Frequently Asked Questions
- What is www.kicklight.com?
- KickLight is an online service that allows video producers to add synchronized visual elements (“Kicks”) to their online videos. Wherever that video is ultimately sent or embedded, the Kicks go with it.
- What is a “Kick”?
- Kicks are visual elements that are synchronized with an online video, but that reside entirely outside of the video frame itself. Ultimately, Kicks will be any form of digital information or capability - as simple as a picture, or as complex as a miniature application. For example, a video of the “10 Greatest Yankees Baseball Homeruns” might include a dynamic Kick that presents the up-to-the-minute score of the most recent game played and tickets to an upcoming game -- irrespective of when the video is actually viewed!
- What is a “kicklight”?
- A kicklight is the actual, combination of a video with one or more Kicks. “Video with a Kick!” if you will. For the technically minded, a kicklight is a Flash-based video player that synchronizes images along the video timeline.
- What does the name “KickLight” mean?
- On a movie set, the kick light (aka back light) is the light that brings definition and depth to the scene being filmed. That’s a fitting name as adding Kicks allows video producers to bring additional definition and depth to their online videos.
- What is the Kick Revolution?
- At the most basic level, Kicks revolutionize online video in much the same way that hyperlinks revolutionized online text. The text-based Internet is a web of information that is enabled by hyperlinks - click on a word and you’re taken to additional, relevant information that has been selected by the hyperlink’s creator. Conversely, the video-based Internet currently lacks such interconnectedness. Despite the tremendous amount of information that is potentially relevant to each video, online videos are currently stuck “inside the box” and fail to make connections outside of themselves. So, as online video becomes increasingly prevalent, the video-based Internet is inherently becoming less “connected” and is falling far short of its potential. Kicks enable the creators of online video to link their work to the Internet’s entire breadth and depth of relevant information. Just like hyperlinks, this capability can be used for creativity, community, or commerce - it’s up to you.
- How are Kicks created?
- Kicks are created or selected by the kicklight producer. Kicklight.com offers producers the ability to make a simple do-it-yourself Kick, utilize our tools to make more complex “Quick Kicks,” or make your own using any tools you want (like PhotoShop or paint.net) and upload them as .jpgs. Ultimately, you’ll be able to obtain Kicks from other members of the community and from KickLight’s own libraries. For example, if you’re making a kicklight from a snowboarding video, you might make your own title Kick, borrow a Kick from our snowboarding library, purchase for pennies a Kick from an snowboarding Kick specialist, make an Amazon Quick Kick, and borrow a Kick provided by a snowboarding manufacturer.
- What is KickLight's business model?
- KickLight is not currently seeking to monetize kicklights. In the long term, we contemplate generating revenue in several ways. In some cases, kicklight producers may seek to generate money from their kicklights by link their Kicks to URLs offered by affiliate programs such Amazon.com’s Associate’s Program (https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/join/landing/main.html). In those situations, KickLight may aggregate all the affiliate-marketing kicklights together to be eligible for “super-affiliate” commissions. KickLight may also use the information contained within kicklights to better identify advertising that may appear on the page on which a kicklight is embedded. In all cases, KickLight intends to share significant amounts of this revenue with the relevant video provider (e.g., YouTube).
- Tell me more about the company developing KickLight.
- KickLight is a proto-business incubating within SRI International, a leading research lab founded by Stanford University. The KickLight team is led by John McIntire, the creator of Kicks and the kicklight concept.
- How can contact KickLight regarding comments or questions?
- You can contact KickLight here for any support questions or bug reports. There is also a community forum where you can share your comments and thoughts. Issues regarding privacy and copyright violations can also be sent from here.
