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Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

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Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#61

Post by amarant »

roryisok wrote: post #39
helloworld wrote: post #12

Sounds like Duo has a simple user experience, which is great. But it doesn't solve the eye-contact problem with video calls today. When you look at the person on the screen whom you're talking to, that person sees you looking away, because you're not looking into the camera, which is somewhere on the edge of the screen. So you don't make eye contact with the person you're talking to. And for me, that makes video call…

Can't they just put a camera behind the screen? Been waiting for this for over a decade

Most phones have cameras behind their screens, good for taking close-ups of your index finger

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#63

Post by jalami »

limeyy wrote: post #58

Ok, just a FaceTime clone. When Apple added it to iOS it seemed redudant initially (because of Skype etc), but now everyone is using it all the time, because it's phone number based: It's a success. So the real question is, if they wanted to make this, what the hell took them so long? It really smells like a mistake, and catch-up, almost pitiful at this point.

I agree, they're really late to the game. It seems like a slam dunk business-wise as they can get the android and IOS market on the same app and cultivate a household name.

They would have been better doing so before the E2E craze went mainstream-ish, again from a business perspective. Now they can still leverage meta data, but it's not a juicy and lucrative as say, reading everyone's emails.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#64

Post by roryisok »

wlievens wrote: post #49
roryisok wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't they just put a camera behind the screen? Been waiting for this for over a decade

The screen would be in the way?

Yes, but there must be some way to make the pixels translucent enough to work

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#66

Post by ProxCoques »

Video calling is a great example of something you don't need, but because you can do it, you do it. It's also impossible to refuse a video call for fear of being seen as secretive or worse when in fact you just don't care to look up somebody's nose when you talk to them.

I also wonder if it's mainly nerds who care about video calling because it speaks to their otherwise rather broken social skills. "Normal people look at each other when talking, right? Look! Using this heap of high tech makes me a normal person!"

Meanwhile, I note that amongst actual normal people, interest in video calling is low because they see it for what it is: a poor substitute for the real thing. Just as no normal person is into cyber dildonics.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#67

Post by natrius »

roryisok wrote: post #39
helloworld wrote: post #12

Sounds like Duo has a simple user experience, which is great. But it doesn't solve the eye-contact problem with video calls today. When you look at the person on the screen whom you're talking to, that person sees you looking away, because you're not looking into the camera, which is somewhere on the edge of the screen. So you don't make eye contact with the person you're talking to. And for me, that makes video call…

Can't they just put a camera behind the screen? Been waiting for this for over a decade

Now that people are coming up with ways to put people's real facial expressions in VR, most video calls are probably going to be replaced with avatars generated from your face that use your facial expressions captured by the front-facing camera.

https://vimeo.com/156034648

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#68

Post by cloudjacker »

ProxCoques wrote: post #66

Video calling is a great example of something you don't need, but because you can do it, you do it. It's also impossible to refuse a video call for fear of being seen as secretive or worse when in fact you just don't care to look up somebody's nose when you talk to them. I also wonder if it's mainly nerds who care about video calling because it speaks to their otherwise rather broken social skills. "Normal people loo…

Girls refuse video calls all the time because their hair isn't ready

Your premise is invalied

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#69

Post by JoshTriplett »

darklajid wrote: post #37
karma_vaccum123 wrote: post #20

I know these will be preinstalled on Android, but many friends and family use iOS and I will feel silly asking them to install Duo and Allo. Hangouts is able to mix voice, video and text just fine. Why start requiring separate apps? This is Google at its dumbest. They are squandering the small amount of momentum Hangouts has.

Ignoring that I probably won't use this (no fan of of that company), if it doesn't require a weird setup it might be more accessible than Hangouts. At least last time I checked Hangouts required you to join G+ first? Is that still the case?

No, Hangouts doesn't require G+. You can use it via Android or https://hangouts.google.com/ without joining G+.

Re: Google Duo, a simple 1-to-1 video calling app

#70

Post by JumpCrisscross »

ProxCoques wrote: post #66

Video calling is a great example of something you don't need, but because you can do it, you do it. It's also impossible to refuse a video call for fear of being seen as secretive or worse when in fact you just don't care to look up somebody's nose when you talk to them. I also wonder if it's mainly nerds who care about video calling because it speaks to their otherwise rather broken social skills. "Normal people loo…

> It's also impossible to refuse a video call

My camera never works. I've never had anyone lash back against this.

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