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Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

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Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#161

Post by spiderfarmer »

atoav wrote: post #66
systemvoltage wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this sort of a Fizz Buzz for a UX/UI design professional? I don't mean to demean anyone, but I see this sort of a thing literally everywhere. Hiding important and absolutely crucial information (that can make or break your product) in the name of minimalism. Coming out of a company that has one of the highest hiring bars for software engineering, and yet, their products have such an awful UX/UI. This isn't an e…

I worked as a freelance graphic artist/web designer once and while I wasn't bad at the job, I really hated one aspect of it: Everybody and their kid thought they knew better than I did. When I said: "Yeah but this should really be visible, because accessibility", they would say: " But it looks better if..." People in high paid position certainly want "has taste" and "knows what looks good" to be part of their self im…

I gave up working for clients as a whole. I don't have a problem with feedback, but I hate people dismissing the expertise they hired me to provide.

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#162

Post by skj »

adwww wrote: post #134
mhh__ wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That and it's google, will [insert service here] exist in 10 years time?

That's very true. Although so far no GCP services that I've come across have been deprecated.

https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/deprecations

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#163

Post by rwc »

mhh__ wrote: post #86
systemvoltage wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this sort of a Fizz Buzz for a UX/UI design professional? I don't mean to demean anyone, but I see this sort of a thing literally everywhere. Hiding important and absolutely crucial information (that can make or break your product) in the name of minimalism. Coming out of a company that has one of the highest hiring bars for software engineering, and yet, their products have such an awful UX/UI. This isn't an e…

From their UI to their branding to their customer services (For cloud at least), google really does seem a bit autistic as a company.

Autistic?

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#164

Post by himinlomax »

neilpanchal wrote: post #32

Aside: Imagine you’re driving down the road and you need to make a right turn. Well, for some reason the steering wheel is stowed away and disappeared! You need to hover your hand around the center console in a specific area to be able to expose it. Out comes the steering wheel and now you can make a right turn. Google UX/UI team: Please fucking make the mute/unmute button visible at all times.

While you're at it, always display a vu-meter. It gives feedback on what is transmitted and thus can alert a user whether they are being heard or not. It's the most basic of sound recording tools, and was a standard part of recording equipment for over half a century for good reason.

And if you need minimalism, offer a toggle for that. But I think most people should have it forced on them, would save anyone a lot of trouble -- just think about all the aggregate time lost talking into a muted mike by all users.

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#166

Post by callmeal »

kenhwang wrote: post #27
dharma1 wrote: post #15

Sony released some software a couple of months ago that lets you use most of their DSLRs as webcams with USB. My goodness, paired with a fast lens, what a difference to my MacBook webcam, even with these ml blurred backgrounds! It's only 720p and around 15fps but real shallow dof, very little sensor noise, autofocus works. Well worth trying if you have a Sony camera from the last few years. Sensor size and good optic…

Canon did too! Definitely a huge upgrade over a typical webcam. I'm using my old T1i which can be had for less than $50 these days, plus you can pick up a 18-55mm kit lens for like $20 and the video quality blows away any webcam, especially for the same price. Also recommend battery->power adapter.

The T1i is not listed on their compatibility page. Which version of the utility did you get for it?

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#167

Post by odiroot »

askvictor wrote: post #38
neilpanchal wrote: post #32

Aside: Imagine you’re driving down the road and you need to make a right turn. Well, for some reason the steering wheel is stowed away and disappeared! You need to hover your hand around the center console in a specific area to be able to expose it. Out comes the steering wheel and now you can make a right turn. Google UX/UI team: Please fucking make the mute/unmute button visible at all times.

More important than the button is the status indicator - I need to know if the call is muted or not. Even better, promote it to an OS-level icon/badge/overlay. If my mic is actively in use, please make it blindingly obvious.

I already have it on my Thinkpad with KDE Plasma.

Physical button to block the microphone, LED on the button itself and a tray icon with the microphone status displayed.

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#168

Post by tjpnz »

neilpanchal wrote: post #32

Aside: Imagine you’re driving down the road and you need to make a right turn. Well, for some reason the steering wheel is stowed away and disappeared! You need to hover your hand around the center console in a specific area to be able to expose it. Out comes the steering wheel and now you can make a right turn. Google UX/UI team: Please fucking make the mute/unmute button visible at all times.

Speaking of mute/unmute I've not yet found a way to get Google Hangouts (same thing as Meet?) to play nice in situations where simultaneous interpretation is involved. Our company works in Japanese and English and we typically have a second meeting running in parallel for interpretation. This setup almost works, I say almost because I've yet to find a way of muting the audio in one meeting so I can properly listen to the other. I can't leave the first meeting either because often I'll also want to see the presentation slides. Currently I'm working around this by muting my MacBook and joining the second meeting on my phone.

Perhaps I'm missing something obvious (or a Chrome plugin that will allow me to mute based on the page URL rather than site). In the unlikely event that a Googler is reading this I'm not asking for yet another product or complicated new piece of functionality aimed at this specific use case. Just a mute button for audio. Thanks!

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#169

Post by Orphis »

tester34 wrote: post #158
neilpanchal wrote: post #32

Aside: Imagine you’re driving down the road and you need to make a right turn. Well, for some reason the steering wheel is stowed away and disappeared! You need to hover your hand around the center console in a specific area to be able to expose it. Out comes the steering wheel and now you can make a right turn. Google UX/UI team: Please fucking make the mute/unmute button visible at all times.

The only software that gets vide-co right is probably Discord I used MS Teams and zoom and both are decent (ms teams works fine for school) but it's insanely unbelievable that this kind of software lacks of features that gaming communities had probably 20 years ago PUSH TO TALK is probably one of the most important features of any voice software. The lack of it is big WTF. It gives you 100% control over when you're t…

For push to talk to work, you need to have access to keys even when you're not in focus.

That's not something doable today on the web for obvious security reasons, but it's possible for Discord that has a separate app, would be doable for Zoom too I guess.

Re: Background Features in Google Meet, Powered by Web ML

#170

Post by lima »

tjpnz wrote: post #168
neilpanchal wrote: post #32

Aside: Imagine you’re driving down the road and you need to make a right turn. Well, for some reason the steering wheel is stowed away and disappeared! You need to hover your hand around the center console in a specific area to be able to expose it. Out comes the steering wheel and now you can make a right turn. Google UX/UI team: Please fucking make the mute/unmute button visible at all times.

Speaking of mute/unmute I've not yet found a way to get Google Hangouts (same thing as Meet?) to play nice in situations where simultaneous interpretation is involved. Our company works in Japanese and English and we typically have a second meeting running in parallel for interpretation. This setup almost works, I say almost because I've yet to find a way of muting the audio in one meeting so I can properly listen to…

> Google Hangouts (same thing as Meet?)

No, vastly different products. Hangouts is the legacy thing and never worked quite right for me. Meet is much better.

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