Camera-based app scanning streaming services for highlighting IMDB watchlist overlap
Miloš StankovićOct 13, 2022
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An augmented reality scanner for phones to point at a TV or computer screen and browse through the streaming platforms' libraries, highlighting the movies and shows that you have in your IMDB watchlist.
Why?
Save time on picking what you are going to watch. There are so many streaming platforms now and browsing through them to see what is on them takes ages.
Increase the probability of enjoying what you decide to watch by sticking to the premade watchlist. Not taking as much gamble with unknown titles that are pushed by individual services.
One solution for all entertainment content platforms - centralize your streaming service experience via IMDB. No more need for watchlists across several streaming sites.
How it works:
You would have to be logged in your IMDB profile on your phone.
Open the scanning app that is a camera primarily, and align it with your TV or desktop computer.
A scan in the way QR codes are scanned would be done by the app and highlight the titles that are in your IMDB watchlist with a yellow tint overlay. The movies would also be listed in order as text after you click the "end scanning" button.
The app would need a database of movies' posters, and all their variations for functionality in countries that might translate titles.
As IMDB is owned by Amazon, they offer only a filter to see which movies from your watchlist you can watch on Amazon Prime. But it's a miniscule overlap going from my example, 22 titles out of 400. A 5.5% overlap.
The app can also scan for movies that meet certain filters, like an IMDB rating of 6.5 or higher, more than 10,000 votes, and then have them suggested as well.
You can also make it so that the scanner can show you the movies that you have already rated on IMDB, with a score 7 or higher. Meaning those you liked and might want to rewatch.
These could be extra options behind a pay wall or a golden plan.
Additional thoughts:
I found an attempt to solve the problem of merging IMDB and Netflix, yet my proposed solution is not limited in regards to geography, that is different libraries in different countries. It's also not limited by one streaming service.
Also, it's quite an easier user experience, just point at the screen.
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General comments
Shubhankar Kulkarni2 years ago
I can relate to the problem and agree that it needs to and can be easily solved.
While using the camera app, it will only highlight the movies from the ones on the screen. Not all movies are displayed on the front page. You will need to scroll up and down and also sideways within a particular genre. This is too much work to find movies that are on your watchlist. Also, it should highlight watched movies with a different color.
Therefore, I propose using IMDb as the base to view which movies are on which streaming platforms. IMDb will have your watchlist. In front of each movie from the list, you will see if the movie is available on the live streaming platform. It will also indicate which platform or even multiple ones. The IMDb app will also judge based on your phone's location if a particular movie is streaming on the platform in the region you are currently in. You could also record your subscription details so that the app can make more accurate predictions. You can then sort your watchlist by your preferred measure - genre, IMDb rating, etc. and select the first movie. This is in line with what Povilas S suggested.
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Miloš Stanković2 years ago
Shubhankar Kulkarni That's unfortunately not possible because IMDB is owned by Amazon, as I mentioned in other comments.
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Povilas S2 years ago
A seemingly easier way would be to use an extension that connects IMDB with the most popular streaming platforms. That way the streaming site could automatically acquire data from your IMDb account and automatically highlight movie titles as being in there.
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Miloš Stanković2 years ago
Povilas S But that's what the solution I linked does. Yet the libraries of these streaming services are vast and change week in and week out, they differ from country to country due to distribution rights, and the information regarding changes isn't available. Not to mention there are many streaming platforms now. So it's really hard for them to be accurate.
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Povilas S2 years ago
Miloš Stanković The solution you linked doesn't have the convenience of the idea that you propose (it doesn't automatically highlight your watchlist movies on streaming platforms). I propose a solution that has the same convenience without the additional means (smartphone, camera) required.
A streaming platform would be automatically linked to your IMDb profile and automatically highlight movie titles as you browse it. For a start, it would be enough to empower the most popular streaming sites with this (Netflix, Amazon Video, what else?). The changing of the libraries wouldn't matter then, since the data would be adjusted automatically.
Miloš Stanković Oct 13, 2022
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