Call control devices with WebHID Manager

The WebHID Manager utility allows you to integrate external hardware devices for call control functionality. This feature enables you to connect USB or Bluetooth devices to manage call and mute states of your eyeson meetings, providing physical controls for your virtual communication sessions.

Also read the blog article Call control devices - WebHID API

Initialize

import { WebHIDManager } from '@eyeson/js';

if (WebHIDManager.supported) {
    const manager = await WebHIDManager.initialize(); // with options: initialize({ verbose: false })

    if (manager.blocked) {
        // already used in another tab or window
        return;
    }

    manager.onEvent(event => {
        const { type } = event;
        if (type === 'devicelist') {
            console.log(event.devices); // list device { id, vendorId, productId, productName }
        }
        else if (type === 'error') {
            console.log(event.id, event.message); // initialize_failed (WebHID initializing failed), pair_request_failed (Device pair request failed), invalid_device (Invalid device)
        }
        else if (type === 'togglemute') {
            console.log(event.active); // true/false
        }
        else if (type === 'togglecall') {
            console.log(event.active); // true/false
        }
    });
}

The initialization process is asynchronous as the WebHID Manager performs a background check to prevent conflicts when used across multiple tabs or browser windows simultaneously.

Available Methods

The WebHID Manager provides several methods to manage device connections and control call states:

manager.offEvent(); // or with offEvent(namedEventFunction)

await manager.pairDeviceRequest();

manager.emitDeviceList(); // (only if needed again)

manager.setMuteActive(true/false);

manager.setCallActive(true/false);

await manager.removeDevice(deviceId); // "devicelist" event device.id

manager.destroy();

Error event

When an error occurs, the WebHID Manager triggers an error event containing two properties: id and message. The id uniquely identifies the error type, while the message provides a standard English description of what went wrong. These error details can be used for debugging or displaying appropriate notifications to users.

initialize_failed - "WebHID initializing failed"
pair_request_failed - "Device pair request failed"
invalid_device - "Invalid device"

note

Eyeson IFrame API already includes the needed permissions.