Streaming Media Japan 2001: Content, Business and Wireless Come Together

Flashy Content

Aside from servers, there were a wide variety of service providers to appeal to every taste and budget. In Japan, those applications that prove to be the most appealing within the consumer markets offer either cute, interactive cartoon characters such as Sony’s PostPets or real-to-life 3D animations similar to Hironobu Sakaguchi’s blockbuster Final Fantasy, The Spirits Within. And Streaming Media Japan delivered both.

Of the handful of 3D animation products, DStorm’s Lightwave 3D provides an incredible set of tools that allow even amateur animators to look like the pros from Pixar. And for those who are looking for a digital companion to keep you warm at night, check out DStorm’s Virtual Girlfriend (www.dstorm.co.jp/DS_E/index-e.html) that was made using Lightwave 3D to see some of the content you can build and subsequently stream using their software.

One of the most innovative and truly exciting streaming applications was presented by AMIVoice (www.amivoice.com), a joint venture between US-based Calico Commerce and Japan-based Advanced Media. Integrating high-quality voice recognition technology within a number of business applications, its most appealing offerings were real-time speech-to-text dictation for webcasters and its voice-driven storefront services. The AMIVoice storefront application uses a variety of 3D cartoon avatars that respond to voice prompts and provide verbal instructions and feedback as users navigate through an online shopping experience. And instead of being bound by pre-determined navigation structures, these customer service avatars are able to skip around anywhere within a Web site on any verbal command.

Business to Business Streaming

Despite the cool content at the show, there were still some companies targeting the business-to-consumer and business-to-business markets. A number of companies showcased their streaming media-based e-learning applications and solutions for both of these markets in Japan.

Probably one of the biggest surprises in this area was Fuji Xerox, best known for its film and printing businesses. The Fuji Xerox Document Services Group created a suite of B2B e-learning solutions called Video Link Services. Integrating both on-demand and live audio and video content with interactive management tools, Fuji Xerox positioned its services to build efficiencies for a number of corporate operational nightmares including technical conferences, technical certification, sales education and internal market research.

And unlike the hard-to-miss marketing messages given by many with brightly dressed models, the subtle message given by Fuji Xerox is one that shouldn’t be ignored by anyone in the streaming space. Although the consumer and wireless side of streaming is definitely exciting and worthy of hype, the real excitement begins when there is widespread adoption of business applications within the traditional and far more conservative corporate world of Japan.

This look back at the first ever Streaming Media Japan wouldn’t be complete without giving out a virtual award to the company that showed the most innovative marketing message for its products and services. Although big names like RealNetworks, Inktomi or Akamai might spring to mind, or perhaps even the smaller but exciting local companies like Lope (www.lope.co.jp), or eStyle (www.estyle.ne.jp), the hands down winner was English training company Linguaphone Academy (www.linguaphone-academy.co.jp).

Sporting one of the most consistently crowded booths throughout the show, Linguaphone’s recognition of the importance of English language skills within the global streaming market shows that even the most technically challenged companies can harness the power of streaming to gain significant economic rewards.

Overall, the companies at Streaming Media Japan clearly showed that the focus is on sustainable short-term goals and not on the hype and frenzy that Japan’s wireless networks have generated at similar shows in the past. So if you’re looking for the next big streaming media market in Japan, forget about 3G for the moment and think about broadband instead.