Case 03Mobile application for connected camera hardware
Putting connected cameras and editing in one mobile app
- Photography hardware
- Role
- Mobile engineering, device integration, image workflows, offline behavior
- Built
- A hardware engineer designed and built the camera rig. I contributed to the hardware software and built the mobile app.
- Stack
- React Native
- Local Wi-Fi device APIs
- Biometrics
- File system
- Gesture editing
- Image transforms
Situation
A specialized photography setup used several Wi-Fi cameras to capture related images. Operating the hardware, retrieving files, editing them, and creating the final visual effect involved separate steps.
The mobile app had to work with a local device connection and remain useful when the camera system was offline.
What I built
I developed a mobile application that connects to the camera system over local Wi-Fi. The app can trigger capture, retrieve images, update device settings, and perform protected device actions.
Users can save images locally, browse previous work, edit photos, and create animated depth effects from selected image sets. The app keeps track of cached files and available storage.
Offline handling keeps previously saved images available when the hardware cannot be reached.
A hardware engineer designed and built the camera rig. I contributed to that work and built the application people use with it.
What changed
- Camera controls and image handling are available in one mobile interface.
- Sensitive device actions can require biometric confirmation.
- Saved work remains available without an active device connection.
- Users can edit and organize images, then export them from the app.
- Connection errors and permission problems are shown in context.
Engineering notes
Local and remote images have different lifecycles, so the app tracks their source before saving or deleting them. Connection state controls which actions and image sets are available.
Try the model
Four virtual cameras on a line each take a frame of the same small scene. The frames play back and forth as one animated depth effect, and switching the camera offline keeps the saved captures available.
A simplified working model of the real system. No client data.