I would welcome some technical input. I'm trying to set up a
friend's PC to help him work with documents.

For instance, my friend might write the outline of a document in
longhand.

QUESTION: If my friend held his page up to a webcam then would a
suitably connected partner on the internet be able to read his
text?

He wants to talk the other person through his document while
pointing at parts of it, so emailing a scan of the page isn't going
to work.

QUESTION: If that can be done then could he point his webcam at his
desk and have the other person see a whole page so clearly that
they could read his handwritten text as he writes it?

What costs for such a webcam? (I'm in the UK.)

Thanks for any info.

jimmie

"jimmie" <jimmie (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

The legibility of the document on a web cam depends on several factors.

The resolution of the web cam is the most important. You would want a cam
that has the best resolution you can get.

If the document is written in pencil, I would be very hard to read on the
web because the pencil makes small light lines. If you wanted the document
to be legible, it would be better to write the document with a marker pen,
bold dark lines.

Another factor is the hand holding of the document is a no, no. The movement
would making reading the document very hard on the other end.

It is best to use some kind of document holder that you pointed the web cam
at, always place the document in that holder.

Other than those factors, it would work.

If you wrote with a maker pen, yes, you can read the document as it is being
written.

The software for the web cam would have to update the image at a short
interval. So that the viewer would get quick updates.

Pointing the cam at the desk would work, as long as the document was not
moved from the camera's view.

Both parties would need to have broadband connections.
Dial up is way too slow.

Cost is depending on quality and where you buy your camera.
http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=...num=1&ct=title


--
CSM1
http://www.carlmcmillan.com
--

On 12/10/2008 1:57 AM, jimmie wrote:
of the technologies available.

Since your friend obviously has a computer and some degree of comfort in
using it (based on willingness to consider setting up and using a
webcam), they would be better off typing the document into any editor or
word processor. It can be something local like Word or OpenOffice, or
something online like Google.

Then your friend can use a tool like "showmypc" so that both parties can
look at your friend's computer screen at the same time. Your friend has
the document on his computer screen and his associate has a copy of the
screen on the remote computer. Both parties can move the mouse and even
change the document. Showmpc is free at http://showmypc.com/ and works
very well. There are other similar tools as well.