Google Meet is getting new video filters, effects, and augmented reality masks for personal calls on iOS and Android, the search giant has announced. They’re available via the sparkle icon at the bottom right of your video feed during a call, which brings up a carousel of different effects that include color filters and animated AR face effects. Most of the options are only available for personal Gmail accounts, while Workspace users have to keep things more professional with a limited selection of blurring and virtual background options.
The new video effects are the latest example of Meet’s shift from targeting enterprise and business users, to targeting consumers more generally after Google released Meet free to personal Google accounts last year. The filters are very similar to what’s already been available for Google’s consumer-focused Duo video chat service, and 9to5Google has previously reported that the company plans to eventually replace Duo with Meet.
If trying to make sense of all of Google’s messaging products is making your head hurt then don’t worry, you’re not alone. Thankfully, we might soon have one less Google service to keep track of.
www.theverge.com
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