5 things you can do with a webcam
Learn new ways to get more done with your webcam
By Jennifer O'Connor
Introducing your inner Norma Desmond to the Internet by webcam is remarkably easy. People use webcams to do everything from capturing the birth of a foal to keeping in touch with grandchildren living far away to allowing parents to look in on their children at daycare.
Webcams let you connect in real time and generally cost from $20 to just under $200. To get set up, you only need to load the enclosed software, connect the camera to your computer and sign up with an instant messenger service such as Windows Live Messenger.
Here are five creative ways to use your webcam
1. Keep in touch with family and friends.
No matter where they live, you can watch babies take their first steps or meet with your pals from college. (One recent news story described how an American who was training Iraqi troops in Baghdad attended his father’s funeral by webcam.)
A Microsoft LifeCam is optimized for Windows Live Messenger. The Windows Live Call Button’s Buddy Picker shows you which of your contacts are online; select a name to make the call. Plus the LifeCam Dashboard, located in the Messenger window, lets you pan, tilt and zoom without distraction.
2. Hold meetings with colleagues.
Leslie Chan, a senior lecturer in new media studies at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, once gave a presentation to a conference in Winnipeg without ever leaving Toronto. He shared information online just as he would in person. During the Q&A, his face was broadcast on screen. “People thought I was there,” he says. “It was great fun.”
A LifeCam comes with noise-reduction software and a built-in microphone to ensure vocal clarity. One model allows you to fit up to three people on screen at once.
3. Educate people.
The University of Alberta’s Peregrine Falcon Webcam not only offers three views of the birds but also includes Falcon Facts and Falcon Stories.
4. Enhance your Windows Live Space.
One-touch blogging lets you post High Definition LifeCam pictures (add text if you like) to your blog with just one click. You can also get creative by using the video effects — such as snow, stars and flowers — built into the LifeCam Dashboard.
5. Feel more secure.
Like daycares, hospitals use webcams so parents can see their children. HowStuffWorks suggests setting one up to monitor your house while you’re away on vacation or to check up on a pet that is outside during the day.
According to the most recent statistics from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, more Canadians have used a webcam than have used a BlackBerry, PDA or digital audio player, and this technology is having an impact on how we live.
“Gone are the days of letter writing and long phone calls,” said TNS Canadian Facts research director Jennifer Bylok when announcing a TNS survey. “Today, people are posting and broadcasting the minutiae of their daily lives, keeping friends and colleagues probably more up to date than they would like to be.”
There are good and not-so-good aspects to making ourselves accessible in a way that was never possible.
We need to be more mindful of privacy, says U. of T.’s Chan. Once we have made something available online, we can never take it back. But webcams also allow us to see things we wouldn’t normally see, expanding our knowledge and creating shared experiences with like-minded people.
