. However, another very popular request we get
Watch WebRTC Live #51: NV – The Next Version of the WebRTC Standard with Bernard Aboba
Now that WebRTC 1.0 is here, what comes next? On February 17, 2021, WebRTC.ventures produced our 51st episode of WebRTC Live. Arin was joined by Microsoft Principal Architect and W3C WebRTC Co-Chair, Bernard Aboba. They discussed what is coming down the pipe in WebRTC-NV. This content built upon the conversation Arin had last month with Tsahi Levent-Levi on WebRTC Live Episode 50: WebRTC Trends for 2021. And also on this in-depth Q&A that Bernard did
Vonage Communication APIs
Last week, we talked about WebRTC application architecture and the trade-offs in choosing Native, Open Source, or CPaaS solutions. Many who go with a Commercial Platform as a Service (CPaaS) option will choose Vonage. Vonage is one of the commercial platforms that can be used to integrate WebRTC video, as well as other functionality, into your application. As custom developers specializing in live video integration, we at WebRTC.ventures often use CPaaS solutions and Vonage is
WebRTC 1.0 is here!
After first being introduced by Google way back in 2011, WebRTC 1.0 has finally arrived! It was officially made a W3C Recommendation on January 26, 2021. A lot has happened in the ten years since the WebRTC standard for HTML5 was first introduced. WebRTC has advanced from its original vision WebRTC was originally envisioned as a way for javascript to easily access the camera and microphone of browser users. With their permission, of course. Then,
WebRTC Cloud Gaming: Unboxing Stadia
While the gaming industry has been around for decades, its popularity has grown tremendously in recent years. Gaming is expected to grow at a yearly rate of 12.9% from 2020 to 2027. eSports have become even a full time job for some. And as old technology challenges are overcome, companies like Google and Microsoft are pushing toward building games in the cloud. Cloud gaming is the future of seamless entertainment Although it requires a high-speed
