K-Content News

Being a “YouTuber” is now ranked as the world’s most promising job. Recently, a job platform conducted a survey of 3,543 adults (both male and female), and more than half of the respondents (63%) said ”yes” to the question, “Do you have any intentions of becoming a YouTuber?” According to the results of the survey, 70.7% of the respondents in their 20s said “yes”; this figure decreased as the age of the respondents increased (of the respondents in their 30s, 60.1% said “yes”; of those in their 40s,45.3% said “yes”; of those in their 50s or over, 45.1% said “yes”). This shows that a majority, or close to a majority, of the people in all age groups were seriously considering becoming a YouTuber.

Yet, ordinary people who wish to start one-person broadcasting face many limitations and difficulties. Even though smartphones can be used to replace filming equipment, it is difficult to edit and revise videos to make them look good. Video editing tools used at broadcasting stations or by professional video editing producers are complicated and difficult to use, and can also be very costly.

Starship Vending-machine, for People Who Dream of Becoming a One-person Broadcaster

The platform PUFF, developed by Starship Vending-machine, helps people dreaming of becoming a one-person broadcaster easily edit videos. PUFF allows users to intuitively revise their videos without using complicated settings or technical terms. Backed by the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), Starship Vending-machine is also developing a technology to realize multiplex broadcasting for broadcasting stations.

Jeon Soo-young, CEO of Starship Vending-machine, said that the company name represents a world in which high technology is ubiquitous in daily life, much like getting a starship from a vending machine.

CEO Jeon has been involved in the content sector for more than ten years, producing music records and videos and organizing concert festivals. While he was managing a project for the joint production of a cable TV program and a film, he began thinking of how videos and technologies could be combined to create a new platform. Soon after, he began his own business.

The content industry has become increasingly polarized in recent years. Content is divided into high-quality content, produced by specialized productions that invest large amounts of funds and personnel, and content created by small crews or individuals. It is difficult for small-scale personal broadcasters to compete with professional broadcasting companies in terms of content quality.

Starship Vending-machine provides support for the production of high-quality content by individual broadcasters. The company conducts research on visual computing technologies, such as video synthesis, video editing, and special effects, so that ordinary people can quickly and easily create high-quality videos.

Jeon Soo-young, CEO of Starship Vending-machine, said, “When individuals are armed with good weapons (i.e. video editing technology), the technology infrastructure expands across society, and a revenue structure becomes clear, allowing numerous people to participate.” He added, “The increased production of quality contents and greater numbers of success cases creates a virtuous circle, encouraging more people to participate in content production.”

The platform PUFF has two main functions: to provide content production tools, and to connect completed content to other revenues, while also providing revenue information. PUFF is typically used by ordinary people, so most of its video editing tools can be used by simply pressing a few buttons. The platform offers subtitle insertion as well as stock images that can be used to create effects like entertainment programs.

These functions, located at the bottom of the platform’s home screen, are easy to use, but they are high-level technologies. The platform features a combination of video synthesis technology, face detection and tracking technology, and capture technology. These functions are mostly optimized for real-time, one-person broadcasting using mobile devices.

PUFF users can both watch and produce content using the platform. Content producers can use PUFF to host a live broadcasting session, upload filmed content, or even upload short bits of content (lasting only about 15 seconds).

The PUFF website offers two kinds of contents. One type is the content independently produced by Starship Vending-machine, and the other type is content produced by users. Mutual communication between viewers and producers is an important aspect of the content independently produced by Starship Vending-machine. In February 2019, the company presented an interactive live broadcast with the idol group NCT Dream in collaboration with SM Entertainment. The entertainment program was broadcast live, and viewers were encouraged to participate and choose how the program would proceed.

During Starship Vending-machine’s live broadcast, members of NCT Dream had to find clues hidden in an escape room, solve problems, and escape. Whenever the band was at a crossroads, different choices popped up onscreen so that viewers could vote and choose an option and shares their opinions. . The option selected by the greatest number of viewers was then chosen and implemented by the members of the band.

In the last session of the live broadcasting series, Starship Vending-machine experimented with media commerce. NCT Dream goods were produced using the videos featuring NCT Dream, as well as using images and behind-the-scene materials. Coupons to induce purchases were distributed to viewers who participated in the voting. The sales during the broadcasting amounted to nearly KRW 65 million. Viewers had fun participating in the vote, which naturally led them to make purchases.

On PUFF, content creators are rewarded using two revenue structures; producers can earn revenue through donations or through dividends from ad profits. PUFF has differentiated itself from other platforms by implementing a system for viewer purchases, as a form of media commerce.

For example, creators are allowed to insert links in videos when they host live shows or upload videos. Viewers can then click on the links to check areas or contents in which they are interested.

Starship Vending-machine is managing a project, backed by KOCCA, to establish a “multi-mobile device video editing and broadcasting system.” This system connects five smartphones in real time, four of which are used as cameras. The remaining (fifth) smartphone serves as the “director’s phone" and helps the director choose from among the four other screens, broadcasting from the chosen screen.

In music programs, idol group performances are filmed from different angles using several different cameras, and the various images filmed are shown on different screens. The director chooses the screen of a specific camera and broadcasts it. Through PUFF, this system used by broadcasting stations can be realized using smartphones.

This system allows individual creators to make different creative attempts. They can capture various scenes at the same time and have only the necessary shots appear on screen. Or, much like the TV news, necessary video footage can be transmitted while the director stays indoors and another content creator remains outdoors.

CEO Jeon of Starship Vending-machine said that the KOCCA’s support project has been a big help for R&D-based companies. He stressed that among other things, companies can gain a higher degree of trust and confidence when they succeed in developing something through a government support project. CEO Jeon also added that KOCCA’s support has been instrumental in terms of internal and external networking and promotion.

He also advised that boundaries between genres should be broken down to invigorate the content industry. He said that it is a shame when content is produced that relies too heavily on the categories established by old media. He added, “I hope that support will be given in a way that considers how existing media is mixed with various technologies and that focuses on how synergy can be achieved, irrespective of contents, technologies, and platforms.”