Crazy idea for Jitsi meetings

[tom r lopes]

So I am wondering if you could use the Jitsi chat to send commands.  

The idea being you can interact with something you see in one of the video feeds.  

So on the remote end there is a server that is monitoring the chat and when there 

is a special message it will execute some code.  

Specifically I have a pan/tilt camera and I thought to connect it to a Jitsi meet. 

Then a person in chat could say: 

@camerabot right 

and the camera controller: 

v4l2-ctl  -c pan_speed=-1 && sleep .1 && v4l2-ctl  -c pan_speed=0

which rotates about 10 degrees (camera has less than 180 degree range)  

Maybe this is not easy to do.  I don't know much about web server stuff and programming.  

Thomas

[Rick Moen]

Quoting tom r lopes (tomr...@gmail.com):

> So I am wondering if you could use the Jitsi chat to send commands.

First, you'd need to design appropriate "command" language that could be
embedded in the text chat.

Second, you would need to code _something_ (a browser extension?)
parsing one user PC's text chat looking for "commands" in that
command language and pass appropriate video4linux instructions
to the connected webcam.

It would probably be a lot easier to have persons on the chat _also_ be
able to separately ssh into a shell account that has been carefully
limited to use only a wrapper (that you'd have to write) that allows the
ssh'd in user to enter v4l2-ctl instructions, and operate that at the
user PC with the webcam.

--
Rick Moen "Avoid dangling participles unless referring to James Bond,
ri...@linuxmafia.com in which case dangle them over shark tanks or fire pits."
McQ! (4x80) -- @FakeAPStylebook

[tom r lopes]

"CyclopsCam" seems to be working well.  

Just tried a Jitsi meeting with myself.  

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ngs5MKy72LSKwuN49 (left video on my monitor from CyclopsCam)  

I could hear myself and see myself and vice versa.  

So I will try this for the Jitsi part of the next Berkeley meeting.  

Yeah so for remote control of the camera, ssh may be the best way.  I remember a friend 

who setup a server that was behind a firewall that he didn't control (nothing nefarious -- just 

a gallery on City of Oakland store front using city internet)  What he did was have the server 

keep a ssh session open to a virtual server hosted somewhere and forward a port.  Then you 

could ssh over that to the server behind the firewall.  

So I would have to setup something like that.  

I think I have done that before ... back when I was smarter.  Had ddwrt on my router and enabled 

ssh there and connect forwarding port.  The local or remote part (ssh -L or ssh -R) always 

confused me, though.  

For now I will just try the hybrid meeting with CyclopsCam.  Hopefully weather is better this Sunday!  

I'll be at Cafe Strada again as it's the only place I know open.  

Thomas

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BerkeleyLUG" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to berkeleylug...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/berkeleylug/20210520015007.GI18306%40linuxmafia.com.

[Rick Moen]

Quoting tom r lopes (tomr...@gmail.com):

> "CyclopsCam" seems to be working well.
>
> Just tried a Jitsi meeting with myself.
>
> https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ngs5MKy72LSKwuN49 (left video on my monitor from
> CyclopsCam)

Ooh, really nice little gadget!

My replacement 3.5mm mini-plug stereo audio patch cable for my
20-year-old Yamaha YST-M7 external speakers arrived, to replace the
dodgy input cable that impaired the May 8th "hybrid" CABAL meeting.

Also, in testing, I realised I'd stupidly used a fixed-volume input jack
on the Yamahas, and should have used one of the other inputs that
permits them to _actually_ be amplified speakers as is their entire
purpose, in effect. So, basically, next time the in-back-yard output
audio from Jitsi Meet will be a _lot_ better.

> For now I will just try the hybrid meeting with CyclopsCam. Hopefully
> weather is better this Sunday!

Or you could drive down to beautiful, temperate West Menlo Park and
do it from my back patio. (It's a long drive, admittedly, but the
offer's genuine. But that would interfere with the objective of getting
others to join you IRL, of course.)