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Take a "Selfie" when UX Button is pressed

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    #1

    Take a "Selfie" when UX Button is pressed

    Hi-

    I have a question that I've been trying to answer. First, a very quick background. I've created a "time card" app for one of my customers. Its purpose is to allow employees to "Punch In and Out" remotely, on their cell phones, without having to come to the office. The employee enters his/her "PIN" and the system knows whether they are punching in or out... and the employee can add an optional "note" if they want to. The data is updated to the server, so the office can know who has punched in/out and the system generates the weekly payroll for their payroll service. Anyway, it's working great.

    When I was designing the app, there were 2 obstacles I had to overcome:
    1) How do we know where the employee is when they're punching in? For example, we don't want them punching in while they're still at home. Well, that was easy to solve. Each time they punch in/out the system records the longitude and latitude of the current location, so that the office can see these points on a map.
    2) It's the second obstacle that I can't figure out (though, I'm guessing it won't be very difficult): How do we know that the person is punching in/out for himself, rather than giving his PIN to someone else on the crew and asking him to punch in. For that, I want to take a "selfie" when the Submit button is pressed. Obviously, I don't care about the quality of the picture... I just want to be comfortable that the employee is punching in, not someone else.

    How can I control the camera (the "front" camera, actually) to take the selfie, send the image to the server (and, ideally, delete the photo after it's sent).

    I've seen the Phone Gap commands but can't figure out how to program them in Alpha. If there's a guide, tutorial or video, I'd really appreciate it if you could refer me to the location. OR, if there's documentation for these features, that would be great.

    Thanks for your help,
    Phil
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: Take a "Selfie" when UX Button is pressed

    Using Alpha's image capturing actions the camera fires up under iOS and Android. Both have an on-screen "switch" to change the camera in use. You don't have to do anything except let your users know what they need to do.

    Comment

      #3
      Re: Take a "Selfie" when UX Button is pressed

      Hi David

      Thanks for responding.

      For my app, I don't want the USER to capture the image... When the customer presses the "Punch In" Button on the UX, I want the system to AUTOMATICALLY: 1) capture the image; 2) send the image to the server (with the other data I've collected, such as time, date, etc.); and, ideally 3) delete the photo after it's sent). I know how to open the camera app (all of the users are using Android), but I want the actions to be controlled by Alpha (my app).

      I'd appreciate any help or suggestions.

      Thanks,
      Phil

      Comment

        #4
        Re: Take a "Selfie" when UX Button is pressed

        You'd need a custom plugin to do this... and even then it may not be allowed by Android... or even possible given the million permutations of the OS on devices.

        You'd have other problems as well. You'd have to wait for autofocus before taking the picture. You're users are going to mess with you to no end.

        I believe you can get a unique device id from each device. You could use that. Would users give their phones to other users to sign in for them?

        Comment

          #5
          Re: Take a "Selfie" when UX Button is pressed

          Rather then using "Minority Report" image capture, which can be very "heavyweight" in terms of payload, why not use signature capture instead? You must still "audit" the images, correct? Signatures have the benefit of a smaller payload and could imply a tacit legal agreement. Other issues on the handset include; how would you control which camera is to be used? Have you vetted the concept of the surreptitious image capture with a lawyer?

          It would seem that the real issue is not technical, but rather one of trust. There comes a point where technical solutions become onerous. Wouldn't it be more productive to measure the work done rather than implementing "Utopian" surveillance?

          Comment

            #6
            Re: Take a "Selfie" when UX Button is pressed

            Hi Westridge-

            Thank you!

            You are absolutely correct on all levels. I think I was just getting carried away with "technology" and I will immediately abandon this nonsense.

            When I was developing the app, I wanted to give the customer a greater trust that nobody is trying to "beat the system" (and they don't especially trust all of their employees. One of their employees lifted their company American Express card and went on a shopping spree before AMEX picked up on the suspicious charges).

            We will simply make sure that employees understand that entering information in the new electronic "time card" constitutes their legal payroll record and must be treated as such. In addition, they will be expected to "protect their PIN's" and treat the system properly.

            Thanks for "bringing me down to earth" and away from "Minority Report" (good movie). I guess, with all of the power of Alpha, it's easy to over-complicate things.

            With appreciation,
            Phil

            Comment

              #7
              Re: Take a "Selfie" when UX Button is pressed

              Phil:

              You took it in the light in which it was intended. Cheers, and enjoy your project.

              Comment

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