Learn · Interactive video
What is interactive video?
Interactive video is video that responds to the viewer. Instead of only playing from start to finish, it pauses for the viewer to choose, answer or act, and continues based on what they did. Because every choice is recorded, interactive video can also tell you what each viewer did, not just whether they pressed play.
The three kinds of interactive video
1. Overlays on a video file
Hotspots, buttons or quiz questions sit on top of a normal video. The video pauses, a card appears, the viewer answers, and the video carries on. Overlays are quick to add to footage you already have. The interaction sits outside the story: the scene itself doesn't change.
2. Branching video
The viewer chooses what happens next, and the video jumps to a different clip. Branching suits scenarios and role play, such as a difficult customer conversation. Every path has to be produced, so the number of branches stays small.
3. Interaction inside the scene
The picture itself is interactive. The viewer taps the hazard in the warehouse aisle, turns a 3D model to find a part, or switches a setting in a working copy of an app, and the story continues from what they did. This needs a video built from live web code rather than a sealed file. 4K Labs calls this format Video++.
What interactive video can measure
A standard video player reports plays, watch time and where people dropped off. Interactive video adds the viewer's own actions.
| Signal | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Choices | Which chapter, path or option each viewer picked, and so what they care about |
| Answers and attempts | Whether they got it right, and on which attempt |
| Rewatches and skips | Which moments people replayed or jumped past |
| Hands-on actions | What they tried inside the scene, including the wrong taps |
| Typed input | Details a form would ask for, such as team size, collected mid-story |
| Drop-off | The exact moment each viewer left |
When to use it
- Training and onboarding, when you need evidence that people understood, not only that they finished.
- Sales and product demos, when a buyer's choices tell you which feature to talk about next.
- Marketing and demand generation, when you want to know which part of the story landed with which accounts.
It helps less where people expect to scroll past, such as social feeds.
How to make an interactive video
- Start from content you have: a slide deck, a document, a script, a product page or a recording.
- Pick the moments where the viewer should act: a decision, a check for understanding, or a hands-on step.
- Match the interaction to the moment: a choice, a drag, a tap on the right thing, or a typed answer.
- Decide what happens after a wrong answer. A consequence inside the story teaches more than a red X.
- Publish it as a link or an embed, and read the results per viewer.
Questions
Is interactive video the same as a video quiz?
No. A quiz on top of a video is one kind of interactive video. Others let the viewer choose a path, or act inside the scene itself, such as tapping the right part of a machine or trying a step in a working copy of an app.
Does interactive video work on phones?
It depends on how it is built. Video++ from 4K Labs opens from a link in any modern browser, on phones, tablets and laptops, with nothing to install.
Can I post interactive video on YouTube or LinkedIn?
Social platforms play standard video files, so the interaction can't travel with the post. Post a short teaser natively and link to the interactive version, where the choices and answers are recorded.
What is Video++?
Video++ is interactive video from 4K Labs: it plays like a normal video, stops for the viewer to act inside the picture, and reports what each viewer did.
Do viewers have to sign in?
No. Viewers stay anonymous unless you send them a personal link or they arrive through your own portal, in which case results are recorded per person.
See it on a real video
The homepage has a working example: a video that stops, waits for you, and shows what 4K Labs captured.