# Using Phone Camera as OpenCV Capture Source

## Install IP Camera / IP Camera Lite
### Android
Download from [Google Play Store](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shenyaocn.android.WebCam)

### Iphone
Download from [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ip-camera-lite/id1013455241)

## Phone Setup
>[!Note]
> This tutorial uses iphone as example, but android setup is similar to iphone.

### Go to Settings page
Tap the setting button on the top-right corner and go to `Settings` page
<div>
<img src="https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ryEtz2pzbl.png" width=200>
<img src="https://hackmd.io/_uploads/Skm6GhpGbl.png" width=200>
</div>

### Set up username and password

### Turn on IP Camera Server
Make sure your phone and computer are on the same network. Go to main page and tap `Turn on IP Camera Server`

### Get camera ip addr and port

Get the WAN or LAN connection string as below:
:::success
http://<ip-addr>:<port>/video
:::

We will use this url as OpenCV camera source.

## OpenCV Setup
Extract `ip-cam.zip`
### Install Packages

cd ip-cam
pip install -r requirements.txt
# pip3 on mac/linux

### Environment Variable
Modify `.env`, use the username, password and url above to set up your camera source.

# .env
# example: CAMERA_SRC=http://abc:abcde@192.168.0.1:8081/video
CAMERA_SRC=http://<username>:<password>@<ip-addr>:<port>/video

### Main Program

# phone_cam.py
import os
import cv2
from dotenv import load_dotenv

load_dotenv()

cap = cv2.VideoCapture(os.getenv("CAMERA_SRC"))

# Check if the camera opened successfully
if not cap.isOpened():
    print("Error: Could not open video stream or file")
else:
    print("Camera opened successfully")

while True:
    # Capture frame-by-frame
    ret, frame = cap.read()

    # If the frame was captured successfully ('ret' is True)
    if ret:
        # Display the resulting frame
        cv2.imshow('Camera Feed', frame)

        # Press 'q' on the keyboard to exit the loop
        if cv2.waitKey(1) & 0xFF == ord('q'):
            break
    else:
        break

# Release the capture when everything is done
cap.release()
# Destroy all the windows
cv2.destroyAllWindows()

### Run and Test

cd ip-cam
python phone_cam.py