Comments on: Secret iChat hardware feature in Leopard?

By: Relf

Relf — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:32:31 +0000

As long as there is a *physical* switch to turn off the camera, I’m in. Anthony’s story would turn into a _nightmare_ otherwise with such a new screen

By: John Blackburn

John Blackburn — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:53:28 +0000

From the abstract: “The sensing display includes display elements integrated with image sensing elements. As a result, the integrated sensing device can not only output images (e.g., as a display) but also input images (e.g., as a camera).”

By: Andrew McNaughton

Andrew McNaughton — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:16:03 +0000

Um… isn’t that the patent for multi-touch displays? It’s not about vision… it’s about touch screen interfacing. Bye bye mouse.

By: PJL

PJL — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 23:55:53 +0000

Just wanted to add to Lancer’s question….. he did not mean bad jabber, the question is when will we be able to Vid and Voice chat and consitently send files…….we can’t be on iChat and expect the Window’s user to download their Horrible Version of AIM messenger……

By: Lancer Kind

Lancer Kind — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:08:31 +0000

Still, when am I going to be able to chat with my MSIM and Yahoo buddies?

By: Lance Kind

Lance Kind — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:07:26 +0000

It should still have the green light so you know you’re being watched. Besides…. stop acting so guilty.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:54:37 +0000

Wouldn’t you find it somewhat creepy? I had my MAC hacked into once, and the hacker actually took control of the iSight camera. Luckily, I noticed the green light on next to the camera, which actually alerted me that my MAC had been hacked into. With a screen like this, someone would be watching you and you would literally never know…

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:27:39 +0000

FYI, looking people in the eye and maintaining eye contact are very culturally specific. Among some ethnicities, it is NOT a good thing to look someone in the eye and hold eye contact if you are lower on the totem pole than they are, or if you don’t have a personal relationship with the other person. Eye contact could be interpreted as challenge, insolence or over-familiarity. I think this may be why some white people interpret some non-whites as being surly in certain situations. (Maybe it’s also why some people interpret the over-use of eye contact as phoniness on the part of some white people.)

By: Brett Johnson

Brett Johnson — Mon, 14 May 2007 03:42:17 +0000

This is why I prefer my original separate iSight camera to the build-in ones. While the built-in iSights are OK for smaller laptops, it sits too high if on 24″ iMacs or 30″ displays.

I quickly determined that the Griffin SightFlex worked very well for me. It is basically a goose-neck iSight stand. With my 30″ cinema display, placing the camera on top or too the side of the display produces the “uncomfortable” camera angles shown above. With the iSight stand, I actually position the iSight right in front of my screen, immediately adjacent to the iChat window. It is slightly obstructive, but the 30″ display has plenty of real-estate. Obviously the camera does not stay there. I only use it for certain video conferences.

My iChat AV hints:

- Use iSight flex stand and place camera in front of screen, just adjacent to iChat window. This also moves the iSight microphone closer to my mouth, so I don’t have to talk or use a separate head-mounted mic.

- Don’t have a sunlight filled window behind you. Do have one about 30 degrees to your side (10 or 2 oclock).

- Fill the display background with a colored image that enhances your complexion. I chose one that gives my a more tanned image (rather than my Conan-like paleness). Avoid a screen that is mostly white or the default blue Mac OS X background. Blue-white light is very unflattering for the average complexion.

- Minimize or hide unnecessary apps/windows. This avoids distracting clutter, allowing you to appear more focused. It avoids you hunting around through dozens of open windows searching for a bit of info. It also allows the background color to illuminate your face better.

- If you wear glasses, get an anti-glare coating on the outside or go without the glasses (if possible). This helps reduce the display’s distracting reflection in the glasses.

- The built-in microphones in Apple laptops and iSight cameras are condenser mics. They tend to pick up surrounding noise. Try to quite your environment – turn off fans, radios, etc. Close doors and windows if there is a lot of outside noise. Don’t set that wind-tunnel Quicksilver PowerMac on the desk next to the display. If you are working in a noisy open environment, consider using a noise-cancelling boom mic.

By: John

John — Sun, 13 May 2007 22:43:26 +0000

Amazing idea. Alternatively, they could hang a small set of mirrors in front of the screen to capture the image from the middle of the screen. This would be a tad bothersome but it should be tolerable.

Put one solid mirror just in front of the camera to make it look down. Make the mirror in front of the screen half-silvered so you could see through it and suspend it by a thin plastic bar and you’ll be able to see through that also.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Sun, 13 May 2007 20:58:40 +0000

Um.. yes please.