Skip to main content

ICaptureFactory

The ICaptureFactory interface in the Baballonia SDK is the entry point for adding custom camera sources to Baballonia. Any new camera backend—USB, IP-based, native hardware, or experimental—must be registered through a factory so the system knows how to connect to it.

info

Every Capture Source requires a Factory.
A factory tells Baballonia:

  • Whether it can connect to a given address
  • How to create the correct Capture subclass
  • What provider name the source should appear under inside Baballonia

This system enables full plugin-based extensibility without modifying the core application.

Purpose of ICaptureFactory​

Baballonia supports many types of cameras, such as:

  • USB webcams
  • Varjo eye-tracking cameras
  • Android/IP camera streams
  • V4L2 devices on Linux
  • Custom or experimental camera hardware

Each type often needs unique connection logic—for example, parsing its own address, validating availability, or allocating platform-specific resources.

The ICaptureFactory interface standardizes this by requiring every plugin to define:

  • How to validate an address (CanConnect)
  • How to construct the correct capture implementation (Create)
  • What name represents the provider (GetProviderName)

This ensures all camera types behave consistently inside Baballonia.

Interface Definition​

public interface ICaptureFactory
{
    Capture Create(string address);
    bool CanConnect(string address);
    string GetProviderName();
}