Vuclip CEO: Mobile Devices May Predict Mood

What if your smartphone could sense your mood and pick out a movie for you to watch?  

That's what Nickhil Jakatdar, co-founder and CEO of Milpitas-based , suggested could happen in the future during his presentation at the Palo Alto International Film Festival. Jakatdar heads the world’s largest independent mobile video service, and spoke at length at the headquarters in downtown Palo Alto about what the digital landscape holds for the future of films.

While today Google can recommend ads based on the content of your email, "if we take it to the next level," he said, "we might be able to get your mood out of your interactions."

That was just one of the innovations Jakatdar sees coming in the future. Holographic screens on your mobile device which can be used to render video on a larger screen, a social movie experience where people in 20 different locations can watch a movie "together," and 15-minute condensed movies to suit shrinking attention spans may be on the way, too.

In addition, a user may even be able to personalize their mobile experience so they can pick the movie ending from a number of alternative endings. He'd also like to see “shop while you watch” coming into the mobile movie space. 

Citing personal anecdotes, Jakatdar elaborated on how mobile has grown over time.

Jakatdar was looking forward to watching his first movie back in 1978— Superman— but ended up watching 36 Chamber of Shaolin because the theater wasn't showing his childhood hero.

"Today with mobile technology, I can watch what I want, where I want and when I want," he said.

Better networks and bigger mobile screens have lent themselves to a good user experience.

“Now you can watch a movie [on your mobile device] and tell the difference between Superman and Batman,” he said. “That’s a big step forward.”

Better video and Internet capabilities, along with the use of smartphones and tablets, have given movie studios an opportunity to monetize video clips rendered on mobile devices.

For Jakatdar, watching movies is part of work.

“I can watch movies anytime and call it work,” says Jakatdar. “It is an amazing privilege.”

An avid poker player, Jakatdar said he went with his gut when he founded Vuclip four years ago, and thought that mobile videos would be a resounding success in the U.S.

What he found was that developed markets like the US did not hold up as well as emerging markets like those in Latin America, Middle East, India, Indonesia, Ukraine, Malaysia and China which showed promise. Nevertheless, business in the U.S. is now picking up.