Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Infrared Webcam HOWTO

Posted by Hemos on from the the-fun-of-hacking dept.

Geoff Johnson writes "Some of the Slashdot readers may be interested in this page I put together. It describes how to make an ordinary webcam see in the near infrared waveband."

4 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. duh by oliverthered · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let me guess, remove the IR filter from in-front of the lens.

    --
    thank God the internet isn't a human right.
  2. Re:Burgler Cam?? by shic · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There is a lot more to the idea of video security than the simple "alerting" or "non-alerting" you suggest.

    For example, using your example of a car - I'd consider myself a madman if I opted not only to have a car alarm - but also to make it as obvious as possible that I am equipped with one. The snag, however with alerting alarms is that after a few "false alarms" it is widely understood that alarms signals will be ignored - people assume it is a technical fault... and the criminals know this too. Another problem with the alerting alarm is in automatically deciding at what point to take issue with someone's actions. For example, I'm aware of areas in which organised youths check all the car doors in a neighbourhood - hoping someone has forgotten to lock and alarm their car. Under these circumstances an alarm system does no good... It is important to discriminate... Burglar alarms also offer no protection from vandals - whereas a CCTV with night vision may well do - if only by identifying weaknesses in manned security. I imagine an infra-red video surveillance system would be an extremely good way to improve security for applications such as monitoring business car parks; monitoring entranceways to identify where layabouts trespass before any real harm occurs - as well as providing some way to counter graffiti tagging and other illegal unpleasantness.

    I've long thought this would be a fun project - but as yet I've not found time to tinker.

  3. See through clothes! by SiliconEntity · · Score: 2, Insightful

    We all know the real point of this - to let you see through clothes like the infrared video cameras that came out a few years ago.

  4. Re:Oh, great. by Xyrus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This isn't really anything new. Amateur astronomers have been doing this with webcams for awhile now. Even in the near IR range, some things look a little different.

    Not recommended when planet imaging.

    ~X~

    --
    ~X~