Camera Effect Status: API

[markafoltz]

Introduction

Camera effects implemented at the operating system level are becoming increasingly common on macOS, Windows, and ChromeOS. This can cause issues for video chat users. For example, if a user enables background blur on both their OS and in a video chat application, it can strain their system resources and cause the application's blur effect to malfunction. Additionally, users may forget they have enabled background blur at the OS level, leading to confusion when they are unable to disable it within a video chat application.

We propose addressing these issues by providing a way for Web applications to detect the status of video effects applied by the OS or browser. Initially, it focuses on background blur, but it is designed to accommodate additional effects in the future (e.g. face framing, or lighting adjustment). This capability could also be useful in other applications. For example, proctoring applications could use it to detect and /request that users disable background blur to ensure proper monitoring.

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Feedback

I welcome feedback in this thread, but encourage you to file bugs against the explainer

[explainer]: "Camera Effect Status: API"