The mission of the Device and Sensors Working Group is to create client-side APIs that enable the development of Web Applications that interact with device hardware, sensors, services and applications such as the camera, microphone, proximity sensors, native address books, calendars and native messaging applications.
Join the Device and Sensors Working Group.
End date | 2018-06-30 (extended from 2018-03-31) |
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Confidentiality | Proceedings are Public |
Chairs | Anssi Kostiainen [updated] |
Team Contact (FTE %: 20) |
Dominique Hazaël-Massieux, Fuqiao Xue [updated] |
Usual Meeting Schedule | Teleconferences: 1 every other week Face-to-face: 1 or 2 per year (only as needed) |
The Device and Sensors Working Group aims at producing Web client-side APIs that facilitate deeper integration of Web applications into advanced capabilities of their host devices.
These capabilities include access to a camera, microphone, or system information such as network connection and battery level.
Adding these advanced features to the Web environment empowers Web developers to create richer and more context-aware Web applications.
Given the sensitive nature of the data and sensors to which these APIs grant access, the Working Group also aims at crafting APIs that are both secure and privacy-enabling by design, based on the current Web browser security model. This entails reusing existing browser-based security metaphors where they apply and looking into innovative security and privacy mechanisms where they don’t.
The scope of this Working Group is the creation of API specifications for a device’s services that can be exposed to Web applications. Services include sensors, media capture, network information and discovery. Devices in this context include desktop computers, laptop computers, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), cellular phones, TVs, cameras and other connected devices.
Devices sometimes provide calendar, contacts and other personal information management services. These services are also in scope for this Working Group, but to work on Specifications in that area the group would need to recharter to add new Deliverables.
Hardware security services are out of scope for this group.
Priority will be given to developing simple and consensual APIs, leaving more complex features to future versions.
Each specification should contain a section detailing any known security implications for implementers, Web authors, and end users. The Working Group will actively seek security, privacy, internationalization and accessibility review on all its specifications.
Additionally, comprehensive test suites will be developed for each specification to ensure interoperability, and the group will create interoperability reports. The group will also maintain errata as required for the continued relevance and usefulness of the specifications it produces.
To advance to Proposed Recommendation, each specification is expected to have two independent implementations of all features defined in the specification, including implementation on a constrained device (e.g. mobile phone, TV).
APIs that cannot be demonstrated to be implementable securely within the default browser context will not be released.
The working group will deliver the following specifications:
Some of these deliverables might, upon the request of the Working Group, be moved to the proposed Timed Media Working Group.
The Working Group will maintain errata and new editions, as necessary, for the Vibration API W3C Recommendation.
Where practical, the API specifications should use the Web IDL formalism.
The Working Group may also enter into joint Task Forces with other groups to collaborate on any of the above Deliverables that cross group boundaries.
If additional in-scope Recommendation-track deliverables need to be added to the Charter before the Charter expires, the Working Group will prepare an updated Charter that differs only in deliverables. In the interest of agile spec development, the group requests that the Advisory Committee and Director restrict approval reviews for those Charter deliverables adjustments to just the changes in the Charter, rather than considering the entire Charter again for review.
The Working Group will not adopt new proposals until they have matured through the Web Platform Incubator Community Group or another similar incubation phase.
A comprehensive test suite for all features of a specification is necessary to ensure the specification’s robustness, consistency, and implementability, and to promote interoperability between User Agents.
The Working Group may also document in a Working Group Note useful design patterns shared by the APIs it is developing.
Other non-normative documents may be created such as:
Given sufficient resources, this Working Group should review other working groups’ deliverables that are identified as being relevant to the Working Group’s mission.
