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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

#101

Post by cameldrv »

jtokoph wrote: post #3

The example video clips in the post look nothing like me and my team's view when using the new feature. Most of the time half of our hair gets blurred or replaced and hand gestures will cause either our hands or head to disappear.

They have their example video clips, but they also provide data. They say that in their better model, They get an IoU of 93.8% This means 6.2% of pixels are misclassified. Either it's your hair getting cut off or the background is leaking through. 6.2% of an image is a fair bit considering your head is probably 30% of the frame.

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

#102

Post by izacus »

mr_mitm wrote: post #98
izacus wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the main benefit is not having to install a desktop app of questionable quality just to make a call.

You can use Zoom in the browser. They "just" discourage it by using a dark pattern. The link for the web client is small and gray and the browser tries to open the desktop app automatically. You can also join by phone, at least in some circumstances.

Yeah, which makes it a pretty annoying barrier if you want to make an ad-hoc call to someone. Sending a Meet link is more convenient. Plus, Zoom is pretty crippled on the web in the feature department.

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

#104

Post by adwww »

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.

As a developer I'm a huge fan of Google Cloud. But I'd actually think really hard about chosing them if I started by own business, as the customer service is both expensive and woeful.

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

#105

Post by Angostura »

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.

MS Teams has finally changed this on their video calls. Ah the hours I spent telling colleagues 'If you move your mouse around, you should see a black bar appear somewhere near the middle llof the screen'.

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

#106

Post by gogopuppygogo »

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.

Zoom has the same issue.

I bought an external microphone for my laptop with a hardware mute button.

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

#107

Post by gerbler »

mike_kamau wrote: post #99

Why are people replacing their backgrounds? I thought the whole point of having a video call is to see who you are talking to, and their environment to further enhance the effectiveness of the conversation. If you are in your kitchen, or under a tree, I definitely would like to see that because that environment will have an effect on how we communicate.

Sometimes people may not be comfortable sharing their backgrounds, and may not have convenient alternatives. For example, if you have a bed in the background it can be awkward and you might want to blur that out.

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

#108

Post by JumpCrisscross »

systemvoltage wrote: post #44
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.

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…

> in the name of minimalism

Ironically forgetting that visual minimalism produced by hiding things isn’t really minimalism.

It would be like me throwing all my things in the garage and advertising my house as Spartan. No, it’s not, it’s a mess. The mess is just hidden until I need to do something.

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

#109

Post by adwww »

mike_kamau wrote: post #99

Why are people replacing their backgrounds? I thought the whole point of having a video call is to see who you are talking to, and their environment to further enhance the effectiveness of the conversation. If you are in your kitchen, or under a tree, I definitely would like to see that because that environment will have an effect on how we communicate.

I don't bother, but then I live in my own home and my background is an empty study.

I have coworkers who are in house shares with 5 other adults all trying to work from home around tiny desks. Background blur for them is a nice way to hide some of the chaos of their living arrangements.

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