Android and Chrome OS already are carrying the VirtIO Media driver as a means of enabling virtualization of host media devices into a guest while now patch review is underway in trying to get VirtIO Media upstreamed in the mainline Linux kernel.
The VirtIO Media driver is intended to be a Video 4 Linux 2 (V4L2) relay between user-space and the VirtIO virtual device on the host. In theory VirtIO Media can virtualize any video device — like web cameras — supported by V4L2. The VirtIO Media specification is in the process of being finalized. The driver is already found within Android (AOSP) and Chrome OS while now Google’s Alexandre Courbot is working on the “overdue” upstreaming of this driver.
Virtualization of web cameras and video accelerators has been demonstrated with Google’s CrosVM and QEMU. Those interested in this VirtIO Media driver upstreaming effort for the mainline kernel can see this patch series for the latest on this newly-started review effort.
