What do you want to know
- Google is said to be developing new in-app features to improve your video conferencing experience on Chromebooks.
- These features include background blur and other effects to improve lighting.
- Chrome OS could also benefit from a new feature that notifies you if your connection is unstable during a call.
Google appears to be working on new Chrome OS features intended to bolster the video conferencing experience on Chromebooks, starting with built-in video effects.
According to a potential feature flag (opens in a new tab) discovered in Chromium Gerrit by 9to5Google (opens in a new tab), the Chrome OS team is developing a background blur effect for Chromebooks. This feature is available on Apple macOS machines powered by Apple Silicon. Background blurring is also a popular feature of many of the best video conferencing software, such as Google Meet.
Adding these effects to Chromebooks as a built-in feature will dramatically improve the user experience on the platform, which has traditionally lagged Windows PCs and MacBooks in features. Background blur, in particular, is a useful tool to hide your messy room during video calls with your colleagues.
Also, it looks like background blur isn’t the only ability going. Another feature called “Portrait Relighting” might also be in the works. 9to5 notes that it’s similar to a feature found in the Google Camera app for Pixel phones. According to Google, Portrait Light “adds a simulated directional light source to portraits” to complement the lighting in the original photo.
Digging deeper into Chromium, Gerrit revealed another feature called “automatic framing,” which will presumably adjust your position relative to the camera frame. Chrome OS may also get a new feature that notifies you if your connection is unstable during a call.
With hybrid work environments still in place, Google’s move to improve the Chromebook’s video calling capabilities is a step in the right direction. However, the newly discovered features are in an early stage of development and are unlikely to be available on most top Chromebooks anytime soon.
The Chromebook Spin 714 has a bright, vibrant display for most situations, and the included USI stylus lets you take notes or doodle on the go. With 12th Gen Intel performance, the Spin 714 is more than capable of handling almost any task.