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Google Meet has unveiled three new face filters for some reason video conferencing software, and all of them, without exception, are pretty obnoxious.
By a Announcement (opens in new tab) on the Google Workspace Updates blog, Google Meet users can now, if they choose, choose to have a block or a strawberry for a head, or be molded like a rabbit in an office cubicle.
If you insist on turning your boundless merriment into a hybrid meeting, you will find these securities among the rest under the effects panel in Google Meet (opens in new tab)accessible before and after a meeting.
Oh lord no
Fortunately, admin controls are there to save the day, with the ability to determine whether the securities are accessible across an entire organization. They are automatically off for Google Workspace Education users, but are on by default for all other users with a Google Workspace subscription, who get what they deserve.
The new effects are part of a fifteen-day extended rollout that started December 21, so while you may think you’re safe, you’re not. Not really.
These bizarre and disturbing effects are the extreme of what Google Meet has to offer. There are also virtual backgrounds, which let users pretend they’re working on the beach or in the middle of a snow storm, and even simple blurs, which help users hide the clutter in their busy workspaces.
We’re not saying the new filters are bad (they really are), it would just be best to get through the Q4 earnings report meeting in a recession year without our bosses breaking the tension with some obligatory fun.