The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak is the greatest challenge we have faced since World War Two. But the pandemic is much more than a health crisis and has brought virtually nothing other than misery, pain, fear, and disruption. It is also an unprecedented socio-economic crisis.
The corporate offices are ramping up towards pre-quarantine routines. There is one major difference for many such offices is that the conference rooms are increasingly becoming virtual. Zoom is the most common tool which took an early lead for those virtual meetings and hangouts. Just prior to the pandemic measures more than half the companies listed on the Fortune 500 used Zoom and in early 2020, the numbers grew higher as 300 million meeting participants registered for the video service.
Google, the Zoom’s greatest competitor, said they making its teleconferencing service, called Google Meet, free to consumers. The move takes aim at Zoom. Google announced adding 3 million users of its teleconferencing tool Google Meet per day.
Google on Tuesday unveiled a video conference hardware suite that brings AI to the game and promises to make conducting virtual meetings practically effortless. The system gadgets, called Google Meet Series One is an all-in-one package that includes a smart high-resolution camera, an audio bar featuring eight built-in microphones, woofer and tweeter, and a sleek touch-screen controller that promises to make the familiar messy clump of cable connections obsolete.
Users can choose between two smart cameras, both cameras offer 4k resolution. One having a 20.3-megapixel lens and 4.3x optical zoom, and a simpler one for smaller meetings with the 12-megapixel lens. A one-touch button option allows users to fill their frame with a single speaker and the camera automatically zooms out when additional people are seated.
The cameras recognize the number of people in a room based on physical bodies, other attributes, and sound. It can monitor attendance, with artificial intelligence software, it can automatically pan and around the room and focus on people who are speaking and if needed it will help monitor room utilization and maintain safety protocols.
According to Google, with AI which helps to keep voices crisp and clear. Google boasts that its AI software, employing 44 simultaneous sound channels, common distractions such as typing, the crackling of snack wraps, barking animals and hiccups, coughs, and other bodily sounds should be eliminated or greatly reduced.
The Google Meet Series One systems are not yet available and they will be on the market “soon”, says Google.
