Dell’s magnetic wireless webcam concept may help you forget about that infamous nose cam - Ars Technica

Enlarge / The prototype can stick onto a screen so you can place it at eye level, or wherever else you'd want.

Scharon Harding

If you asked me to guess which company is revamping webcam positioning, I wouldn't name Dell. That's because I still remember the Dell XPS's infamous up-the-nose webcam, an unfortunately placed shooter that provided an in-nostril view of countless XPS users for years. But Dell wants a different, more positive reason for you to associate it with funky webcams, and, ironically, the company is all about getting webcams in the most ideal spot possible.

Dell demoed Concept Pari to the press last week (at the same event where it showed off its Concept Luna repairable PC). It's a 1080p webcam prototype that can depart its holster with a simple pluck, to be placed anywhere magnets work. The idea is that the camera will continue to send video to a connected PC through Wi-Fi, even from a couple of feet away. The most obvious use case for Concept Pari is sticking it directly onto your computer's display rather than on its bezel. This creates a more intimate space for conversation with your long-distance interlocutors, bringing their view of you to eye level. 

Enlarge / The webcam is placed closer to eye level to make the call feel more like real life.

Scharon Harding

"It can be placed directly—anywhere—on compatible displays, in a charging dock, on a stand, or even held in the hand," Dell Technologies CTO of the Client Solutions Group Glen Robson explained in a blog post today.

Dell has come a long way since 2015, when, as recalled by NotebookCheck, it brought the XPS 13 webcam to an unfortunate position: the lower-left corner of the laptop's bottom bezel. I still have a laptop with a nose cam, and, let me tell you, the up-nose shot is very hard to avoid unless you raise the machine very high. The shot isn't only unattractive but makes serious, professional calls nearly impossible. Yet, the camera stayed there until 2019, when Dell finally removed the nose cam from the XPS 13, as well as the XPS 15.

Enlarge / My 2016-era XPS 13 is still kicking, but the webcam kicks up bad memories.

Scharon Harding

The webcam isn't just about making your face look good. Theoretically, it could also help you appear more professional. Dell presented the camera as a conceivable tool for presentations, allowing workers to more easily show off things like sketches and prototypes.

Enlarge / The webcam is magnetically attached to a metal stand in order to give a top-down view of the paper beneath.

Scharon Harding

The whole thing weighs about an ounce. It also has a microphone and an indicator light to help you straighten out the view. When not in use, Concept Pari sits in its holster, which can live atop a monitor and charge.

Enlarge / The base on top of the monitor charges the wireless webcam.

Dell

You could even place it backward to ensure no one sees you. Battery life for the current prototype is "close" to an hour, a Dell spokesperson said at its press event. That's not horrible for personal calls, but my business calls frequently go for longer. After it's dead, though, Dell's concept is that the camera would still be usable from its charging base.

The prototype is 1080p, and that's plenty of pixels for most occasions. But some brands, including Dell, offer 4K webcams. Resolution is one of the things Dell would have to balance if Concept Pari became a real product, alongside price and battery life—specs 4K would also affect. 

Enlarge / Higher resolution would hurt the camera's battery life.

Scharon Harding

But Concept Pari is just a prototype. There's no saying how long a real-life wireless, magnetic webcam from Dell would last or if the company will ever even release one. Dell announced the project today with Concept Stanza, an 11-inch screen that can be used for collaboration, note taking and screen mirroring, and Concept Flow, a workspace with wireless charging and Wi-Fi 6E docking. These are all just meant to be demonstrations of features and/or products Dell could potentially introduce one day.

That said, it's nice to see Dell moving as far away from nose-cam territory as possible—even if it's just through a prototype.

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Dell’s magnetic wireless webcam concept may help you forget about that infamous nose cam - Ars Technica
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