Ever wanted to stream your own live show?, or broadcast a live audio or video webcam event to a group of collaborators, colleagues, students, fans, etc? Ever wished there was an easy way to log in and just go live, for free, with the simplicity of pressing a button? Well guess what; there is, and it’s called BrainRepublic.
BrainRepublic is a free web service that is lets you stream live audio/visual content to anyone that can access the internet, with live comments enabled. It is extremely easy to use, and can be used to create audio/visual content (and audience interaction).
It is private, and they do not ‘keep’ or otherwise use your data/stream.
When webcams were first becoming easy to get and more popular, it was quite a feat to set up a connection between someone on one side of the USA and someone on the other. As they became more prevalent the software improved right along with the hardware until now we have a webcam in most laptops that are often quite advanced. We have tons of ways to access those cams and send what we want over the waves of the net. BrainRepublic, a new site, is allowing us to do this without registration and in just a couple of supremely simple steps.
Broadcasting is not Skyping: BrainRepublic is not Skype: this is a different kind of tool, intended for PUBLIC broadcasting via the sharing of links or invites. You do not see your audience and they cannot talk back via their own MICs, although they can leave comments and ask questions via text chat. If you want to have a video chat with your friend in another state, use some other VOIP tool. If you want to do an online lecture on SEO/coding/quantum mechanics to your 1200 fans that are dying to hear it (or your 5 friends). However, they do not keep your data, so if you would like to embed the event on your blog afterwards for those who missed it you will need to record it using a separate screen recording program.
Ease of use: right from the beginning, you know that it’s going to be easy to use, because it’s all spelled out and kept simple. BrainRepublic doesn’t’ force you to register with them, just type in a name and boom! you’re on the air. It’s that simple, really. You can give them an email address if you want to be able to get info, updates, etc, but it’s not required. You can send links for a scheduled event (or an event that is about to begin) via Facebook or Twitter or even embed the ‘event’ in a website or blog that people can follow live. It’s truly a thing of beauty.
The user experience: actually using BrainRepublic was a joy. It was smooth and had a decent frame rate, even with my built in cam. It was clear and not too jerky, and the sound was adequate as well. There’s a chat box beneath for audience participation which the presenter the use as well. There’s an option to go full screen with the viewer, and a couple of other options such as video quality and the like. All in all it’s surprising at how fast and easy it is to just open a web page, and start broadcasting your stream of data across cyber space. Brain Republic gets full marks for a smart product that helps to bring together the masses. A major plus here is that those who may not be supreme compute gurus will feel more comfortable using something like this, with such a focused and polished process and interface.
Possible uses: this tool is easy to use and can be used in all kinds of applications: online education lectures and group activities, political or cultural lectures – even individuals can find a way to benefit from such a useful tool. It’s great to know that anyone with something to say (and many who don’t I am sure) can log in and broadcast instantly, without any worries about program installation or driver compatibility. Brain Republic is smooth and had no trouble with the generic drivers for my cam and my headset with mic.
BrainRepublic has been available in German for a while but only recently translated to English, for which we are grateful. I recommend you give this one a shot, it’s one of the best I have seen. Until next time, my friends.
[Thanks for reader Juergen S. for the tip about this service]
Get started with Brain Republic here.
