Graspr, the instructional video syndication network run by an ex-Yahoo exec, has released an advanced video player with a featured called the “gCard” that carries the identity of a video creator wherever his or her video gets embedded across the net.
If you create an instructional video and upload it to YouTube, you may lose credit for your work when it gets embedded off-site since many of your viewers won’t bother to click through to your YouTube profile. And worse, you could miss opportunities to sell related merchandise (such as the supplies needed to build whatever you’ve instructed) and premium videos to your viewers.
Graspr wants to help producers connect with their distributed viewers with the gCard, which is essentially a video overlay that can be accessed by clicking a little tab on the side of the video player. Once accessed, the viewer shows a portrait of the instructor and details such as their contact information, location, professional background, and a link to their profile on Graspr. Another tab of the gCard provides a gallery of other videos from the same instructor, and a third presents the viewer with a simple contact form that can be used to send a note to the instructor using Graspr’s messaging system.
In the future, viewers will also be able to buy items directly from the video player using a simple ecommerce interface. And later, real time chat or instant messaging will be added as well so viewers can ask instructors follow up questions to their videos.