universal-semantic-video

An open semantic sidecar format for localization, accessibility, rights, provenance, fallback rendering, and tool-to-tool media inspection.

universal-semantic-video

Why this article exists

This repo asks what happens when video needs to travel through many AI and human tools without losing meaning. Instead of proposing a new codec or player, it keeps media in existing delivery systems and adds a validated semantic layer on the side.

Problem

Video workflows already have containers, captions, streams, and provenance standards, but they still struggle to say which objects, segments, speakers, rights, consent rules, and fallbacks should survive tool boundaries.

What shipped

JSON Schema for `.usv.json`, CLI init/validate/inspect/conformance commands, public-safe examples, WebVTT fallbacks, standards notes, roadmap, docs, and CI checks.

Evidence

The README documents the eight-section sidecar shape, core conformance rules, standards posture, public-safety hook, and explicit pre-1.0 limitations.

Inspect path

Inspect `schema/usv.schema.json`, `examples/lite/`, `docs/spec/USV-Core-Conformance.md`, `docs/STANDARDS.md`, and the CI workflow.

Boundary

USV is not a codec, player, hosted API, AI translation system, ASR/OCR pipeline, lip-sync tool, or native container embedding layer yet.

What changed

The useful unit became clearer: not a richer caption, but a small validated meaning layer that can survive tool boundaries without pretending to replace the media stack.

Next question

What would make semantic video evidence portable enough for real creative and review workflows?

Open public repository

https://github.com/89325516/universal-semantic-video