This article describes the viva interface, the Record Answer control that lets you answer in your own time, and what to do if something goes wrong during the session.
What you will see
Once the setup checks complete, the session opens with a short introduction and the first question. There is no countdown before the first question is asked.
The screen has four areas:
- The examiner. Speaks the questions and listens for your answer.
- Live captions. A real time transcript of the conversation. Captions can be hidden if you find them distracting.
- Your camera preview. A small video of yourself in the corner. Your camera feed is not recorded.
- The control bar. Microphone, camera, captions, help, and leave controls along the bottom of the screen.
Your submission is accessible throughout the session, alongside the conversation on a laptop or under the Reference tab on a phone. If your lecturer has attached a further document (a figure, a case study, a dataset), it appears in the same place.
Answering in your own time with Record Answer
The control bar has a Record Answer button. Use it whenever you want to think through your answer without being interrupted.
How it works:
- Select Record Answer before you begin speaking.
- The examiner waits while you talk. You can pause, restart sentences, and take as long as you need; there is no time limit while recording.
- When you have finished, select Send Answer to submit and continue the conversation.
There is no penalty for taking your time, and you decide when an answer is complete.
Speaking and being understood
The system assesses what you understand, not how confidently you speak. A few practical notes:
- Speak naturally. Pauses, "um", "so", and similar fillers are normal speech and are not penalised.
- If a question is unclear, you can ask for it to be rephrased. The examiner will restate it.
- If you do not know an answer, saying so is a valid response. You can also redirect to a related idea you do know.
- Follow up questions are an invitation to add detail, not a sign that the previous answer was wrong.
If something goes wrong
The platform is designed to handle short interruptions without ending the session.
- Brief network drops reconnect automatically after a few seconds.
- Microphone or camera issues can usually be resolved by toggling the device off and on from the control bar.
- A frozen screen clears with a browser refresh; you will return to the setup screen and can rejoin the session.
- A longer drop or crash ends the session. Once a viva has been started, it cannot be restarted from your dashboard. If a serious technical issue interrupts the session, please contact your lecturer with a short description of what happened so they can decide how to proceed.
- Mid session reports can be flagged through the Help menu on the control bar without leaving the session.
Short interruptions are logged but are not treated as misconduct. None of the situations above will automatically fail your viva.
Ending the session
The session ends when the examiner closes the conversation or when you select Leave on the control bar.
Once the session is over, Integrevise confirms that your responses have been submitted and sends a confirmation email. Your viva card on the dashboard updates to reflect the new status. Your result becomes visible later, after the AI processes the recording and your lecturer reviews the report.
Quick reference
- To answer in your own time: select Record Answer, then Send Answer when done.
- To ask for clarification: "Could you rephrase that, please?"
- To leave the session: use the control bar, then confirm.