Re: Should we enable pre-view images for gUM?

<speaking as contributor and implementor only>
I am quite conservative on the "spec should prescribe tools for complex
user interfaces" front.

I think the "preview" extension is problematic on several counts:

- Likely high implementation complexity (have to pull in images from
multiple cameras, which may take many milliseconds to start)
- Likely problems in designing good UI (have to display images you can't
manipulate, have to have reasonable fallbacks for the one-camera case)
- Likely problems for the user in understanding (do the camera lights
flash while you're doing this?)
- Only works for cameras, not microphones or output devices

As a standalone feature, I don't see it bringing enough value for the
complexity it introduces.
And when it's not justifiable on its own, I don't want to prescribe that
as the solution to another problem.

Harald


On 01/21/2016 09:16 AM, Stefan Håkansson LK wrote:
> Back in the fall of 2014 Martin proposed a way to enable, without asking 
> for user consent to use cameras, the application to present a still 
> image of what every camera the UA can access views [1].
>
> The proposal did not get much traction back then. However, a recent 
> Issue [2] points out that the introduction of 
> navigator.mediaDevices.enumerateDevices may have changed the situation a 
> bit.
>
> In essence, [2] points out that if the user allows an app to use a 
> camera but later (in many situation probably more or less immediately) 
> realizes it was the wrong camera and wants to change, the user would 
> have to go through a second permission prompt (at least for some UAs).
>
> [1] in combination with navigator.mediaDevices.enumerateDevices would 
> improve the situation by allowing the app to present images showing the 
> view of all cameras, thus allowing the user to select the right camera 
> directly.
>
> The question to the TF is: given the changed situation, should we 
> reconsider, and add [1] to mediacapture-main?
>
> Stefan
>
> PS Other thoughts/ideas on how to address the issue described in [2] are 
> of course also welcome
>
>
> [1] https://github.com/w3c/mediacapture-main/pull/45
> [2] https://github.com/w3c/mediacapture-main/issues/304
>


-- 
Surveillance is pervasive. Go Dark.

Received on Wednesday, 27 January 2016 15:11:50 UTC