Google has come up with a new way to get the attention of the Google Assistant. Nest Hub Max smart display users can simply look at their smart display and start talking. The smart algorithms recognize that you are talking to the Nest Hub Max.
Look and talk to the Assistant
Do you sometimes find it annoying that you always have to call Google by its name before your smart home device starts listening to your question? Google is now going to make the ‘Hey Google’ hotword obsolete for smart screens that come with a camera. The function is called ‘Look and talk’ and it will soon work on the Nest Hub Max.
The function has previously been discovered in the code of the Google app, 9To5Google knows. Your Nest Hub Max will work with Look and talk as soon as you are within a meter and a half of the smart display and then start talking. Behind the scenes, the device uses Voice Match and Face Match to make sure you do expect an answer from Google and not, for example, from your friend across the room. The feature is optional and you can also disable it at any time in the Google Assistant settings.
Google understands you better
Furthermore, Google Assistant will also understand you better when you talk. With a longer message, we as people automatically use “uh”, for example when you think for a while. Such intermediate words could confuse the Assistant, but Google will now recognize such words and automatically ignore them. It is not clear whether this will immediately work with the Dutch Assistant or only with the English-speaking one.
Look and talk currently only works on the Nest Hub Max, but it seems logical that the feature will also work on Google’s upcoming Nest Hub with detachable screen later this year . It should work like a kind of tablet and may also come with a selfie camera. You can read all about the announcements during Google I/O 2022 here.