What If Digital Cameras Didn't Need (Local) Storage?: Directing Photos to the Cloud

Abstract

Cloud computing suggests that we can move computers from the desktop onto the network. In this article we investigate if we can do the same with digital imaging devices. After all, for most of us the practical management of local storage on digital cameras is a messy business, keeping track of all those SD cards and then figuring out which computer they are stored on. For most family units or socially organized groups the sensible end-point for a collection of images is on shared network storage where everyone can access and contribute to the image collection. So we consider (i) the current state of art in device connectivity; (ii) the current status of digital imaging devices and image/video data requirements; and (iii) we put together a proof of concept to test our hypothesis that cameras don't really need local storage any more and, yes, you could actually start to put your photographs directly into the clouds!

The Internet of Things: Why now, and what's next?

“…I've written elsewhere about the synergies between CE and 'the Cloud' [10]- [14]. Interestingly this is another computing concept that has its origins back in the 1960's but only became a reality in the last decade.…”

Of Cameras and Clouds [Notes from the Editor]

“…I have had a bit of an interest in device connectivity [1], [2] and linking digital imaging directly with the Internet [3]- [5] for quite some time now. More recently, an article about real-time connectivity was featured in the launch issue of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine, showing that digital cameras based on today's Wi-Fi connectivity could work quite well with no local storage apart from a small cache buffer [6].…”