The Webcam Invention
Allowing for face-to-face communication even when participants in a conversation remain far away from one another, webcams have revolutionized standards for modern communication. Coming standard on many laptops and notebooks and easily obtainable as accessories on desktop PCs, webcams place convenient, affordable long-distance communication within reach of countless people.
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Early Innovations
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Used in all modern webcams, Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor-Active Pixel Sensor began within a project designed to make smaller cameras for interplanetary spacecraft. Developed by a team of researchers led by Eric Fossum, CMOS-APS imaging technology allows for high-quality images by using pixels, short for picture elements, to collect photons of light. Realizing it could become profitable here on Earth, Fossum, along with three other engineers, created a company named Photobit. This marked the first time CMOS image sensors saw commercialization.
First Webcam
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The very first webcam-like device didn't use CMOS-APS technology, nor did it resemble modern webcams. Going active in 1991 at Cambridge University, it consisted of a camera with wires running under the floor and into another room, connecting it to a frame grabber. The camera and frame grabber combo recorded images of the lone coffee pot within the building that housed the computer science labs. Because many people shared the one coffee pot, often students would arrive for coffee, only to find the pot empty. Paul Jardetzky, a student, wrote software that captured images of the pot, while Quentin Stafford-Fraser, another student, wrote software that individuals could run that displayed the image, named XCoffee. XCofffee was available to any computer connected to the local network, displaying gray scale still images that updated a few times a minute. The coffee camera went online in 1993 for all the world to see.
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Effects
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Webcam technology has revolutionized the way people talk to one another when far apart. Where before letters and faceless phone calls defined long-distance communication, now webcams allow for a far more personal form of interaction. Webcams have a vast amount of uses beyond just personal communication, however. They can point at locations or particular items, allowing for safe observation in potentially dangerous areas. Webcams see use in educational environments, military applications and even for curious individuals who might want to see what the scene looks like via a webcam pointed at an ocean pier. In this way, webcams have become part of modern culture.
Continued Development
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Like all electronics, webcams continue to benefit from new strides in technology. Medical technology may see perhaps the newest method of webcam use yet. While typically hospitals use sensors attached to a patient to check vital signs, a student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program could change that. This new webcam technology could measure various health markers by having a patient sit in front of a mirror or webcam. While still in development, the technology shows promising results and exemplifies how valuable webcams have become to society.
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References
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