FEATURE: Visual capabilities - Screenshot analysis and screen streaming

[BenGWeeks]

Description

Enable Nod.ie to "see" and understand what's on the user's screen for contextual assistance.

Core Features

1. Screenshot Capture and Analysis

• Capture screenshots on demand ("What am I looking at?")
• Automatic context detection for help requests
• Privacy-preserving local analysis
• Configurable capture permissions

2. Screen Streaming Mode

• Real-time screen commentary for tutorials
• Live coding assistance with error detection
• Visual feedback on UI interactions
• Low-latency screen capture

3. Visual Context Understanding

• Identify applications and windows
• Read error messages and dialogs
• Understand UI elements and layouts
• Provide step-by-step guidance

Use Cases

Technical Support

User: "Why isn't this working?"
Nod.ie: [captures screen] "I see you have a syntax error on line 42. You're missing a closing bracket."

Tutorial Mode

User: "Guide me through using this app"
Nod.ie: "I can see you have Photoshop open. Click on the Layers panel on the right..."

Error Detection

User: "What's this error?"
Nod.ie: "That's a permission denied error. Try running the command with sudo."

Technical Implementation

Screen Capture

• Electron's desktopCapturer API
• Efficient frame sampling for streaming
• Hardware acceleration where available
• Compression for analysis

Vision Processing

• Integration with vision-capable LLMs
• Local OCR for text extraction
• UI element detection
• Image compression and optimization

Privacy Features

• Explicit permission for each capture
• Blacklist sensitive applications
• No cloud storage of screenshots
• Clear visual indicators when active

Configuration

{
  "visualCapabilities": {
    "enabled": false,
    "requirePermission": true,
    "blacklistedApps": ["1Password", "Banking"],
    "captureQuality": "medium",
    "streamingFps": 5
  }
}

Performance Considerations

• Minimize CPU usage during streaming
• Efficient image compression
• Adaptive quality based on system resources
• Frame skipping for low-end systems

Security & Privacy

• All processing done locally
• No screenshots saved without permission
• Clear visual indicators when capturing
• Automatic redaction of sensitive data

Priority

Medium - Powerful feature for visual assistance