Webcams (web cameras) are small cameras (usually, though not always, video cameras), whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, instant messaging, or a PC video conferencing application.

Web-accessible cameras involve a digital camera that uploads images to a web server, either continuously or at regular intervals. This may be achieved by a camera attached to a PC, or by dedicated hardware. Videoconferencing cameras typically take the form of a small camera connected directly to a PC. Analog cameras are also sometimes used (often of the sort used for closed-circuit television), connected to a video capture card and then directly or indirectly to the internet.

History

Started in 1991, the first such camera, called the CoffeeCam, was pointed at the Trojan room coffee pot in the computer science department of Cambridge University. The camera was finally switched off on August 22, 2001. The final image captured by the camera can still be viewed at its homepage 1.

The coffee machine was later bought by Spiegel Online for DM 10,452.72;Fact: date=September 2008 it was repaired for free by Krups and can now be viewed here: 2

The oldest webcam, as the technology came to be known, still operating is FogCam at San Francisco State University, which has been running continuously since 1994.

As with many new technologies, webcams and webcam chat found early commercial adoption and aggressive technology advancement through use by the pornography industry.Fact: date=March 2008 The adult industry required 'live' images and requested a Dutch developer to write a piece of software that could do this without requiring web browser plugins.Fact: date=March 2008 This led to the birth of the 'live streaming webcam', which is still available in various forms today.Fact: date=March 2008 and is still being updated and upgraded.

One of the most widely reported-on webcam sites was JenniCam, started in 1996, which allowed Internet users to constantly observe the life of its namesake, somewhat like reality TV series Big Brother, launched three years later. More recently, the website Justin.tv has shown a continuous video and audio stream from a mobile camera mounted on the head of the site's star.

Recently, Apple and other computer hardware manufactures began building webcams directly into laptop and desktop screens. This eliminates the need to use an external usb or firewire webcam.

Web-accessible cameras

Today there are millions of webcams that provide views into homes, offices and other buildings as well as providing panoramic views of cities (Metrocams) and the countryside. Webcams are used to monitor traffic with TraffiCams, the weather with WeatherCams and even volcanoes with VolcanoCams. Webcam aggregators allow viewers to search for specific webcams based on geography or other criteria.