For teachers & students · Optional
An optional camera signal for tracked reading assignments. During active reading time it estimates whether a face is visible to the camera. The camera picture is processed on the student's device and never uploaded or recorded.
Whether a face appears to be in front of the camera, about once a second, while the student is actively reading.
Who the person is, where they're looking, whether they're reading, or whether they understand. Any detected face counts.
It's available on assignments that share reading activity. It may not be switched on for every school yet.
When students used the camera, the reading activity report includes a Camera observations section. Active reading time is split four ways, which add up to the student's active time:
| Category | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Face detected | The detector reported a face. It doesn't establish whose face, or that they were reading. |
| No face detected | The image was processed and no face was found. Lighting, angle or a covered lens can cause this. It isn't proof of absence. |
| Unknown / unreliable | No usable, current result: poor image, camera or detector unavailable, or overlapping sessions. Not evidence of looking away. |
| Not sampled | The camera was off. This isn't an absence measure. |
Idle and background time aren't included.
Treat these as approximate hints alongside the student's response and discussion. Don't use them on their own for grading or to accuse a student of not reading.
The camera picture stays on the device.
Face detection runs locally in the browser. Only the category (face detected, no face detected, unknown) is saved with the reading activity. No images, video, face positions or face data are uploaded or kept, and the microphone is never used.
The face-detection model downloads from Google the first time it's used. That download carries ordinary network information, never camera images. Reports follow the same access rules as reading activity: only the assignment's teacher can see them.
Works in up-to-date Chrome, Edge and Safari on laptops, tablets and phones, with a front camera and permission to use it. Older or embedded browsers show it as unavailable. Good, even lighting helps.
If the camera won't start, the status shows a short code you can share with support:
| Code | What to try |
|---|---|
[model-download] | The detector couldn't download. Check the internet connection (some school networks block it) and retry. |
[detector-start] | The detector couldn't start in time. Refresh the page and try again. |
[worker-start] / [browser-support] | This browser doesn't support it. Try an updated Chrome, Edge or Safari. |
[camera-permission] | Camera access is blocked. Check the site's camera permission and your device's privacy settings for the browser. |
[camera-missing] / [camera-busy] | No camera found, or another app is using it. Close other video apps and retry. |
[camera-preview] | The camera opened but the preview didn't start. Choose Enable camera signal again. |
A failure is recorded as unknown, never as absence. Reading and turn-in still work.