Yesterday we updated iGlasses to version 3.2. Along with a healthy handful of fixes, this update adds some cool new features.
Exposure Lock and Manual Focus
iGlasses now lets you take control of the focus of many webcams. For example, if you’re using a Logitech c910 or c920, take a look near the bottom of iGlasses’s Adjustments tab. You should see a checkbox for disabling Auto Focus, and a slider for adjusting the focus.
Your new Document Camera
Manual control over focus is useful if you’re using the webcam as a document camera. You now have precise control over focus, and aren’t at the mercy of the automatic focus shifting during an important presentation. For example, you can aim the camera at a piece of paper, and then use that as a digital white board, projecting the image from your Mac a screen to an audience. We’ve even created a simple helper app to show the image from your iGlasses. iGlasses Preview.app (238K)
Locking Exposure
Most webcams automatically adjust exposure and color balance in order to deal with different lighting conditions. This is usually what you want, but there are situations where you don’t want the exposure to change. For example, if you’re making a stop motion video (with something like iStopMotion or FrameByFrame), you don’t want the camera’s exposure changing between snaps. (Manual focus comes in handy here too.)
Or if you’re doing a chroma-key, you can’t have the camera’s colors adjusting when you step into the frame, or it breaks the key.
That’s where iGlasses comes in. Look at the bottom of the Adjustments tab for the “Lock Exposure” checkbox. This checkbox will show up when using a compatible camera. Compatible cameras include many UVC webcams, the built-in iSight/FaceTime cameras, and the camera inside Apple’s Cinema Display.
iGlasses Theater 
The coolest new feature in iGlasses 3.2 is enhanced controls for the Share Media setting. If you look on the Effects tab, on the last page of effects, you’ll see “Share Media.” This will let you play a movie in place of your camera. Now you can share a video clip or picture from within any program. For example, you could play a movie directly into Skype, FaceTime, or even Google+ Hangout.
The 3.2 update adds a play/pause button and a scrub bar that works like QuickTime Player’s controls. This lets you have complete control over playback.
There’s no way to hook the audio from the movie directly into your video chat, but if you turn on your speakers and microphone, your fellow conference partners should be able to hear the sound from the movie feeding back into the micorphone.
I hope you enjoy the new iGlasses update!
We always love to hear the interesting ways our customers find to use our products. PhoneView, especially, is something of Swiss Army knife of a product, and it often saves the day in ways we could never have imagined: like helping to quickly set up 251 iPads!