Leak: Google Pixel Tablet gets innovative “Look and Talk” feature and touchless gesture control

9to5Google has found clues about two new features for the Pixel Tablet (just under US$500 on Amazon) in the code of the Google app in the new version 14.43, both of which are already known from the Nest Hub Max. First and foremost, Google is developing a “Look and Talk” functionality for the Pixel Tablet, which would allow users to activate the tablet's voice assistant by simply speaking in the direction of the Pixel Tablet.

This would eliminate the need to say “Hey Google" and should work from a distance of around one and a half meters, and at different angles, so that the functionality can also be used by children. A message stored in the app's code indicates that videos are processed directly on the Pixel Tablet and are not uploaded to Google's server. Users should be able to deactivate “Look and Talk” in the Hub Mode settings.

If this feature works in the same way as the Nest Hub Max, Google will use machine learning models that take into account the distance, head orientation, lip movements and the context of the situation in order to minimize the rate of incorrect activations. Moreover, the code suggests a new gesture control that would allow the Pixel Tablet to be operated without touching it, such as extending a hand towards the Pixel Tablet to pause music playback. However, it remains unclear when these two features will come to the Pixel Tablet.