Google Meet gains gesture recognition for hand-raising: Here’s what you need to know

Google has announced a new feature for its video communication service Google Meet. With this new feature, users can now raise their physical hand and Meet will recognise it with gesture detection. 

“Until now, raising your hand to ask a question in Google Meet is done by clicking the hand-raise icon. Starting today, you can also raise your physical hand and Meet will recognise it with gesture detection,” the tech giant announced in a Workspace Updates blogpost on November 21.

Also read: Google Meet mobile app now lets you make 1:1 video calls without prior meeting links: Check details 

To ensure the gesture is detected, make sure that the camera is enabled and your hand is visible to the camera, away from your face and body.

Also read: Google Meet gets these 3 updates for better user experience: Check out 

Gesture detection will be inactive while you’re speaking, but it will resume once you’re no longer the one speaking.

This feature will be OFF by default and can be turned on by selecting More options > Reactions > Hand Raise Gesture.

The new gesture detection feature is available for Google Workspace Business Plus, Business Standard, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Starter, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers, and Google Workspace Individual subscribers. It is currently rolling out.

In our opinion, the introduction of gesture-based hand-raising in Google Meet will offer several benefits. This feature will promote more natural and seamless communication during virtual meetings by allowing participants to use physical gestures.

For users who might find it challenging to use a mouse to click icons, this gesture-based system provides an alternative method to participate actively in discussions.

Recently, Google announced a feature for Google Meet that allows users to make cloud-encrypted 1:1 video calls without creating a prior meeting link. Within the call, you will have access to the latest Meet features including in-meeting chat, virtual backgrounds and visual effects, live closed captions, and more depending on your Workspace edition.