microsoft: Microsoft to bring new features to Windows for making video calls better – Times of India

Microsoft is aiming to make the video calling experience more engaging and collaborative on Windows 11 operating system. According to XDA Developers, the tech giant is now set to introduce new AI-powered video effects for video calls on its latest OS. These effects will be available on devices that come with NPUs or Neural Processing Units and they include — eye contact, voice focus and more. It means devices that are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors — like the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s which is expected to feature the upcoming Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 processor — will be the first ones to get these AI effects.
However, AI-powered video effects are not a new thing. Especially, the eye contact feature started rolling out to users in 2020. This feature has an effect that makes it look like the user is looking directly at the camera all the time, even if they’re looking down to read something. The eye contact feature was first introduced by Microsoft in 2019, along with the Surface Pro X, which was also powered by a Snapdragon chipset.
The tech giant is now planning to increase the scope of these AI features. Apart from the eye contact feature, another new feature dubbed the automatic framing feature will also be available to the users. This feature will allow users’ PC cameras to follow them as they move around for them to remain visible to others. Additionally, Microsoft is also adding a soft blur effect that will create a natural bokeh effect for the user’s background during a video call.
For audio, the company has a new voice focus feature that is likely to cancel background noise for users for others to listen to them more clearly during calls. Microsoft has also said there’s “much more” coming for video calls but didn’t share any other details regarding the features that will be introduced.
The company claims that users won’t have to worry about these features being supported by specific apps as they are built directly into Windows 11. Users also don’t have to manually set these features whenever they use a new app and they are expected to work with any software that supports video calls. These features won’t even affect the overall performance of other components like the CPU or GPU as they’re powered by dedicated NPUs.
Other OEMs like HP have also implemented some of these smart features. The company is also planning to include features like auto framing and other improvements in the laptops that will be released in 2022. Manufacturers won’t need to develop their tech if these features are already embedded in Windows 11.
There is no available information about these video effects being implemented on Intel or AMD-powered Windows 11 devices. The company hasn’t even announced the official date of these features’ arrival on Snapdragon-powered devices as well.