Video conferencing is at an all-time high, thanks to lockdowns imposed globally and the highly interconnected times we live in. And while the initial Zoom craze settles down, employees and companies are now looking for safer alternatives. And looks like Google is stepping up its game now, with a major revamp of its ‘Meet’ video conferencing platform rolling out to users today.
While the all new layout is the first thing that you’d notice, there are a host of new additions as well. Meet now gives you the ability to present a single chrome tab, instead of a specific window or your entire screen. Will be much helpful now in case you are looking to present impromptu and don’t want private stuff to show up instead. However, the company’s excellence shines in the low-light mode that it has introduced with this new update. Google Meet will use AI to brighten up the video, in case you have a lot of meetings at night. The low light feature will first make its way to mobile and then to web users, an anomaly to Google’s usual routine.
Additionally, Google is introducing an all-new noise cancellation feature in Meet. Now generally, noise cancellation works wherein you have certain continuous noise producing stuff in your background (like a fan noise, an airplane engine etc.). But with Meet, the platform’s AI algorithm will try to cancel random, impromptu noises as well. How cool that could be! Random noises like some construction stuff going behind you, or some angry yelling, all of that could be avoided. And since its AI-powered, it will learn as it goes.
In terms of security, considering how all the Zoom incidents have made it a prime concern, Google has talked about Meet’s privacy features separately. Meet uses the same protections that Google uses to secure user data and safeguard privacy. Meet’s anti-abuse features are turned on by default and all video meetings are encrypted in transit by default.
It is also worth noting that Google is now offering a chance for 16 people to engage in a single video conference, scaling it up from the earlier number of 4. The company also expects to add ways to offer additional layouts for larger meetings and better presentation layouts in the future.
