Wireless Portable Video-Camera - Idea

[Marco2001]

Wireless Portable Video-Camera



The idea is to add portable surveilance video-cameras to the areas of interest.
They are wireless, with their own antenna, which sends the data directly to habitat.
There anyone could see what it sees, using a special console.
Players would use it mainly to see what's going on near mining point and what's the activity near the garage.
It could also be set-up on the top of the hill to see the whole area.
If the map was HUGE and a camera would be set off very far away, than you could propably see the upcomming storm quicker.
The only requirement for the video-camera to work is that it should be in the range of a Communication Tower.
The antena might look soo big that it will make the video-camera fall becouse of the wind - that is not the issue on the Mars.

http://www.holoscience.com/news/img/mars_dust-devils.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/123624main_dust_devil_mars_web.jpg
Here you can see what the surveilance camera could have recorded that would save lives on Mars.
A dust devil is near one of them. The controler that sees this, reports that all colonists should avoid that area.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YoCIFkM3GQ8/SwvvMWWck9I/AAAAAAAAFk4/ASasloiiAus/s400/Astrobiotic-Excavators-NASA-20091123-400x300.jpg
Another example. Players are constructing something (a new module maybe?).
The mission commander instead of walking all the way to it, sets off a video-camera, and looks whats the progress.

In the movie "Race to Mars" the team was stranded for a while in the dust storm.
They used the cameras to observe if all the equipment they left outside was ok (including the habitat and ERV module aswell).
On one of the cameras they noticed that the drill had sparks. It turned out that it had a static-discharge and the electronics had to be replaced.

[thedubman]

Nice idea, be a good tool for commanders

[profit004]

There is a lot of programming and debugging time behind this idea.  There will also be some nasty performance hits to the client if these are used like I think you want them to be usable. 

I want to clarify I do not think they would be a BAD addition I would kinda like to look at a monitor wall myself. Just making sure you know this would take quite a while to make work well and would require a lot of cpu cycles from the server and a TON more from the client if we were going to watch these in multiples.

[Eldruin]

hmmm... would be useful in alote of ways, would be nice to check on things with the main COHAB terminal without having to drag your self all the way out just to peek on how things are going also would you be able to turn\control the camera angle? and would it include night vision, thermal?, also having to recharge or its own small PV?

maybe if only one client could see via accessing with terminal would cut some issues, NASA had the viewers able to be seen all the time with all clients, it really caused performance and lag issues.

[Marco2001]

I didn't mean that there will be a wall of monitors, all of them showing what's goying on all the time. That would be just a waste of hobitat space and CPU power.
I am proposing a better idea that uses practicly no PC-memory.

Each player has a "camera" following him. You can change the angle of it's view by rotating your mouse.
You can change the camera position on the map simply by moving.
The camera that hangs behind the player has a seted position orygin.
You can change the camera posytion orygin by pressing TAB.

What I propose is that a player comes near a terminal with a black screen, and then LOGS-IN.
His camera orygin point is automatically transfered to portable video-camera 1's position.
He views the surrounding area just as he was there - simply by rotating the view with his mouse.
From his point of view - he IS the camera
Of course he can't interact with the surrounding - seeing only
He cound have zoom in/out using for instance z/x keys.
He cound swap his view to other on-line video-cameras by pressing "a" (go back) and "d" (go next) key.
When he wishes to log-off he click on screen with his mouse "Log-Off" or press "TAB" key.
When he log-off's his camera-view orygin point is set as it was - behind the player.

The portable video-camera would view as much as you as a player would see.
Becouse of that - it would be only logical if you set nearby a portable-light, so that you may see during night or dust storms.
-------------------

Player log-in to the console. He sees a view from PVC#1.
Possible view from Portable Video-Camera #1 (PVC#1):
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9818/screenshot01600008.png

Player presses "D" and sees a view from PVC#2:
Possible view:
http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/8281/screenshot00300039.png

He presses again "D" and his camera orygin position swaps to the position of an active PVC#3:
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/5229/screenshot00500006.png

The base has at least 4 PVC. The last view from PVC#4:
http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/1381/screenshot00500003.png

If he needs to see previous view he presses "A".
If player thinks he sow enough, he presses "TAB" or "Log Off".

His camera view returns to normal.

[thedubman]

Ok bit radical but how about accessing a low orbit sattalite camera,.. player connects and activates sattalite, the view the auto matically changes to over colony view say from 500m up or something, player can then move and zoom camera within designated area/range.. add bit of distortion some frame lag be right nice touch..

[Eldruin]

hmm that would be the way to go marco, but iam still interested to hear if it would be small mounted PV or having to pack and drag back to camp for recharge after X amount of time ?