a computer video camera or webcam (1998)
Frankly, a video camera was the last thing I thought I would get for Christmas. But no one here is complaining – it is half the size of a matchbox, plugs into the computer’s printer port and spends its sad existence looking at me. More to the point, it comes with a bundle of software that makes some ‘techie’ things possible for an outlay of £150.
The first surprise was that the ‘cam’ was recognised by Windows – so there was no effort in setting it up. When NetMeeting, a kind of conferencing software was fired up it went to a meeting place on the Internet. By picking a person in a list it was possible to see them and voice chat at the same time. It might have been luck or outside the Internet rush hours but here was an Internet videophone working with 28K modems. Within a few days I had fixed up appointments with far-flung colleagues and making international calls for the price of local calls.
NetMeeting can do more than this – for example, it lets you share a word processor or design package and discuss the work with another. They can also take control – move things around or type as you watch. They can also drag and drop files onto an icon and the files appear on your machine. If the audio breaks up because of the extra burden on the modem, as it does, you can resort to chatting by typing.
If it sounds like too much for too little, it probably is but one could not spoil Xmas by complaining about a frame rate of one or two a second. And it was good to know that better could be had by using an ISDN connection or a corporate network where it works well enough as an internal videophone and collaboration tool.
A piece of software bundled with the ‘cam’ is meant for surveillance work. Called ‘Gotcha’ it monitors the camera image and starts recording as soon as it detects a change. In the most paranoid office scenario, you pop out for a coffee and come back to see who has visited your desk. All this recorded is on disc at a frame rate that you set to compromise quality versus storage capacity. Options within ‘Gotcha’ also set what it does when the camera’s view changes. It can launch a screensaver send the video file to a security officer or play a sound file to say perhaps, ” Just popped out, I’ll be back at three” or maybe play something less welcoming. Another suggestion is to use it for surveillance proper, but this time set ‘Gotcha’ to dial a pager number and send a message too. A further application will intrigue those who pass time cyber-skiving or playing ‘solitaire’: with the camera pointed at the door during playtime, anyone entering will trigger the offending window to minimise and the word processor to maximise! Gotcha indeed.
Next up was ‘FaceIt’, visual recognition software that can distinguish one person from another and like a password accept or deny access to the computer. First steps involve teaching it what you look like by taking pictures of you. It learns automatically, finding your face in the frame and telling you to shift your position as it takes a range of shots. When you have been registered, FaceIt runs as a screensaver firing up when the computer is idle and waiting for a recognisable face before permitting access the machine. While a typed password can override it in case of failure, a further security check called ‘test for liveness’ ensures that it can’t be fooled by a mere photograph. In this test, it insists on a blink, wink or smile before allowing access. Once again, there are options on what can happen when a ‘stranger’ comes along: one is to invite the stranger to leave a video or typed message will be then be emailed to wherever you are on the Internet or network. Another is to take a snap of their face and to send it (by FTP) to a Web page somewhere on the system. If you are at another machine, you can get the Web browser to check the page periodically and show it when it changes.
Yet more applications are included – some will capture or mail still images, one is a computer direct to computer videophone, another, called ‘Vmail’ lets you record a video message file and email it over the Internet. The file is sent as a video player that needs only a click rather than messy extra drivers.
At the price, there has to be some downside and indeed there is. The colour printer port camera manages a grainy image and only a handful of frames per second. While an enhanced printer port doubles that, it is no match for a video capture card and quality camera. It is surely the full monty, but there is no escaping how cumbersome is the result. Those with computers with the new USB port have a further option in the Kodak DVC300 camera which makes for a tidy installation. It makes you wish that people would ask you before buying presents, but it still beats socks for Xmas.
Contacts: Augur Industries