An electronic device is provided that includes at least one image sensor for acquiring a video feed and one or more displays for presenting a passthrough video feed to a user. The electronic device can include a hierarchical failure detection scheme for detecting critical failures on the device. The hierarchical failure detection scheme may include monitoring a condition of a first subsystem with a second subsystem, monitoring a condition of the second subsystem with a third subsystem, monitoring a condition of the third subsystem with a fourth subsystem, and so on. The displays can operate in a first video passthrough mode or a second video passthrough mode based on the condition of the first subsystem as monitored by the second subsystem, the condition of the second subsystem as monitored by the third subsystem, and/or the condition of the third subsystem as monitored by the fourth subsystem.