#608: Media Session: video conferencing actions

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Opened Feb 12, 2021

Ya ya yawm TAG!

I'm requesting a TAG review of Media Session: video conferencing actions.

Make Media Session useful for video conferencing use cases. This addition to the Media Session specification allows websites to handle microphone, camera, and hangup via new actions and states.

  • Explainer¹ (minimally containing user needs and example code): https://github.com/w3c/mediasession/issues/264
  • Security and Privacy self-review²: nothing new here, the one for the main spec applies.
  • GitHub repo (if you prefer feedback filed there): https://github.com/w3c/mediasession/
  • Primary contacts (and their relationship to the specification):
    • Tommy Steimel (@steimelchrome), Google, editor for the change
    • Mounir Lamouri (@mounirlamouri), Google, co-chair Media WG
    • Jer Noble (@jernoble), Apple, co-chair Media WG
  • Organization/project driving the design: Google
  • External status/issue trackers for this feature (publicly visible, e.g. Chrome Status): TBD

Further details:

  • I have reviewed the TAG's Web Platform Design Principles
  • The group where the incubation/design work on this is being done (or is intended to be done in the future): Media WG
  • The group where standardization of this work is intended to be done ("unknown" if not known): Media WG
  • Existing major pieces of multi-stakeholder review or discussion of this design: N/A but GH issue is meant for that
  • Major unresolved issues with or opposition to this design: N/A
  • This work is being funded by: N/A

You should also know that...

This is a small addition of the Media Session specification that has already launched in Chrome and (afaik) Firefox. Safari expressed interest and has a WIP implementation. Apple mentioned that they want to add a hangup action to the Media Session specification during the Media WG meeting in January.

We'd prefer the TAG provide feedback as (please delete all but the desired option):

💬 leave review feedback as a comment in this issue and @steimelchrome @mounirlamouri

Discussions

2021-02-22

Minutes

Ken: toggling....

Dan: they do need to further explore the use cases in the explainer.

Sangwhan: design-wise I think it's fine.

Dan: good to see multiple impementers.

Sangwhan: writing feedback. Method for mic is muted and camera is turned on, which is the opposite. One checks if it's off, one if it's on, that's weird.

Dan: considering actions that can activate/deactivate camera/mic is there enough thought that's gone into the privacy design?

Ken: this is common in apps people are used to use.

Sangwhan: the media session thing is a mechanism for you to react to things like media keys. If you have a remote or multimedia keyboard, you press a hardware button and send it to the application and it knows instead of having to listen to key events. Something that comes from the system, an intent. In this case it's a mute button on your hardware mic. I don't have good ideas of how this could be exposed in a securty and privacy manner.

Ken: the user is doing an action somewhere and expects something to happen.

Sangwhan: who knows, there might be a loophole.

Ken: you can already turn on the camear on the web. You get a notification the first time, and it has to be visible. I think it should be handled by what you can already do.

Sangwhan: feels more like a convenience mechanism. If you have actual conferencing equipment you have these buttons you can use.

2021-03-08

Minutes

Dan: if there are no privacy concerns might be good to docment why not...

Ken: they're considering naming feedback. What is the cross browser story?

Dan: the spec should contain what he wrote about security and privacy.. is that added? Yes.

Ken: will leave closing comment