Re: New approach to HTML Media Capture

On Thu, 21 Apr 2011, Aryeh Gregor wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 1:24 PM, Ian Hickson <ian@hixie.ch> wrote:
> > I still don't understand what problem this is solving.
> 
> Use case: I want to write a web page that does simultaneous
> translation of spoken language, targeted primarily at mobile phone
> users.  Although it's possible that some users will want to upload
> files they've saved, the overwhelming majority of users will want to
> use their microphone to translate something they're hearing in real
> time.  I need the microphone opt-in to be prominent and obvious to
> users, not obscure or optional.
> 
> Use case: I want to write a web page that does photo analysis, similar
> to Google Goggles, targeted primarily at mobile phone users.  Although
> it's possible that some users will want to upload files they've saved,
> the overwhelming majority of users will want to use their camera to
> take a picture of something they want more info about right now.  I
> need the camera opt-in to be prominent and obvious to users, not
> obscure or optional.

For both of these use cases, getUserMedia() seems like a much better 
solution than <input type=file>. The former can work in real-time, the 
latter cannot.


> > This is all you need to indicate that the user should be able to use 
> > the camera (or the filesystem) to get data:
> >
> >   <input type="file" accept="image/*">
> >
> > This is all you need to indicate that the user should be able to use 
> > either the filesystem, camera, or microphone, to get any kind of file 
> > including an image or a video:
> >
> >   <input type=file>
> 
> These do not satisfy either use-case, because they will present the user 
> with a confusing dialog that asks them to upload a file, and may or may 
> not even give them the option of using their camera or microphone.  The 
> use-cases require that the user be asked prominently to use their camera 
> or microphone, because that's the expected way that the vast majority of 
> users will use the application.

That's a UI issue. There's no reason <input type="file" accept="image/*"> 
shouldn't make the camera a prominent or even default part of the UI.

-- 
Ian Hickson               U+1047E                )\._.,--....,'``.    fL
http://ln.hixie.ch/       U+263A                /,   _.. \   _\  ;`._ ,.
Things that are impossible just take longer.   `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'