What's the status of the HTML 5 <video> tag and webcam integration?

Question

Even though it seems to be in some kind of jeopardy, the open video standard is a great idea. I saw some demos on motion tracking with it - just proofs-of-concept, but interesting nonetheless. Now, I'd say that concepts like these would really be a gain, if there would be access to the user's webcam... Just imagine browsing through Flickr with your hands in mid-air.

I have Googled a little, but I can't find any detailed discussion on the subject. It is mentioned in some places, but that doesn't get me very far. Does anybody know whether support for this is planned? If yes, any prognosis on the 'when'? ;-)

Of course, I guess they'd have to dream up a pretty good security model for it..

Answer 1

Ok, still no clear, definitive answers, so I went on and took a little action. The WHATWG would probably have an answer for me, so I decided to contact someone there. Didn't really know who it had to be, but fellow Dutchman Anne van Kesteren usually seems to know the Web's future pretty well - plus, he provides an e-mail address.

Translating his response probably won't do any good, so in short: there are some rough ideas on how to make it all work, but there's nothing tangible at the moment. The Device APIs and Policy Working Group is supposed to continue work on this.

Reading through their page makes me realize something else too - why only webcam access? If Google intends to move the OS to the browser, we'll need more than just webcams. Why not manage your iPod through a webapp too? Anything should be possible. I guess a whole new concept of 'trusted website' will have to evolve if functionality like this would come available, but well, there's a solution to pretty much anything, isn't there? ;-)

Answer 2

Updated!: HTMl5Rocks has a very good working demo of this now. Check it out here!

Here is a very interesting article with a demo, however the source has not been released yet: (Read the comments for more information on codecs used, socket server tech, etc)

https://labs.ericsson.com/developer-community/blog/beyond-html5-conversational-voice-and-video-implemented-webkit-gtk