Quentin Stafford-Fraser
Encyclopedia
Trojan room coffee pot
The Trojan Room coffee pot was the inspiration for the world's first webcam. The coffee pot was located in the so-called Trojan Room within the old Computer Laboratory of the University of Cambridge...
: the first webcam
Webcam
A webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
. He wrote the XCoffee client program
Client (computing)
A client is an application or system that accesses a service made available by a server. The server is often on another computer system, in which case the client accesses the service by way of a network....
which allowed the state of the coffee pot to be displayed on a screen
Display device
A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form...
.
After leaving Haileybury
Haileybury and Imperial Service College
Haileybury and Imperial Service College, , is a prestigious British independent school founded in 1862. The school is located at Hertford Heath, near Hertford, from central London, on of parkland occupied until 1858 by the East India College...
, Quentin studied Computer Science at the University of Cambridge and became the first college Computer Officer in 1989 working for his old college, Gonville and Caius. Quentin is credited with operating the first web-server in the University of Cambridge in 1992 and working on the Brightboard Interactive Whiteboard
Interactive whiteboard
An interactive whiteboard , is a large interactive display that connects to a computer and projector. A projector projects the computer's desktop onto the board's surface where users control the computer using a pen, finger, stylus, or other device...
project at Xerox EuroPARC in Cambridge.
Quentin wrote the original VNC
Virtual Network Computing
In computing, Virtual Network Computing is a graphical desktop sharing system that uses the RFB protocol to remotely control another computer...
client (viewer) and server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
for the Windows operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
, while at the Olivetti Research Laboratory
Olivetti Research Laboratory
The Olivetti Research Laboratory was a research institute in the field of computing and telecommunications founded in 1986 by Hermann Hauser and Andy Hopper.-History:...
.
Quentin has founded or co-founded various companies and other organisations including:
- Newnham Research (now DisplayLinkDisplayLinkDisplayLink is a semiconductor and software startup company. DisplayLink USB graphics technology is designed to connect computers and displays using USB and Wireless USB, allowing multiple displays to be connected to a single PC...
) - Exbiblio
- The NdiyoNdiyoNdiyo is a project based out of Cambridge, United Kingdom, which aims to promote networked computing that is "simple, affordable, open." Ndiyo, pronounced nn-dee-yo, is the Swahili word for "yes" according to the project's website...
project - Cambridge Visual NetworksCambridge visual networks- Introduction :Cambridge Visual Networks Limited is a private limited company based in Cambridge, UK, and first registered in 2007. Trading under the name Camvine, it provides cloud-based digital signage...
('Camvine') - Telemarq Ltd (of which he is currently CEO)