Local and remote video-camera control

1. An apparatus, comprising:

an obfuscation component to at least partly obfuscate a view of a camera;

one or more network components to enable communications with one or more devices via at least a personal area network (PAN) and a wide area network (WAN); and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

receiving, via the one or more network components, an indication to cease obfuscation of the view of the camera;

determining that the indication is received via the WAN;

continuing to obfuscate the view of the camera based at least in part on the determining that the indication is received via the WAN;

receiving, via the one or more network components, a second indication to cease obfuscation of the view of the camera;

determining that the second indication is received via the PAN; and

causing the obfuscation component to cease obfuscation of the view of the camera based at least in part on the determining that the second indication is received via the PAN.

2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , the acts further comprising:

sending, to a device, based at least in part on the determining that the indication is received via the WAN, a third indication that the obfuscation component will continue to obfuscate the view of the camera.

3. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein the obfuscation component comprises:

a lens cap configured to physically cover a lens of the camera; and

an actuator configured to move the lens cap from a first position physically covering the lens of the camera to a second position in which the lens cap ceases to obfuscate the lens of the camera.

4. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein the obfuscation component comprises a light-source configured to emit light substantially parallel to an optical axis of the camera, the light-source configured to turn on to at least partially obfuscate the view of the camera and turn off to cease obfuscation of the view of the camera.

5. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein the obfuscation component comprises:

a light-source configured to emit light; and

a lightguide to disseminate the light from the light source to at least partially obfuscate the view of the camera.

6. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , wherein the acts further comprise:

receiving a third indication that the obfuscation component is unable to at least partly obfuscate the view of the camera; and

sending at least one image generated by the camera to a device.

7. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

a microphone to generate an audio signal based on sound from an environment of the apparatus; and

a speaker, proximate to the microphone;

and the acts further comprising:

receiving a third indication to mute the microphone; and

causing the speaker to generate noise to obfuscate at least a portion of the sound from the environment of the apparatus.

8. A system comprising:

a camera;

an obfuscation component configured to cover one or more lens of the camera;

one or more network components to enable communications with one or more devices via at least a personal area network (PAN) and one or more other networks;

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

receiving, via the one or more network components, a signal comprising an indication to cause the obfuscation component to move from a closed position to an open position;

determining that the signal is received via the one or more other networks;

maintaining the obfuscation component in the closed position based at least in part on the determining that the indication is received via the one or more other networks;

receiving, via the one or more network components, a second signal comprising a second indication to cause the obfuscation component to move from the closed position to the open position;

determining that the second signal is received via the PAN; and

causing the obfuscation component to move from the closed position to the open position based at least in part on the determining that the second signal is received via the PAN.

9. The system as recited in claim 8 , wherein the obfuscation component comprises an actuator and a cover, and wherein causing the obfuscation component to move from the closed position to the open position comprises causing the actuator to move the cover to the open position.

10. The system as recited in claim 8 , further comprising a physical control to request to move the obfuscation component from the open position to the closed position.

11. The system as recited in claim 8 , the acts further comprising:

sending, to a device, based at least in part on the determining that the signal was received via the the one or more other networks a third indication that the obfuscation component will remain in the closed position.

12. The system as recited in claim 8 , the acts further comprising:

receiving authentication information from an electronic device based at least in part on determining that the signal was received via the one or more other networks, wherein the electronic device transmitted the signal; and

causing the obfuscation component to move from the closed position to the open position.

13. The system as recited in claim 8 , wherein the acts further comprise:

receiving a third indication that the obfuscation component encountered a foreign object and is unable to move from the at least one of the closed position to the open position or from the open position to the closed position; and

sending at least one image generated by the camera to a device.

14. The system as recited in claim 8 , further comprising:

a microphone to generate an audio signal based on sound captured from an environment; and

a speaker;

and the acts further comprising:

receiving data indicating to mute the microphone; and

causing the speaker to generate white noise to obfuscate at least a portion of sound from the environment present in the audio signal.

15. A method, comprising:

receiving, via one or more network components that enable communications with one or more devices via at least a personal area network (PAN) and one or more other networks, an indication to cease obfuscation of a view of a camera;

determining that the indication was received via the one or more other networks;

continuing to obfuscate the view of the camera based at least in part on the determining that the indication is received via the one or more other networks;

receiving, via the one or more network components, a second indication to cease obfuscation of the view of the camera;

determining that the second indication was received via the PAN; and

causing an obfuscation component associated with the camera to cease obfuscation of the view of the camera at least partly in response to the determining that the second indication was received via the PAN.

16. The method as recited in claim 15 , wherein the indication comprises a first indication, and further comprising:

sending, to a device, data based at least in part on the determining that the indication via was received via the the one or more other networks that the obfuscation component will continue to obfuscate the view of the camera.

17. The method as recited in claim 15 , wherein the obfuscation component comprises a lens cap configured to physically cover a lens of the camera, and wherein the causing the obfuscation component associated with the camera to cease obfuscation comprises sending an instruction to an actuator coupled to the lens cap to move the lens cap to a position in which the lens cap at least partially obfuscates the view of the camera.

18. The method as recited in claim 15 , wherein the obfuscation component comprises a light-source configured to emit light substantially parallel to an optical axis of the camera, and wherein the causing the obfuscation component associated with the camera to cease obfuscation comprises sending an instruction to the light-source to emit the light substantially parallel to the optical axis of the camera to at least partially obfuscate the view of the camera.

19. The method as recited in claim 15 , wherein the obfuscation component comprises a light-source configured to emit light and a lightguide to disseminate the light from the light source to at least partially obfuscate the view of the camera, and wherein the causing the obfuscation component associated with the camera to cease obfuscation comprises sending an instruction to the light-source to emit the light for dissemination by the lightguide.

20. The method as recited in claim 15 , further comprising:

receiving data that the obfuscation component is unable to at least partly obfuscate the view of the camera; and

sending at least one image generated by the camera to a device.