Group Video Chat Using WebRTC and Simple Peer

Overview

• Topic: Creating a group video chat using Simple Peer and WebRTC technology.
• Importance of understanding the peer-to-peer nature of WebRTC.
• Watch prior videos for foundational knowledge (links provided).

Problem with WebRTC

• Each peer can only connect to one other peer directly.
• To create a group video chat, a mesh network must be established.
• In a mesh network:
  • Each participant has a separate peer connection to every other participant.
  • E.g., for 5 participants, 4 connections needed.

Setting Up the Project

• Starter Files: Available through GitHub repository link.
• Focus on:
  • Server JS file (back-end, including socket.io)
  • Room JS file (client-side group video chat logic).

Key Concepts

• Socket.io:
  • Used for signaling and facilitating handshakes between peers.
  • Provides a way for the server to notify existing users when a new participant joins.
• **Peer Connections:
  • Array of peers managed to maintain connections between participants.
  • Each peer has a unique socket ID.

Code Flow

Joining the Room

• useEffect runs on joining a room:
  • Asks for media devices (audio + video).
  • Functions invoked:
    • createPeer
    • addPeer
• Keep an array of current peers.

Creating Peers

1. For each participant in the room, create a new peer connection:
   • Initiator set to true for the user joining.
   • Signals sent to existing peers notifying them of the new user's presence.
2. Existing peers add the new user with addPeer method:
   • Initiator set to false.

Handling Connections

• On user join, emit an event:
  • Server notifies all peers of the new user.
• Each existing peer:
  • Calls addPeer to create a new peer connection.
  • Accepts incoming signals and sends back their own signal.

Peer Methods

Create Peer Method Logic:

• Create a new peer object with the stream and initiator set to true.
• Emit signal back to server for other peers.

Add Peer Method Logic:

• Create new peer with initiator set to false and accept the incoming signal from the new member.
• Emit a return signal back to the new user with their peer connection data.

Event Handling

• Handling emitted events (e.g., signals) properly ensures a successful handshake between peers.
• The returning signal needs to match the correct peer object for seamless connection.

Testing

• Launch application on localhost (port 3000).
• Open multiple tabs to initiate group video chats and verify connections.
  • Can join the same room by using the unique room ID.

Conclusion

• Successful setup of group video chat with multiple participants.
• Encouragement to like, subscribe, and look forward to future videos.