Google LLC said today it’s revamping its Google Meet video calling service as part of an effort to make online meetings more immersive and engaging.

Introducing the new updates via a blog post, Dave Citron, Google Meet’s director of product management, noted that virtual meetings have over the last year played more than just a crucial role in helping distributed workforces communicate and collaborate.

Citron said platforms like Google Meet have effectively become the “glue that holds the work day together” for countless teams and organizations that are now working from home. And with many companies set to adopt a hybrid work model once the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, there’s a greater need than ever to ensure that virtual meetings are more immersive, with a people-first approach.

“In a world of hybrid work, meetings aren’t just virtual or physical,” Citron said. “They’re often a combination of the two as people connect from remote and in-person locations. So the concept of collaboration equity — the ability for everyone to contribute regardless of location, role, experience level, language and device preference — is especially important.”

To that end, Google Meet is getting a refreshed user interface (pictured) with what Citron says is enhanced reliability features powered by artificial intelligence, together with a range of new tools to make meetings more engaging and fun.

The new Meet UI will roll out starting next month will offer a new viewing and presenting experience with a redesigned bottom bar. For example, users will be able to choose how they view themselves in meetings. They can choose to have their video feed appear as a tile in the grid, or as a floating picture that can be resized and repositioned anywhere on the screen, for example.

Users can choose not to see themselves at all by minimizing their own feed to hide it away. There will also be a new setting that enables people to turn off their own video feed from all calls.

Google has also improved the way that content is pinned and unpinned, Citron said. “When unpinned, the presentation tile becomes the same size as other participant tiles, allowing you to see more people on the call and better gauge reactions,” he explained.

The Google Meet UI will get more customization options in the coming months too, he said. For example, Google is working on a feature that will make it possible to pin multiple video feeds, offering greater flexibility in how users can combine the people and content they see on screen.

As for the bottom bar, the changes there are all about easier navigation. All Meet controls have been consolidated into the bottom bar, including dial-in codes, attachments, participants’ list, chats and other activities.

“The bottom bar is always visible so you’ll never have to miss out on captions or guess whether you’re on mute,” Citron said. “We’ve also moved the leave call button away from the camera and microphone buttons to prevent accidental hang-ups.”

Other innovations being launched this month include a new data saver feature that limits data usage on mobile networks, so users can save on data costs. Citron said that was a requested feature from users in countries where data costs can be high, such as Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia.

On the experience side, Google Meet has added the ability for users’ cameras to detect when they appear to be underexposed or overexposed when the background is too bright or too dark. The user’s visibility will then automatically be improved to compensate for this. “Light adjustment on the web will be rolling out to Meet users everywhere in the coming weeks,” Citron said.

The new Autozoom feature, meanwhile, relies on AI to zoom in and position the user squarely in front of the camera, and should they move, it will intelligently readjust so the camera remains focused on them. Autozoom, which will launch in the coming months, will only be available for paid Google Workspace subscribers, however.

Finally, Citron said Google Meet is adding a new feature that’s more about fun than anything else. Soon, Meet users will have the ability to replace their static background with a video instead, if they so desire.

“Video background replacement can help you maintain privacy for what’s behind you while also making your video calls more fun,” he explained. “There will initially be three options to choose from: a classroom, a party, and a forest, with more on the way soon.”

Analyst Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. said the battle of collaboration tools is in full swing as the world enters its second year of lockdown.

“Google is making Google Meet easier to use and improving productivity, though we should note that while some of the new features are quite innovative, others are just catching up with its competitors,” he said. “The reality is that most enterprises will just stick with whatever tool they’re currently using, so long as those tools’ capabilities progress. That’s what we’re seeing from Google today.”

Google Meet has benefited from a steady stream of updates aimed at making the platform more reliable and inclusive. In November, Google introduced a feature called “breakout rooms” designed to help teachers create dedicated spaces where they can host more focused discussions and track their students’ engagement with attendance reports. The following month it added support for live captions in new languages, including French, German, Portuguese and Spanish.

Images: Google