HTML Groups Tackle Webcam Support
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 15th Dec 2009 18:06 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
Internet & Networking The groups responsible for standardizing the language used to build Web sites have begun tackling technology to provide a direct interface to Webcams. The World Wide Web Consortium has begun work on the HTML Device addition to the Hypertext Markup Language specification. "The device element represents a device selector, to allow the user to give the page access to a device, for example a video camera," according to a December 11 draft of the specification.
E-mail Print r 0   13 Comment(s) http://osne.ws/hg8
Order by: Score:
Add Comment Post a Comment
Comment by fretinator
by fretinator on Tue 15th Dec 2009 19:04 UTC
fretinator
Member since:
2005-07-06

[BigBrother] is watching you [/BigBrother]

Reply Score: 3

It would make sense ...
by fithisux on Tue 15th Dec 2009 19:15 UTC
fithisux
Member since:
2006-01-22

if there was a standard HW interface for all the cameras . (there exist webcams not working with standard USB video class)

Reply Score: 3

RE: It would make sense ...
by 0brad0 on Wed 16th Dec 2009 01:41 UTC in reply to "It would make sense ..."
0brad0 Member since:
2007-05-05

if there was a standard HW interface for all the cameras . (there exist webcams not working with standard USB video class)


That is completely irrelevant for what is being accomplished here. OS's with support for cameras already have an API for applications to interface with the hardware.

Reply Score: 1

Client or server side?
by error32 on Tue 15th Dec 2009 20:28 UTC
error32
Member since:
2008-12-10

Would this support be client or server side? Because if we're talking server side I guess there would have to be some way to couple the devices to http so there would still have to be a backend for the device in the webserver.

Reply Score: 1

RE: Client or server side?
by supercompman on Tue 15th Dec 2009 20:45 UTC in reply to "Client or server side?"
supercompman Member since:
2008-09-14

Well, the actual site is very thin on details ( http://dev.w3.org/html5/html-device/ )... I would venture a guess that this would be a way for Javascript to access the device. If the device data needs to be sent to the sever, that can be handled quietly in the background with AJAX... no need to specify a HTTP device communications protocol.

Reply Score: 1

RE[2]: Client or server side?
by pooo on Tue 15th Dec 2009 21:21 UTC in reply to "RE: Client or server side?"
pooo Member since:
2006-04-22

Can you stream from javascript using http? The network needs of streaming apps are very different than what are normally required for web apps. Come to think of it, how is this handled for <video>? I bet in that case js doesn't get to touch it either and there is some special stuff happening. I hope it doesn't require the downloading of the entire video.

Edited 2009-12-15 21:22 UTC

Reply Score: 1

RE[3]: Client or server side?
by vivainio on Tue 15th Dec 2009 22:20 UTC in reply to "RE[2]: Client or server side?"
vivainio Member since:
2008-12-26

Come to think of it, how is this handled for ? I bet in that case js doesn't get to touch it either and there is some special stuff happening. I hope it doesn't require the downloading of the entire video.


If you look at the spec posted above, this is intended to support video conferencing.

You can do pretty much anything you want in javascript, if the browser exposes that functionality. HTML5 is there to expose this in standard fashion.

Streaming over http is easy - just keep the connection (of infinite length) open. Or just skip the http altogether.

Reply Score: 2

RE: Client or server side?
by Beta on Wed 16th Dec 2009 12:27 UTC in reply to "Client or server side?"
Beta Member since:
2005-07-06

This is purely intended for client side use.
No doubt it may be extended into server-side in something like Helma (a Javascript Web engine), but thats only because this spec is an IDL for JS.

Reply Score: 2

Hopefully
by mmu_man on Tue 15th Dec 2009 22:27 UTC
mmu_man
Member since:
2006-09-30

one less reason to use Flash, maybe some day we can bury it ;)

Reply Score: 6

Paving way for AR
by gtada on Tue 15th Dec 2009 22:59 UTC
gtada
Member since:
2005-10-12

This plus WebGL will pave the way for Flash-less online augmented reality! ;)

Reply Score: 1

Good News
by Andre on Wed 16th Dec 2009 07:36 UTC
Andre
Member since:
2005-07-06

This is good news,
If the HTML standard keeps improving like this,
hopefully some day we won't need plugins like flash and java anymore. Sounds good to me.

Reply Score: 2

RE: Good News
by flanque on Wed 16th Dec 2009 09:53 UTC in reply to "Good News"
flanque Member since:
2005-12-15

java is a lot more than a browser plugin.

Reply Score: 3

RE[2]: Good News
by Andre on Wed 16th Dec 2009 15:37 UTC in reply to "RE: Good News"
Andre Member since:
2005-07-06

It is, off course, more then a plugin only, but that doesn't change the fact it is a plugin too, sitting there loaded into my browser.

Java applets are being used, like flash and silverlight, so add features not supported by plain html + javascript.

Reply Score: 1

Add Comment Post a Comment