How to record POV video of your work: practical tips

What POV video is, and why the angle matters

POV video, also called first-person or egocentric video, is filmed from the eyes of the person doing the task, usually with a small camera worn on the head. When you record work, the angle is what makes the footage useful. It should show what your eyes see: your hands, your tools and the order of your steps. Our hub on how recording work works covers what you wear and how projects run.

Researchers record everyday activity the same way. According to its research paper, the EPIC-KITCHENS-100 collection captured unscripted kitchen activity in 45 environments "using head-mounted cameras". The Ego4D paper describes 3,670 hours of daily-life video "captured by 931 unique camera wearers", and the Ego4D team used seven different off-the-shelf head-mounted cameras to collect it. Some collections, such as Ego-Exo4D, pair first-person video with outside views of the same activity. For more on the term and the datasets, see our explainer on what egocentric video is.

Before you start: permission

Get permission before the camera turns on. Anyone else who could appear and be identified has to agree first, and at a workplace the owner or manager has to agree too. Research teams treat this as a hard rule. The EPIC-KITCHENS acquisition guidelines put it plainly: "The participant should have signed the attached consent form, before recording."

Our guide to recording at work: privacy and consent explains releases and workplace permission. It also covers how recording a conversation differs from recording video.

Framing, light and the whole task

Usable footage mostly comes down to a few habits:

• Wear the camera where your eyes are, on your forehead or the brim of a cap, so the view matches what you look at. Tilt it slightly down so your hands sit in the lower middle of the frame when you work at a counter or bench.
• Keep your eyes on the work. Your head steers the camera, so when you glance away to talk or check your phone, the task leaves the frame.
• Turn on the room lights. A bright window behind the work makes your hands and tools look dark.
• Move at a normal pace and avoid sudden turns, because quick head movements blur the picture. When you move to a new spot, turn your whole body with your head.
• Record ten seconds of the task and watch it back. If you can't see your hands and what they're doing, adjust the angle before you record the rest.

Record the whole task, too. Footage that stops halfway shows only half the job, so start recording before the first step and stop after the last one: from taking the pan off the shelf to putting it back clean, or from opening the box to shelving the last item. If you have to pause, say for a phone call, finish the step you're on first.

Don't perform for the camera. The footage is useful when it shows the job at your normal pace, in the place where you do it, small corrections included.

What to keep out of frame

Some things must stay out of the shot, however good the rest of it is:

• People who haven't agreed to be recorded, and above all anyone under 18 without a parent's or guardian's consent.
• Screens and documents, such as computer and phone screens, mail, receipts, order slips with names and ID cards.
• Private spaces and details, such as bathrooms and family photos, plus house numbers and car plates where you can avoid them.

Some research teams also blur bystanders automatically. The EgoBlur paper describes a protocol in which recorded video "is processed by an AI anonymization model". Blurring helps, but you still need permission, and private things should stay out of the shot from the start.

A pre-record checklist

1. 01

   Permission

   Everyone who could appear has agreed, and so has the site owner or manager if it's a workplace.

2. 02

   Requirements

   You've read the task's instructions and know what to record.

3. 03

   Camera position

   The camera sits at eye level, tilted slightly down, and a test clip shows your hands.

4. 04

   Light

   The room lights are on and there's no bright window behind the work.

5. 05

   Frame

   Screens, documents and anyone who hasn't agreed are out of view.

6. 06

   Battery and storage

   The camera has enough charge and space for the whole task.

Common mistakes

• Starting late or stopping early cuts off steps that matter as much as the middle. See what gets footage accepted.
• With the camera pointed at the horizon, your hands drop out of frame every time you look down at the work.
• Don't record a coworker who hasn't agreed. Ask first, or record when they're not around.
• Gameplay is set up differently from physical work: it captures your screen and inputs, and there's no camera on your head. See recording gameplay for AI.
• Not every AI job is recording. Labeling and rating are different work, and data collection vs annotation jobs compares them.

How TaskCapture handles recording

For physical work, TaskCapture collectors wear a small camera on a head strap or cap, hands free. You never pay for equipment: the project provides it, or the task needs no special equipment. Each project lists its requirements and equipment before you accept.

You need a signed release from every identifiable person and, in commercial settings, written permission from the owner or manager. Anyone under 18 may appear only with a parent's or guardian's release; without it, the footage is rejected and deleted. The project details tell you how to send your footage to us. The rules are set out in the Privacy Policy and the Data Collector Agreement, and the collector page explains pay and payout.

Questions