Hubs:Live

According to Cisco, by 2021, 82% of internet traffic will be streaming video content and over the recent years there has been an increase in live streaming. Most social media platforms are giving users the ability to watch and stream their own content to their networks. From breaking news to live updates from friends, viewers can get information in real-time videos which feel more interactive and engaging. The video game community is one of the original supporters of live streaming and platforms like Twitch have pushed it in new directions. Twitch has more than 15 million daily active users and between 2.2 and 3.2 million monthly users. The platform has allowed people and independent studios to build careers around live broadcasting while creating a dedicated fan base along the way. The community Twitch has created is the perfect entry point for Mozilla into the world of live streaming.

By building an open-source set of tools for the streaming community, Mozilla can be the bridge between existing platforms and create a variety of values:

1. Integrating existing communities, not building a new events platform: A struggle many current VR event companies are running into is the problem of building community. You can easily find calendars on other platforms listing out when VR events take place but when you join, you are often faced with the disappointment of small numbers of people participating. By tapping into existing communities in the streaming world, Mozilla can begin to expand the audience without building from the ground-up.
2. Creating an ecosystem for streamers to grow their community: The Hubs:Live platform can act as an ecosystem for streamers to build new and exciting ways to interact with their fans. Streamers and fans are encouraged to use the tools to design an experience that works for them. In this sense, it stays true to Mozilla's core values. Mozilla will not be taking the community from streamers and locking them into their own platform, but rather Mozilla is providing the tools help augment existing streaming services. By working in various streaming platforms, users can use Hubs:Live as a way to jump in and out of the different sites.
3. An entry point into the future of entertainment: Hubs:Live gives Mozilla a natural way into the world of live streaming and entertainment. Video game streaming has already established how successful live streaming can be and other communities have taken notice. Through Hubs:Live, Mozilla can access new revenue streams that are in line with the company's values.

Now

The near-term solution involves incorporating live videos into Hubs and working directly with a select group of streamers to get the experience for them created. This would involve tasks such as helping model rooms in Spoke, advising on how to interact with viewers in VR, and curating physical merchandise to sell. Using physical objects as entry into the room is crucial at this stage of development. Creating products for the "superfans" to buy that come with codes to enter the room will gather a dedicated group of viewers to be the first people to interact with Hubs:Live. The initial rollout is a critical point, especially with emerging VR technologies where people can already be skeptical, so working with these "superfans," instead of the entirety of streaming viewers, gives Mozilla a chance to develop with community feedback and create the support needed to expand.

Things to be done:

• Add the ability to stream live videos in rooms
• Find streamers to collaborate with
• Guide streamers through the process of using Hubs:Live
• Set restrictions on what people can and cannot interact with in a room
• Create a way to use physical objects as an entry to rooms

Future

Looking farther in the future, we envision Hubs:Live becoming its own product from Mozilla and expanding into new platforms. As the user base grows, the general public should be able to create their own rooms and stream within them. We also imagine people creating their own "unofficial" rooms in Spoke where they can watch their favorite streamers. Mozilla would need to come up with new ways for streamers to keep their rooms engaging so their fans still buy access to the "official" rooms even when these new crowd-sourced rooms open up. Additionally, as the platforms grows, there needs to be some security in place that prevents the spreading of unauthorized access to paid rooms. The use of user profiles or two-factor authentication could be ways to address this issue.

Things to be done :

• Deeper integration with other platforms such as Twitch and YouTube
• Security to prevent unauthorized access to Hubs:Live paid rooms
• Tools for the general public to create their own Hubs:Live rooms
• Develop Hubs:Live as an independent product with its own identity

Dream Scenario

Even farther down the line with the success of Hubs:Live, we see it becoming fully integrated in media platforms and working as an extended chat room.

Things to be done:

• Seamless access to and from Hubs:Live while watching content on other platforms
• Stream what you see in Hubs:Live to any other live streaming service
• Ability to schedule content and customize rooms while not in Hubs:Live

Hubs:Live Team