Specification | FPWD | LC | CR | PR | Rec |
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HTML Media Capture | 13 Dec 2012 | 19 Jun 2014 | 9 Sep 2014 | Q1 2016 | Q1 2016 |
Media Capture and Streams | 27 Oct 2011 | 4 Apr 2015 | Q4 2015 | Q2 2016 | Q3 2016 |
MediaStream Recording | 25 Feb 2013 | N/A | Q4 2015 | Q4 2016 | Q1 2017 |
MediaStream Image Capture | 9 Jul 2013 | N/A | Q2 2016 | Q2 2017 | Q3 2017 |
Media Capture Depth Stream Extensions | 10 Oct 2014 | N/A | Q2 2016 | Q2 2017 | Q3 2017 |
Media Capture from DOM Elements | 19 Feb 2015 | N/A | QA 2015 | Q3 2016 | Q4 2016 |
Audio Output Devices API | 10 Feb 2015 | N/A | Q3 2015 | Q2 2016 | Q3 2016 |
Screen Capture | 10 Feb 2015 | N/A | Q4 2015 | Q3 2016 | Q4 2016 |
Media Capture Stream with Worker | Q2 2016 | N/A | Q2 2017 | Q3 2017 | Q4 2017 |
Battery Status API | 26 Apr 2011 | 28 Aug 2014 | 9 Dec 2014 | Q1 2016 | Q2 2016 |
Wake Lock API | 12 Feb 2015 | N/A | Q2 2016 | Q2 2017 | Q3 2017 |
Generic Sensor API | 15 Oct 2015 | N/A | Q4 2016 | Q3 2017 | Q4 2017 |
Proximity Sensor API | 12 Jul 2012 | N/A | Q4 2016 | Q3 2017 | Q4 2017 |
Ambient Light API | 2 Aug 2012 | N/A | Q4 2016 | Q3 2017 | Q4 2017 |
Accelerometer API | Q1 2016 | N/A | Q4 2016 | Q3 2017 | Q4 2017 |
Orientation API | Q1 2016 | N/A | Q4 2016 | Q3 2017 | Q4 2017 |
Network Information API | 7 Jun 2011 | N/A | Q2 2016 | Q1 2017 | Q2 2017 |
Note: The actual production of some of the deliverables may follow a different timeline. The group documents any schedule changes on the group home page.
This Working Group expects to maintain contacts with at least the following groups within W3C (in alphabetical order):
The following is a tentative list of external bodies the Working Group should collaborate with:
To be successful, this Working Group is expected to have 10 or more active participants for its duration, and to have the participation of the industry leaders in fields relevant to the specifications it produces.
The Chair(s) and specification Editors are expected to contribute one to two days per week towards the Working Group. There is no minimum requirement for other participants.
Based on the input from the group participants, the Chairs may also decide to create task forces that allow more focused discussions for topics that require specific expertise.
This Working Group will also allocate the necessary resources for building Test Suites for each specification.
This Working Group welcomes participation from non-Members. The group encourages questions and comments on its public mailing list, public-device-apis@w3.org, which is publicly archived and for which there is no formal requirement for participation. The group also welcomes non-Members to contribute technical submissions for consideration, with the agreement from each participant to Royalty-Free licensing of those submissions under the W3C Patent Policy.
The Working Group’s Teleconferences focus on discussion of particular specifications, and are conducted on an as-needed basis.
Most of the technical work of the group is done through discussions on the public-device-apis@w3.org, the group’s public mailing list. Editors’ drafts and their editing history is available from a public W3C web site. The group’s action and issue tracking data is also public, as are the participants-approved minutes from all teleconferences and meetings.
The group uses a Member-confidential mailing list for administrative purposes and, at the discretion of the Chairs and participants of the group, for Member-only discussions in special cases when a particular participant requests such a discussion.
Information about the group (for example, details about deliverables, issues, actions, status, participants) is available from the Device and Sensors Working Group home page.
Any resolution taken in a face-to-face meeting or teleconference is to be considered provisional until 10 working days after the publication of the resolution in draft minutes sent to the working groups mailing list. If no objections are raised on the mailing list within that time, the resolution will be considered to have consensus as a resolution of the Working Group.
As explained in the Process Document (section 3.3), this group seeks to make decisions when there is consensus. When the Chair puts a question and observes dissent, after due consideration of different opinions, the Chair should record a decision (possibly after a formal vote) and any objections, and move on.
This charter is written in accordance with Section 3.4, Votes of the W3C Process Document and includes no voting procedures beyond what the Process Document requires.
This Working Group operates under the W3C Patent Policy (5 February 2004 Version). To promote the widest adoption of Web standards, W3C seeks to issue Recommendations that can be implemented, according to this policy, on a Royalty-Free basis.
For more information about disclosure obligations for this group, please see the W3C Patent Policy Implementation.
This Working Group will use the W3C Software and Document license for all its deliverables.
This charter for this Working Group has been created according to section 5.2 of the Process Document. In the event of a conflict between this document or the provisions of any charter and the W3C Process, the W3C Process shall take precedence.
See also the first charter for this group, and the second.
The charter was updated on September 29 2017 to reflect a new chair (Anssi Kostiainen replacing Frederick Hirsch) and an additional staff contact (Fuqiao Xue).
On 29 November 2017, this charter was extended from its end date of 31 December 2017 to 31 March 2018.
On 2 April 2018, this charter was extended from its end date of 31 March 2018 to 30 June 2018.
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