Cineverse Partners with Vionlabs to Enable Next-Generation Search via Cognitive AI

By DaMarko Webster

Cineverse Corp the global streaming technology and entertainment company with one of the world’s largest portfolios of streaming channels and content libraries, has partnered with Vionlabs, a leading provider of AI video metadata solutions. This partnership allows Cineverse to leverage Vionlabs advanced AI technology to enable next-generation search capabilities on the company’s flagship Cineverse streaming platform and to serve as a key metadata provider for an upcoming advanced search product.

Vionlabs, renowned for its fusion of cognitive AI techniques and film expertise, offers AI technology that pulls relevant metadata from filmed entertainment to aid in understanding the emotional impact of content. The use of cognitive AI utilizes computer vision and machine learning to generate never-before seen sentiment-data. Vionlabs’ recommendation engine and discovery platform supports the creation of a unique and extremely accurate personal viewer experience. This award-winning technology has consistently demonstrated its ability to enhance search and discovery for more accurate content recommendations, leading to higher click-through rates and increased discovery of deeper catalog titles – for higher return on content investments for companies such as Hulu and Canela Media.

Through this partnership, Vionlabs’ state-of-the-art cognitive AI – called AINAR – has been integrated into Cineverse’s newly-introduced MatchpointAI, an innovative AI-based platform and marketplace, which is part of the Company’s cutting-edge, proprietary streaming technology suite. MatchpointAI provides a simple, one-stop solution for video content producers, streaming platforms, and OEMs seeking to prepare, optimize and future-proof their content. Vionlab’s AINAR technology will be applied to more than 60,000 film and television titles in Cineverse’s library – all content that is currently available on the Company’s owned-and-operated streaming channels (including the flagship Cineverse service) as well as partner channels. 

“It’s with great enthusiasm that we team up with Cineverse, a leading streaming innovator, to integrate our groundbreaking cognitive AI technology into their Matchpoint product suite,” said Marcus Bergström, CEO of Vionlabs. “Our AI capacities will enable an enhanced user experience, guiding viewers to content that more deeply aligns with their interests, adding value to Cineverse and their sophisticated audience.”

By integrating AINAR into Matchpoint, users will benefit from more nuanced and subjective recommendations based on analysis of various elements, including tone, color, objects, sounds, and action levels to comprehensively understand the emotional nature of content. This enhanced understanding will result in heightened user engagement throughout Cineverse’s extensive content library.

“Our partnership with Vionlabs continues our unwavering commitment to provide an unparalleled streaming experience by leveraging cutting-edge technology to unlock the full potential of our content library as part of our mission to redefine the home viewing experience,” added Tony Huidor, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Technology Officer of Cineverse. “Our goal is to take the consumer viewing experience to the next level. As such, we continue to invest in Matchpoint in order to build value as a technology provider and to partner with innovative technology partners who share a passion for cinema and our vision for the future of entertainment as we look to solve issues that pose significant challenges in our industry. We strongly believe that we can effectively use AI to connect people with great stories they may not otherwise find.”

The integration of AINAR into Cineverse’s MatchpointAI will allow users to enjoy an enhanced viewing experience through features such as:

• Fingerprint embedding which enables data scientists to innovate in personalization, content analysis, and other areas.
• The ability to predict more than 40 genres to categorize each title and combine them with moods and keywords to create targeted affinity groups, while also classifying content into more general categories for accurate categorization.
  • Identification of emotion and mood of scenes or characters can be measured with unprecedented accuracy, recognizing more than 700 moods within a single film.
  • AINAR extracts over 20 mood categories allowing Cineverse to intrinsically connect titles across different genres.
• AINAR utilizes more than 1500 descriptive keywords with weighted reflections of the content’s story for enhancing personalized content recommendations and improving search & discovery to more effectively engage viewers.