Surveillance on a Budget

Casting with WebRTC

Open-source casting with webrtc-casting

Fyeox LLC, Richard Nelson, Open Source Advocate

https://www.midwesttechtalk.com/

July 21st and 22nd, 2025

20250508-0

Introduction

  • Casting the journey with Google, research, innovation, and Free Bird.
  • Challenges: knowledge, costs, and enslavement (vendor lock-in pitfalls).
  • Solution: Open source tools and DIY approaches.

The Open Source Advantage

  • Free or low cost software.
  • Community driven support.
  • Customizable and transparent.
  • Integration with affordable hardware (Think upcycling!).

Target Audience, Technologies, and Tech Support

  • Campus Instruction
    • Affordable - solution needs to be cost effective, no gimics and no treadmill
    • KISS - solution needs to be simple
    • Long-Term - solution allows you to be in charge of the change
    • Remote diagnostics - solution needs ssh and dosi

Target Audience, Technologies, and Tech Support

  • Campus Instruction
    • Security - solution needs to operate at layer 3
    • Scriptable - solution needs to be able to fetch rover
    • Upcycle - solution needs to operate on older hardware, second lap for carbon creation investment

Tools and Technologies

  • Let's Get Creative with Open Source!
    • First goal was casting from ChromeOS to ?
      • webrtc for simple casting
      • Chromium with listening kiosk page for casting
      • Debian
      • nodejs/javascript + html
    • Casting from other platforms on Chrome

Tools and Technologies

  • Kiosks
    • Setup for simple instructor casting in classroom
    • Setup for propaganda in classrooms or public spaces
    • Link or video utilized for propaganda
    • Stop listening for any casting requests

Tools and Technologies

  • dosi
    • Phone home
    • Scripting for operationses
    • Link or video utilized for propaganda
    • Any instructions via scripting
  • Hardware
    • Plan carefully, know the deployment case, think infrastructure

Case Study:

Utilizing webrtc-cast on a Budget

webrtc-cast

Challenges and Solutions

  • Common Issues:
    • Security: never trust and isolate casting (vlan + firewall rules)
    • Support: utilize the github tools for issues and documentation

How to Get Started

  • Define your requirements (Think about upcycling!)
  • Research options
  • Start small and iterate
  • Budget time to get to know the solution you are considering
  • Run the numbers for value - cost savings, then determine if it is the right decision for you

Acknowledgment of Sponsors

"Thank you!", to the sponsors who support my open source efforts:

  • FYEOX LLC https://fyeox.com
  • Open Infrastructure https://web.open-infrastructure.net
  • If you would like to become a sponsor, please contact me at unixabg@gmail.com

Conclusion

Empowering Casting with Open Source:

  • Affordable, adaptable, and accessible solutions.
  • Community contributions make it sustainable.
  • Call to action: Start your project today!

Q&A

We welcome your questions and discussions on how open source solutions can work for you.