Track video playback progress and display a video heatmap with React

The article discusses an innovative feature in web-based video players called the "video heatmap overlay." This tool allows users to see the most watched parts of a video at a glance before even starting playback. It is particularly useful for finding specific segments within longer videos, such as funny moments or recipe instructions. The author suggests that implementing this feature in applications can be beneficial, especially for content creators who offer lengthy videos or cater to an audience with limited attention spans. The article provides a step-by-step guide on how to set up viewer playback tracking and generate a video heatmap using React and mux-player-react. The process involves tracking the history of each second of the video, storing this data in application state as the video progresses, and then sending it off to be recorded in a database once the viewing session is complete. The tally from multiple unique sessions can then be combined to create heatmaps or analyze user engagement throughout an individual viewing session. The author also shares some additional ideas for utilizing this data, such as enabling certain actions only after a specific percentage of the video has been viewed, keeping track of individual viewer session data, and combining playback data with timed transcripts to understand which parts of the video script align with increased viewership.