Microsoft Teams will receive a set of visual effects and filters to improve conversations. The latest version of the app features animated frames and options to change video colors, as well as tools to blur the background or smoothen broadcasting.
The idea is to allow for adjustments if you’re in a low-light or unevenly lit environment. Filters make it possible to draw more attention to your camera with visual effects that range from animated frames to patterns that change the color of your video.
Also, if the background is too messy, you can apply blur to hide the mess. If you prefer, you can still use the backgrounds to erase everything behind the chair. These features use artificial intelligence that is able to smooth the appearance of streaming video and fine-tune background images.
Those who prefer and have an affinity will still be able to develop their own custom filters. So you can set the desired tone for your webcam during meetings, leaving everything saved beforehand. For companies, it is possible to create filters and make them available to employees to make meetings more standardized.
The new filters were already tested with select users in January, but are now starting to come to everyone soon. If you use Teams at work, your network administrator will need to authorize the implementation of the feature. The feature will also only be supported on the desktop app, with no mobile support.
Avatar support
The app is also expected to soon receive support for FaceTime Memoji-style avatars. The idea is to allow people to replace their faces with animated characters who repeat their facial expressions. It doesn’t seem very useful for corporate meetings, but it could be interesting for those who use Teams with friends.
About this novelty, there is not even a test open to the public, since everything is in the development stage. The launch prediction is May 2023, so there’s still a few more months of tweaks to come.
Teams has had a large number of users since 2020, when many companies have moved from face-to-face meetings to remote chats. Since then, Microsoft has invested heavily in creating features that put its messenger ahead of competitors Zoom and Google Meet.
Recently, Gigante do Software added ChatGPT support to their Teams Premium plan. A premium service should offer AI-generated tasks such as real-time translated captions, automatic meeting minutes, recommended tasks, and custom features.
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