Aspects of the present invention provide an approach for controlling an operation of a video capture device (e.g., in a cognitive robotic device). In an embodiment, a set of conditions is obtained using a cognitive computer system. Each of the obtained conditions includes a specific individual and a potential action that may be performed by the individual. The cognitive computer system analyzes video being captured by the video capture device to determine whether the video satisfies any of the set of conditions (e.g., the individual in the video is performing the action). If the cognitive computer system determines that one of the set of conditions has been satisfied, the operation of the video capture device (e.g., capture rate of the video) is modified to account for the satisfied condition.