The webcam performer squirms on a sofa, facing the wall. Every now and then, she swivels her head and grins at the 'sexpo' audience. I wonder if she manages to maintain that energy level whenever she thrusts herself in front of the camera. She needs to do something theatrical because, in the flesh, exposed by the exhibition hangar's harsh light, she looks less than amazing.
Even so, bedroom soft-porn stars such as the sexpo exhibitionist have come to define our understanding of webcams, injecting sensuality into the word. The Web reflects this bias. Tap 'webcam' into Google and many of the results have 'adult' attached - and why not? But adult webcams depicting 'verrry hot chicks' and the occasional hunk do not represent the whole picture. So, this week, this column wipes the smut from the lens to see what else is out there.
Plenty, it turns out - so much so that I suspect much of the planet will eventually be under casual surveillance. One day, if you run a webcam search on the words 'junction 14th Avenue and Irving, Sunset, San Francisco', exactly that result will come up and we will have entered the surveillance society known as 'the panopticon'.
To save you time, I've looked into the best moderately candid camera footage the internet offers. The views are real, I think. That said, it can be hard to tell the difference between a fresh perspective and a Quicktime movie. And unless you have a zippy broadband connection, you may only experience reality in extremely slow motion thanks to sluggish refresh rates (the number of times a screen image is 'painted' per second). Do not expect to see life in full swing. Be warned, too, that you may need to download plug-ins to see some reality flicks.