Access camera from a browser

Is it possible to access the camera (built-in on Apples) from a browser?

Optimal solution would be client-side javascript. Looking to avoid using Java or Flash.

Solution 1:

As of 2017, WebKit announces support for WebRTC on Safari

Now you can access them with video and standard javascript WebRTC

E.g.

var video = document.createElement('video');
video.setAttribute('playsinline', '');
video.setAttribute('autoplay', '');
video.setAttribute('muted', '');
video.style.width = '200px';
video.style.height = '200px';

/* Setting up the constraint */
var facingMode = "user"; // Can be 'user' or 'environment' to access back or front camera (NEAT!)
var constraints = {
  audio: false,
  video: {
   facingMode: facingMode
  }
};

/* Stream it to video element */
navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia(constraints).then(function success(stream) {
  video.srcObject = stream;
});

Have a play with it.

Solution 2:

The HTML5 spec does allow accessing the webcamera, but last I checked, it is far from finalized, and has very, very little browser support.

This is a link to get you started: http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/getusermedia/intro/

You'll probably have to use flash if you want it to work cross-browser.

W3 draft