# looking for a 2 way camera app for cosplay costume **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-2-way-camera-app-for-cosplay-costume/847649 "2020-02-08T22:39:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-2-way-camera-app-for-cosplay-costume/847649/1 "2020-02-08T22:39:47Z")
I’m going to a local con next week. It’s not huge, but it’s fun. I thought of a costume I’d like to do - costume details are below\*, so as not to clutter up the question - that involves a ‘hole through the body’ illusion. I’ve got access to two ipads, and I was going to have on my chest/abdomen and the other on my back and have them each show the other’s camera view. 1- I can do this on face time easily enough, but I doubt I’ll have reliable wifi. 2- I can do it with Facetime using my camera as a hotspot, but then I’ll need a ton of cellular data. I think. 3- Another option that was suggested was using my phone as a hotspot, then having the two ipads communicate via an ip camera app, but most of these seem to use one phone or ipad as the camera, and the other as a viewer, not a two way viewing effect. So. Any better ideas? Or a camera app that works like facetime? \*The costume. I want to go as a dead Kobayashi Maru crewman. Jumpsuit with Kobayashi Maru logo, nametag, big whole blown through body. LeVar Burton and Bruce Campbell are at the Con (Fan Expo) which I why this idea came to me. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-2-way-camera-app-for-cosplay-costume/847649/2 "2020-02-08T23:18:31Z")
God. ‘Hole’ blown through body, not ‘whole’. Jesus Murphy. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-2-way-camera-app-for-cosplay-costume/847649/3 "2020-02-09T00:12:41Z")
[This has been done before](https://gizmodo.com/best-halloween-costume-ever-use-two-ipads-to-create-an-5854649) (at least once–that might not be the one I remembered.) He used Facetime. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-2-way-camera-app-for-cosplay-costume/847649/4 "2020-02-10T12:46:15Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [This has been done before](https://gizmodo.com/best-halloween-costume-ever-use-two-ipads-to-create-an-5854649) (at least once–that might not be the one I remembered.) He used Facetime. Mark Rober (the guy in that video) is a really smart guy, so I don’t understand why he didn’t line the two iPads up. The one on his back looks to be about 4-5 inches higher than the one in front. Don’t make that rookie mistake, **AFT3D**. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-2-way-camera-app-for-cosplay-costume/847649/5 "2020-02-10T15:57:50Z")
Problem with facetime is that it requires either wifi or cellular data. It seems that I ought to be able to generate the illusion with 2 ipods and an iphone just talking locally. I spent a lot of time with the ipads this weekend. I am at an impasse. I can face time two ipads together with wifi. I can FaceTime two ipads together to my cell as a hot spot with my cell using wifi. I cannot facetime two ipads via my cellular hotspot using cellular data. I cannot figure out haw to hardwire them to talk to one another. Neither ipad has a sim card port, so I cannot just make one be a big phone and call the other. Ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-2-way-camera-app-for-cosplay-costume/847649/6 "2020-02-10T16:14:32Z")
Google Duo is another app that might work. I use it to do video calling between android-iOS. Not sure of the data requirements so you would have to experiment a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-2-way-camera-app-for-cosplay-costume/847649/7 "2020-02-10T17:03:07Z")
Can you not directly Wi-Fi from one iPad to the other without going through a router? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-2-way-camera-app-for-cosplay-costume/847649/8 "2020-02-12T13:52:26Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Can you not directly Wi-Fi from one iPad to the other without going through a router? This is what I was ~thinking. Get an app that makes one a WiFi router/hotspot and create a two machine network. (I know that there used to be settings in PC WiFi routers to make direct connections but I haven’t seen anything like this is Android WiFi settings pages.) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-2-way-camera-app-for-cosplay-costume/847649/9 "2020-02-12T14:20:04Z")
It is [Wi-Fi Direct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Direct) on Android. I use it all the time to transfer files between devices. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-2-way-camera-app-for-cosplay-costume/847649/10 "2020-02-12T14:26:12Z")
Some googling find lots of apps for Wi-Fi Direct video chat for Android (such as [this](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ednamos.bluetoothlive&hl=en_US) one), but iPad hits keep mentioning going through a Wi-Fi network.