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Photo Capture Guide

This guide covers how to capture photos from smart glasses using the MentraOS Camera Module.

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Overview

Photo capture allows your app to request individual photos from connected smart glasses. This is perfect for:
  • Documentation and note-taking apps
  • Visual assistance applications
  • Inventory management
  • Social sharing features
  • Accessibility tools

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Permissions Required

Before using photo capture, your app must have the CAMERA permission: Add to App Manifest: Include CAMERA in your app’s permissions in the Developer Console For complete permission setup instructions, see the Permissions Guide.

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Basic Usage

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Simple Photo Capture

// Request a photo from the smart glasses
const photo = await session.camera.requestPhoto()

console.log(`Photo captured: ${photo.filename}`)
console.log(`Size: ${photo.size} bytes`)
console.log(`Type: ${photo.mimeType}`)

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Requesting Photo Size

Apps can request the desired photo size. Supported values are small, medium (default), and large. Small photos are faster to capture and transfer, but have lower resolution. Large photos are slower to capture and transfer, but have higher resolution. 
// Small, faster capture/transfer
const small = await session.camera.requestPhoto({size: "small"})

// Default medium
const medium = await session.camera.requestPhoto() // or { size: 'medium' }

// Large, highest available resolution
const large = await session.camera.requestPhoto({size: "large"})

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Working with Photo Data

The photo is returned as a Buffer object. Here are common ways to use it: 
private async processPhoto(session: AppSession): Promise<void> {
  try {
    const photo = await session.camera.requestPhoto();

    // Convert to base64 for storage or transmission
    const base64String = photo.buffer.toString('base64');
    session.logger.info(`Photo as base64 (first 50 chars): ${base64String.substring(0, 50)}...`);

    // Save to file (Node.js)
    import fs from 'fs';
    const filename = `photo_${Date.now()}.jpg`;
    fs.writeFileSync(filename, photo.buffer);
    session.logger.info(`Photo saved to file: ${filename}`);

    // Send to external API
    await this.uploadPhotoToAPI(photo.buffer, photo.mimeType);
  } catch (error) {
    session.logger.error('Failed to process photo:', error);
  }
}

private async uploadPhotoToAPI(buffer: Buffer, mimeType: string): Promise<void> {
  // Example: Upload to your backend API
  // const formData = new FormData();
  // formData.append('photo', new Blob([buffer], { type: mimeType }));
  // await fetch('/api/upload', { method: 'POST', body: formData });
}

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See Also