As online learning and exams become more common, ensuring exams remain fair and secure is crucial. To help with this, many schools and universities have started using AI proctoring systems to monitor students during online exams and prevent cheating. However, a growing challenge with wearable technology, such as smartwatches, fitness trackers, and even augmented reality (AR) glasses, has emerged. These devices can be used by students to cheat during exams, making it more difficult for AI proctors to maintain integrity.
In the future, AI proctoring systems may be able to detect and flag these devices, ensuring that online exams stay fair. This article will explore how wearable technology including AR glasses can be misused for cheating and how current AI proctoring system advancements like multi-camera systems or secondary camera proctoring could help solve this problem.
Wearable devices are becoming more integrated into our daily lives and slowly finding their way into education. Devices like smartwatches, fitness trackers, and AR glasses are useful for staying connected and tracking health, but they can also be misused during exams.
While these devices offer numerous benefits in everyday life, they provide students with an easy way to cheat during exams. Wearables are small and worn on the body, making it difficult for AI proctoring systems to detect them. As a result, students may use these devices to access information, communicate with others, or look at pre-loaded notes, all while appearing to follow the rules.
Here are a few ways that wearable technology, including AR glasses, can help students cheat during online exams:
Smartwatches and fitness trackers can receive messages or notifications, which students could use to get answers from others during an exam. Since wearables are worn on the body, like on the wrist, it’s challenging for AI systems to detect this communication, especially when the student is only glancing at their watch.
Many wearables can store information like notes or formulas. Students could glance at their smartwatches or AR glasses to access these notes during an exam. Since the wearables are typically small and inconspicuous, the AI might miss these actions, allowing students to cheat undetected.
Augmented reality (AR) glasses are particularly problematic in exams. These glasses can overlay digital content directly into the student's field of vision, meaning they can display answers, notes, or reminders. The student can access this information without ever needing to refer to physical notes or screens, and since the glasses appear similar to regular eyewear, they can go unnoticed by AI proctors monitoring the exam.
AI proctoring systems have made great strides in detecting cheating during online exams, but detecting wearable devices remains a significant challenge. Most proctoring systems rely on a single webcam or microphone to monitor the student, but this setup doesn’t always provide enough data to spot wearables. Here’s why:
AI proctoring systems are designed to monitor video and audio, focusing on the student’s face, voice, and screen. However, they don't usually track wrist movements or look for devices worn on the body. Since wearables like smartwatches are often worn on the wrist or hidden under clothing, AI systems can easily miss these signals.
There is a delicate balance between monitoring students to prevent cheating and respecting their privacy. In order to detect wearables, AI would need to monitor more specific body movements, like wrist gestures. But this raises privacy concerns, as students may feel uncomfortable being scrutinized so closely.
Monitoring wearable devices could mean collecting personal data, like health information or location data, which students might not want to share. While detecting wearables is important for ensuring exam integrity, collecting unnecessary personal information could be seen as unethical if it's not directly related to detecting cheating.
Although detecting wearables during online exams is tough right now, AI technology is improving rapidly. Here are some ways that AI systems could evolve to detect wearables more effectively:
In the future, AI proctoring systems could be trained to better detect wearables like smartwatches and AR glasses. AI could analyze video feeds for subtle movements or gestures associated with using wearables. By training the system to identify wrist movements or head gestures related to wearable use, AI could help catch students trying to cheat with devices.
One of the most promising solutions for detecting wearables is the use of secondary camera proctoring. By setting up additional cameras that focus on different areas of the student’s body, AI can track hand, wrist, and head movements in greater detail. For example, a camera directed at the student’s hands could spot suspicious wrist movements that indicate they’re checking a smartwatch or using another wearable device. This added layer of monitoring would provide AI with more data, improving its ability to spot cheaters.
AI proctoring systems could also scan for signals emitted by wearable devices, such as Bluetooth connections. Many wearables rely on bluetooth to communicate with other devices, and if a system detects an active connection, it could flag the student for further investigation. This would help identify wearables that might otherwise go undetected by just using video and audio monitoring.
As AI technology improves, it will be able to more effectively analyze student movements. For example, if a student’s wrist movements indicate they are checking a smartwatch or adjusting a hidden device, AI could flag this as suspicious behavior. These advancements in motion detection would help spot more subtle signs of cheating, which are often missed by current systems.
In the future, AI proctoring systems will likely be designed with privacy in mind. These systems would focus only on detecting cheating, ensuring that no unnecessary personal data is collected. By giving students transparency and control over their data, these systems could increase trust in the AI proctoring process while still preventing cheating.
Wearable technology, including AR glasses and smartwatches, presents significant challenges to the integrity of online exams. These devices provide students with discreet ways to access information and communicate with others, making it harder for current AI proctoring systems to detect cheating. However, as AI continues to evolve, future proctoring systems will be better equipped to catch these devices.
Alvy, AI proctoring agent, faces significant challenges posed by wearable technology such as AR glasses and smartwatches. These devices enable students to discreetly access information and communicate with others, complicating the ability of traditional proctoring systems to effectively detect cheating.
As AI technology advances, Alvy is set to improve its monitoring capabilities. By leveraging secondary camera proctoring systems, wearable detection algorithms and advanced motion analysis, Alvy will enhance its ability to ensure the integrity of online exams. These innovations will create a more robust proctoring environment, allowing students to trust that their assessments are conducted fairly and securely.