# Turn Any Camera Into a Motion Detector in Three Config Fields

Here's how to go from webcam to live cloud-connected motion detection in under five minutes.

## What you'll build

A live motion detection feed powered by a webcam and the Viam motion-detector module. You'll see bounding boxes appear around anything that moves in the camera's field of view, with a confidence percentage showing how much of the frame is in motion.

## What you'll need

- A machine running viam-server with a USB webcam or built-in camera attached
- A free [Viam account](https://app.viam.com/)

If your machine isn't set up yet, follow the [Viam setup guide](https://docs.viam.com/operate/install/setup/) to get viam-server installed and your machine showing as **Live** in the app.

## Before you begin: Add a camera

The motion-detector module needs a camera to watch. If you haven't configured one yet, add a webcam to your machine first:

1. In your machine's **CONFIGURE** tab, click **+** and select **Configuration block**.
2. Search for webcam and select the **webcam** component (built into RDK — no extra module required).
3. Give it a name (e.g., webcam) and click **Add component**.
4. Click **Save**. Click the **TEST** tab to confirm you're getting a live feed before continuing.

Note the name you gave your camera — you'll need it in Step 2.

## Step 1: Add the motion-detector module from the Viam Registry

With your camera live, it’s time to add the motion detection module to the machine.

1. Click **+** and select **Configuration block**.
2. In the Registry search bar, type motion. Select **motion-detector/motion-detector** (the vision service listed as type **VISION**, authored by viam).
3. Give your service a name (e.g., motion-detection-service) and click **Add component**. The supporting module installs automatically.
4. Click **Save**.

## Step 2: Configure the module

After adding the service, you'll land on its configuration panel. Fill in the JSON attributes:

```json
{
  "camera_name": "webcam",
  "sensitivity": 0.9,
  "min_box_size": 2000
}
```

- **camera_name**: (required) the name of the camera component you configured earlier (e.g., webcam).
- **sensitivity**: (optional) a value from 0 to 1. Higher values make the detector more sensitive to subtle movement. 0.9 is a good starting point.
- **min_box_size**: (optional) the minimum size (in square pixels) of a bounding box to report. Filters out tiny, insignificant movements. 2000 works well for most setups.

Click **Save**.

## Step 3: Start detecting motion

Navigate to the **CONTROL** tab and find your motion-detection-service. Expand the **TEST** section.

- Set **Camera** to your webcam.
- Set the dropdown under **Detections/Classifications** to **Live**.

Move something in front of the camera. A red bounding box will appear around the moving area, labeled motion.

## What's next?

- **Trigger alerts** — use [Event Manager](https://app.viam.com/module/viam/event-manager) to send a notification whenever motion is detected.
- **Capture data** — use Viam's [data management](https://docs.viam.com/data-ai/capture-data/capture-sync/) to log detections or save images when motion occurs.
- **Build a security camera** — combine motion detection with data capture and triggers to build a full home monitoring system.

Start building at [app.viam.com](https://app.viam.com/).