Web Real-Time Communication is a free open-source technology that supports real-time peer-to-peer communication across browsers and devices. All without any prerequisites of plugins and downloads.
Since its introduction in 2010, the technical standard has constantly been evolving and undergoing active development. In this blog post, we want to share the main trends surrounding webRTC and what you can expect in the following years to come.
Improved video conferencing experience
New trends in video conferencing are focused on enhancing the ways we perceive reality. In particular, the software is striving to converge physical and virtual with instruments like holograms, 3D and hyperreality.
When it comes to sound, programs will strive aways from the audio that is too “polished”. Instead, they will try to recreate the experience of sharing the same physical space.
Increasing meeting size will also be a focal point. In the past, starting virtual meetings with many users was quite limiting. Communicating in real-time was heavy on the bandwidth and challenged by compatibility issues. Today, video conferencing can host numerous participants, even up to 12,500 participants, according to the current Guinness World Record.
Online gaming
Leveraging webRTC is a great way to create high-quality peer-to-peer connections while taking advantage of the NAT traversal attribute. Since gamers have always been limited by hardware, utilizing webRTC can solve this problem by making it easier to run online games on low-spec devices across different platforms. This way, the server can handle the heavy processing without forcing the player to commit to specific hardware.
The biggest challenge for online games relying on webRTC at the moment is latency. Gaming requires a fast user reaction. While having a few seconds delay when browsing or steaming is acceptable, during gaming, this delay can hinder the playability. Hopefully, in the future, the gap between game input and media will be reduced.
Virtual learning
Since the start of the pandemic, with the shift to online learning, it was clear that many video conferencing tools didn’t have the features professors and students needed. For this reason, many schools and universities opted for a custom solution based on their needs. HD lessons, shared notes, group assignment sessions, and whiteboards were some of the main demands. In the future, we believe virtual classrooms will highly benefit from technological advancements like ultra-low latency, new interaction tools and de-noising.
CPaaS
Many developers want to harness the power of WebRTC. However, when it comes to implementation, they encounter a few barriers. One of them is building complex server architectures that are time-consuming and costly.
This is the reason why programmers often rely on CPaaS solutions for setting, hosting, maintaining, upgrading, and securing servers for their software applications. By renting only the space they need on the hosted servers, they can optimize IT costs and scale when it’s convenient.
We want to support developers in their journey by providing them with a customizable video engine that fits their needs, with consistent and outstanding support from our engineers.
Photo by Jacob Lund from Noun Project
