If you had previously been using Videosurf's Greasemonkey script to preview videos from search engine results, the company has released a new Firefox add-on that does a bit more--and without the need for Greasemonkey.
Once installed in your browser, the add-on still lets you see previews of videos from search results on Google and Yahoo. However it now throws in video previews on FriendFeed pages, and adds a neat timeline view in YouTube that lets you skip to later parts of a video just like DVD chapter markers.
I had the Greasemonkey script installed on my machine last November, but recently turned it off. It directs links that would normally go to where the video is hosted to a special page on Videosurf where it has been re-embedded. This can be useful for some videos, but if you like reading comments and leaving ratings on the original video page it's adding an extra step to get there. Worth noting is that the Firefox iteration of this tool no longer does that.
With the extension installed you can skip to various parts of a video--as long as it's been indexed.
(Credit: Videosurf)
Video search and identification tool VideoSurf has a new script for Greasemonkey users that lets you see VideoSurf-enhanced results on Google, Yahoo, and YouTube. If a result has been indexed by VideoSurf you'll see its timeline, along with links to each segment which skip you straight to that part of the video.
VideoSurf is advertising this as a way to see video results before you click on them, similar to some scripts and extensions that show you site thumbnails straight from search results or on-site links (like Snap). I found it to work particularly well on mainstream content, although videos that have not yet been processed by VideoSurf won't show up.
If you're a Greasemonkey user I'd say this is definitely worth a go. The same goes for any users who frequently click on videos in search results, only to be disappointed by what they end up being. VideoSurf's scene-by-scene analysis puts an end to any surprises.
Previously: VideoSurf demo nearly lives up to pre-show hype
VideoSurf's Greasemonkey extension puts scene-by-scene analysis in your search results--that is, as long as it's a mainstream piece of content.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
At Wednesday morning's TechCrunch50 demo of video search engine VideoSurf, CEO Lior Delgo showed off how the technology would be useful for finding a single moment from your favorite TV series. Delgo used HBO's Entourage as an example, picking out a few lines of dialogue from a 30-minute episode.
To make all of that happen, entire episodes--in this case illegally hosted ones on YouTube--get crunched through VideoSurf's servers. It's an entirely automated process that scans videos faster than real-time, and does not require people to do the heavy lifting.
VideoSurf breaks down TV episodes, or any video for that matter, into character scenes.
(Credit: VideoSurf)What makes the technology special is that it picks out characters from these series and lets you see individual moments where they appear. The same thing happens when you're viewing any episode through the service--it'll pick out who it recognizes and put up a character list next to the clip.
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Let's face it: Video search blows. It's easy to use YouTube's search box to find straightforward Internet video memes like cats playing pianos, skateboard tricks, or Rick Astley remixes; try for anything more intricate and you might be out of luck. There are established companies in the space, like the U.K.-based Blinkx, but none of them has captured the market share that video search potentially could.
Enter VideoSurf, a company launching later on Wednesday at the TechCrunch50 conference that's been getting a choice spot in the tech-blogger limelight thanks to a Los Angeles Times preview.
VideoSurf CEO Lior Delgo told the Times that instead of only being able to search text tags and descriptions, the company's search technology goes frame-by-frame to recognize specific people. Additionally, VideoSurf says it has already indexed multiple video sites, from hubs like YouTube and Hulu to the digital libraries of networks like Comedy Central and ESPN. The company has attracted investment funding from former Vice President Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, the co-founders of Current Media; Hyatt is chairman of VideoSurf's board of directors.
But there's a caveat: nobody in the tech press has actually seen this company in action yet. Search Engine Land was very impressed by a demo, calling the company "genuinely radical," but doesn't appear to have done anything hands-on. The last shadowy video company that was this hyped was arguably Joost, which is still trying to stay afloat after failing to catch on. So don't count the chickens before they hatch, even if we're talking about a grainy cell phone camera video of chickens playing "Never Gonna Give You Up" on a piano.
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