About Webcam Object Detection
This webcam object detection page runs the COCO-SSD model on your camera feed and draws labelled boxes over the live video. It is free, needs no sign-up and runs in your browser, so nothing you enter is uploaded.
Download the lite model (about 18 MB), press Start camera and allow camera access when your browser asks. On a phone, the page asks for the rear camera, and on a laptop it uses the camera the browser gives it. Video and boxes are drawn straight to a canvas in an animation loop, and detection runs in the background on your device, up to 100 boxes per frame. The Minimum score slider and the box limit change what is drawn while it runs. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere.
The picture stays smooth because drawing and detecting are separate: the video is drawn on every frame, and the boxes update each time the model finishes a pass, so on a slow device the boxes lag behind fast movement. The text summary under the picture updates about four times a second. Camera access needs a secure page and a camera that no other app is using. Press Stop camera to end the stream, which also happens when you switch to Image mode or leave the page. Live mode does not track objects from frame to frame and has no download button. Use Image mode if you want to save a result.
How to use Webcam Object Detection
- Choose Image or Webcam, then choose a model. The size of each is shown.
- The small model loads by itself when the page opens, unless Data Saver is on; for the larger one press Download model and confirm. The card says when you can start.
- For an image, drop a picture on the box, tap it to choose one, paste one with Ctrl or Cmd + V, or press Take a photo on a phone.
- For the webcam, press Start camera and allow camera access in your browser.
- Read the boxes on the picture and the text list of detections below it, which gives each label, score and box in pixels.
- Move the Minimum score slider (5% to 95%) or change the box limit (1 to 100) to show fewer or more boxes without detecting again.
- For an image, press Download PNG to save the annotated picture at full resolution.
Features
- Detects 80 COCO object classes with a bounding box, a label and a score for each.
- Two models to choose from: Lite (fast) (about 18 MB, faster) and Accurate (about 67 MB, more accurate), with the download size shown first.
- Detects on the full-resolution image or on a copy up to 2048 px, with the boxes scaled back to the original.
- Image input by drop, file choice, paste or the phone camera.
- Webcam mode that draws video and boxes straight to the canvas in an animation loop, so the page is not re-rendered for every frame. Its text summary updates about four times a second.
- A minimum score slider and a limit on the number of boxes, applied instantly to results that are already found.
- A text list of every detection for screen readers, and a description on the canvas itself.
- Download of the annotated image as a PNG at the full size of the original.
- A built-in list of the 80 detectable objects.
- The camera stops when you press Stop camera, switch to Image mode or leave the page.
Worked examples
Your desk in front of the camera, with a laptop, a cup and a phone gives Live boxes such as laptop 90%, cup 82% and cell phone 77%, updating as you move things. The summary reads 1 laptop, 1 cup, 1 cell phone.
Illustrative output. Scores vary with lighting and angle.
Good to know
About the model download
Your images and camera frames are never uploaded. The pretrained detection model, however, is downloaded from Google model hosting, the lite model in the background when the page opens and the accurate one when you press Download model (about 18 MB for the lite model, about 67 MB for the accurate one), so it needs an internet connection to load and is not an offline tool. After it has loaded, detection runs on your device.
Privacy: how it works
- Images and webcam frames are processed in your browser and are never uploaded to Ulkaa or to anyone else. The camera stream is not recorded or stored.
- One download is needed: the pretrained COCO-SSD weights come from Google model hosting after you press Download model (about 18 MB or 67 MB). That request does not include your images. The TensorFlow.js code and the COCO-SSD code are part of this site.
Tips
- Use a clear, well-lit picture where the object takes up a good part of the frame. Small or blurry objects are often missed.
- If you see wrong labels, raise the minimum score. If objects are missing, lower it, but expect more false boxes.
- Try the accurate model if the lite one misses small objects. It takes longer to download and to run.
- In webcam mode, allow camera access when your browser asks. Camera access needs a secure (https) page.
- Stop the camera when you are finished. Detection runs continuously while it is on, which uses processor power and battery.
- On a phone, Take a photo opens the rear camera. To pick from your gallery, tap the drop box instead.
Frequently asked questions
Is it really free?
Yes. There is no price, no trial and no credit card. Ulkaa Tool does the work with your own device, so there is no server bill to pass on to you.
Do I need an account?
No. There is no sign-up and no login. Open the page and use it. An Ulkaa account is not needed for anything on this tool.
Does it run in my browser?
Yes. Your images are processed by code running in your browser tab, on your own device.
Is my data uploaded?
No. Your images are never sent to Ulkaa or to anyone else. You can check this yourself by watching the Network tab in your browser developer tools while you use the tool.
Does the webcam video get uploaded or recorded?
No. Frames are processed in your browser and drawn on a canvas. Nothing is saved or sent. The only download is the detection model, from Google model hosting.
Why does the camera not start?
The most common causes are a denied camera permission, another app using the camera, or a page that is not secure. Check the permission icon in the address bar and close other apps that use the camera.
Why do the boxes lag behind the video?
The video is drawn on every frame, but the boxes update only when the model finishes a pass. Older or busy devices take longer per pass. The lite model is faster, and closing other tabs helps.
More Online Object Detector pages
- Online Object DetectorDetect and label everyday objects in a photo or your webcam with the COCO-SSD model, running in your browser.
- Image Object Detection OnlineFind and label the objects in a photo you choose, paste or take.
- COCO-SSD Object Detection DemoRun the COCO-SSD model on an image of your own.