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How to use a mobile phone camera as a video input hardware source ?

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I want to use my mobile phone camera to acquire video in matlab.When i connect my phone,the system doesn't recognise it as a WEBCAM or other cam. So, Imaqhwinfo doesn't list it.Does it require any webcam driver for each kind of mobile phone, or is there a way around? Please Help..
I want to capture live video from the phone's camera (i don't want to save it in a file & then use it) &I should be able to connect the phone to my laptop either through USB cable or through bluetooth.

Answers (4)

Soham Bhattacharyya
Soham Bhattacharyya on 16 May 2016
You can use DroidCam if you are using an android phone. You'll need to install OS Generic Video Interface driver.
Hope it helps. :)

Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 29 May 2011
I have not encountered any mobile phones that could be used as webcams. I would not say that it is generally impossible -- after all, one could, for example, probably program an Android app that allowed that kind of access (though possibly only as a series of snapshot frames.)
What kind of mobile phone were you thinking of using?
Some of the mobile phones I have used have definitely not been able to do this: on those phones, the USB connection was limited to the standard "access as a disk" configuration.
  2 Comments
praveen
praveen on 29 May 2011
Thanks for the reply...
I intend to use a smartphone (running on windows mobile 6.1).
But, i want to find a way to use the mobile phone's cam irrespective of the type of phone.Or may be separate ways for each kind of phones.
I have used an app on a different phone running on symbian ,called "BTcam" which when installed on the pc and the phone makes it possible to use the phone's cam as a webcam via the app.
It supports connection through bluetooth or USB. & the phone's cam can be used for chatting on skype, or msn im etc... In skype under the webcam option, there is an option to choose this as the webcam. & similar apps may be available for other platforms (windows, Android..).
But, what i mean is : unlike skype MATLAB doesn't list it under imaqhw. May be if there is a driver which makes the pc's OS believe that the phone is a 'webcam' ! it is possible to use it for imaq in matlab.
Or is there any other solution for my question??
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 29 May 2011
For reference: BTcam appears to be this application: http://www.mobiola.com/mobiola-web-camera

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Abdul Basit
Abdul Basit on 19 Jul 2011
i am also trying to connect sony ericson mobile htc as webcam and i have same problem please any help me in this regard
  2 Comments
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 19 Jul 2011
Do I recall correctly that that is an Android device? Which Android version?
Ashish Uthama
Ashish Uthama on 19 Jul 2011
http://lifehacker.com/5650095/ip-webcam-turns-your-android-phone-into-a-remote-camera - starting point?

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Madhura Suresh
Madhura Suresh on 3 Jun 2016
You can get apps that convert your phone into an IP camera, and use the "ipcam" command in MATLAB.
  2 Comments
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 6 Dec 2020
Edited: Walter Roberson on 6 Dec 2020
What problem are you observing? Have you confirmed that you have the right IP address for your mobile phone, and that you have the right user authentication details, and that a connection is being made?

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