User:I Write 4U/Office Camera or OfficeCam

Office Camera or OfficeCam is a recently emerged type of digital camera device that performs daily tasks in professional or home offices such as document scanning, physical object imaging, video presentation and web conferencing. The most closely related device is the Document Camera which is normally used on podiums in classrooms and meeting rooms for presentations.

Today's offices are being increasingly transformed into digital and paperless environments. Daily office tasks have evolved from using pens, paper and typewriters, to mouse, keyboard, LCD screens and computers. As keyboard and mouse already capture a large amount of textual information digitally, like the saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words," audios and videos capture concepts even more thoroughly. Incorporating such a camera in our daily office tasks achieves better communication and management of information. Office cameras are a tool in the office, to visually communicate information in a multimedia platform, conveniently and quickly, saving us time while enriching and increasing effectiveness of our daily communications.

An office camera typically has a compact form factor in order to function as an everyday item on an office worker's desk. Commercial products, such as the HoverCam, can fit into pockets or briefcases, which makes them ideal for use on desktops or on-the-go. An office camera should have at least one high-resolution camera, which can be used in an "aerial" position to shoot video or still image pictures of documents or objects. In order to capture images with enough clarity, such cameras are expected to have high resolution, normally more than 2 megapixels at the minimum, and ideally produce distortion-free images for documents, even when the document contains fonts under 7 point size. A secondary camera, which captures video horizontally to include the presenter(s) of the document or the audience of a presentation, can be beneficial to the device as well.

Office cameras can be connected via USB 2.0 ports to a laptop or a desktop computer to function almost similarly as a web camera. Once connected this way, software applications, such as Skype or GoToMeeting, can interface with an office camera in the same fashion as connecting with any UVC device. At the same time, office cameras can have VGA or HDMI video output to a TV or video projector, so that they can serve as a video presentation tool. Capturing still images and recording video footage into a local storage on the device is also possible.

Applications of office cameras can include quick "scanning" of documents (which is an alternative to flatbed scanners), showing real-time video of product demos, serving as a video input device for a multiple party video conference with shared interactive whiteboard, capturing images for manufacturing and inventory management, a video testimony, form or invoice scanning and recognition, receipt capturing, expense report generation, etc.

Examples of Office Cameras or OfficeCams

A Commercial example of an office camera is the HoverCam made by Pathway Innovations and Technologies, Inc. based in the U.S. HoverCam can be connected to a computer as both a UVC camera and virtualized TWAIN compatible scanner. Two versions of companion software are provided by Pathway, HoverCam Flex and HoverCam Express, are also available as free downloads.