Web Cameras Hit the Road

October 1996 / Bits / Web Cameras Hit the Road

Dave Andrews
A new type of diminutive network gadget -- cameras that snap images you can view with a Web browser -- could start showing up in some unusual places, like highways and hallways and even your front door. Current network cameras from Microplex (800-665-7798; http://www.microplex.com ) and Axis Communications (800-444-AXIS; http://www.axisinc.com ) are 1-pound devices that can take color images and put them on self-contained Web servers at a rate of about 1 frame per second. Anyone with a standard browser can view those images, opening up all kinds of possibilities for remote surveillance and other types of applications that can take advantage of the Web.
The drawback with current versions of the Axis and Microplex products is they don't have serial ports; instead they use standard Ethernet UTP connections to a network. Both companies say they are planning new versions with serial ports. That would let a modem transmit the images over a standard phone line, thus providing much more flexibility in camera location. Who knows? Maybe one day commuters will rely on Web-enabled cameras placed along popular travel lanes to avoid rush-hour traffic; or maybe high-tech workers on the coast will use a network camera to see when the surf is up.

Time Will Tell What Uses These Have
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Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it is theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.

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