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Is there a program to do following: I have a webcam on my laptop. I would like that my computer starts a screensaver if I'm not watching my laptop and stop the saver when I'm watching the screen. Is there a program for reading the webcam? I'm using Ubuntu 14.04.

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  • I don't know but it would be funny. Some android smartphones already do. – LatinSuD Sep 9 '14 at 12:12
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From the sound of this blog post you can use the project shantz-locker.sh to do what you want.

The post includes everything you need. The 2 pieces are the use of the motion application which is typically available in most repos such as Fedora and/or Ubuntu, and the shell script that's attached to the above article, shantz-webcam-locer.zip.

NOTE: I've also posted the script on pastebin.com here, in case the original ever goes away.

Usage

./shantz-locker [-l <LockThreshold>] [-u UnlockThreshold] [-s LockScanInterval] [-t UnlockScanInterval]
  • LockThreshold – Determines the threshold (based on no. of samples sans motion) to lock your PC. Default is 5
  • UnlockThreshold – Determines the threshold (based on no. of samples with motion) to unlock your PC. Default is 2
  • LockScanInterval – How soon to check if there is motion when your PC is in unlocked state. Default interval is 5 seconds
  • UnlockScanInterval – How soon to check if there is motion when your PC is in locked state. Default interval is 2 seconds

The ZIP file contains only 2 files, a sample motion.conf file along with the script, shantz-locker.sh.

$ unzip -l shantz-webcam-locker.zip 
Archive:  shantz-webcam-locker.zip
  Length      Date    Time    Name
---------  ---------- -----   ----
        0  08-10-2008 12:11   shantz-webcam-locker/
    22115  08-10-2008 10:57   shantz-webcam-locker/motion.conf
     2954  08-10-2008 11:32   shantz-webcam-locker/shantz-locker.sh
---------                     -------
    25069                     3 files
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    woah, very cool @slm. Ok. now, to take yet another step toward a sentient living room... – mikeserv Sep 9 '14 at 15:18
  • Hmm. I tried that but it did not close the saver when I sat down by my computer. – noobie Sep 9 '14 at 17:50
  • @noobie Make sure that the command gnome-screensaver-command works from a shell. You're likely running into an issue with the commands used by this script to lock/unlock the screensaver. – slm♦ Sep 9 '14 at 18:30
  • I installed the gnome-screensaver but the script still won't unlock the screensaver. – noobie Sep 10 '14 at 10:36

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