James Quentin Stafford-Fraser is a computer scientist and entrepreneur based in Cambridge, England. He was one of the team that created the first

webcam A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in videotelephony, livestreaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or periphera ...

, the Trojan room coffee pot. Quentin pointed a camera at the coffee pot and wrote the

XCoffee The Trojan Room coffee pot was a coffee machine located in the Computer Laboratory of the University of Cambridge, England. Created in 1991 by Quentin Stafford-Fraser and Paul Jardetzky, it was migrated from their laboratory network to the we ...

client program In computing, a client is a piece of computer hardware or software that accesses a service made available by a server as part of the client–server model of computer networks. The server is often (but not always) on another computer system, in ...

which allowed the image of the pot to be displayed on a workstation screen. When web browsers gained the ability to display images, the system was modified to make the coffee pot images available over HTTP and thus became the first webcam. Quentin wrote the original VNC client (viewer) and server for the

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...

, while at the Olivetti Research Laboratory. He is a regular public speaker and his work has attracted significant media coverage. Quentin is also a part-time Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge Computer Lab. In 2013 he was a member of the winning team on '' Christmas University Challenge'', representing Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge.

Companies founded

Quentin has founded or co-founded various companies and other organisations including: *

Newnham Research DisplayLink (formerly Newnham Research) is a semiconductor and software technology company. They develop the DisplayLink USB graphics technology, which is designed to connect computers and displays using USB, Ethernet, and WiFi. It also allows ...

(now

DisplayLink DisplayLink (formerly Newnham Research) is a semiconductor and software technology company. They develop the DisplayLink USB graphics technology, which is designed to connect computers and displays using USB, Ethernet, and WiFi. It also allow ...

) * Exbiblio * The Ndiyo project * Telemarq Ltd (of which he is currently CEO)

Earlier history

Quentin was educated at Haileybury before studying Computer Science at the University of Cambridge and in 1989 became the first Cambridge college Computer Officer, at his old college,

Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...

, before joining the Systems Research Group in the University's Computer Lab. Quentin is credited with operating the first web-server in the University of Cambridge, in 1992. He created the Brightboard

Interactive whiteboard An interactive whiteboard (IWB), also known as interactive board or smart board, is a large interactive display board in the form factor of a whiteboard. It can either be a standalone touchscreen computer used independently to perform task ...

project at Xerox EuroPARC in Cambridge, as part of his Ph.D thesis.

References

External links

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford-Fraser, Quentin Computer programmers Quentin Stafford-Fraser Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Living people Year of birth missing (living people)