Headup Web Cam Viewer

A recent entry looked at a commercial system to allow users to look directly at their web cam whilst still being able to see the person they are talking to - Teleprompter style - This is my take on that idea.

It is easy to construct being essentially an upside down periscope such as I used to make when I was a kid.

I have no doubt the commercial system uses better quality mirrors etc. - but this is a lot cheaper . Of course I don't suggest you go into competition with the original manufacturer, in fact this is only posted as a matter of interest to show how these things could work.

Please note: In these images the lower mirror has been removed. Refer to the drawings to see where it should fit in the lower part of the frame. I also had to put some dark paper over the front of the web cam because it is silver and you could see it through the glass screen.

This shows the general construction - Much depends on what materials you have to hand. At a push you could use some stiff card, my initial efforts used card to establish sizes etc.

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The arrows show the light path through the device.

The size depends on your monitor and web cam sizes.

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2 sides and a bottom + a cover for the top are all that are needed.

I used some plastic I had knocking around and some dark card for the cover. The plastic sheet was a scrap left over from building a MAME cabinet with my son and the mirror an old hand mirror I found.