A ‘Look and Talk’ feature could be coming to the Google Nest Hub Max

A possible ‘Look and Talk’ feature has been discovered in the APKs for the Google app beta 13.14. The tool, found by 9to5Google, is expected to trigger Google Assistant when you look at the device. Currently, the assistant is only activated with voice commands or using a button on the Nest’s screen.

From the APKs, it looks like the tool could work when you are up to 5 ft (~1.5 m) away from the Nest device. The gadget’s camera detects whether you are looking at it to trigger the assistant. Google says that the video would be processed on the device and not shared to Google servers.

Face match and voice match technologies are also employed so that individual users can control whether or not they use the tool. The Nest Hub Max is currently the sole Nest device to feature a camera, so this would be the only product compatible with the feature.

The feature was first leaked in October 2020, then codenamed ‘Blue Steel’. 9to5Google speculated that the launch could happen soon because the tool was named in the APK files. However, it is unclear whether or when Google could roll out this potential feature to Nest Hub Max devices. This is the latest in a series of rumors around Google Nest Hub devices.

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