Thanks to the pandemic’s video call boom, yourfavorite video chat appsnow have fancy features like background blurring or swapping, turning our homes into anything from serene beaches to bustling cityscapes. Microsoft, in particular, went all out for Teams, offering a smorgasbord of imaginative backgrounds for every imaginable situation. But let’s face it, those virtual backgrounds often look as fake as they are. Enter Microsoft’s new AI-powered background makeover tool, which ditches the tacky virtual backgrounds and uses AI to spruce up your actual surroundings, however messy they look.
At its Ignite 2023 conference, Microsoftannounceda bunch of nifty AI-powered upgrades for its Teams video conferencing platform. Perhaps the coolest kid on the block is a feature called “Decorate your background.” This new AI-powered option lets you add cool effects to your real-world background with all sorts of generative effects—tidy up the mess or throw in some virtual plants—even if your actual surroundings don’t match. Everyone with a Teams Premium license can get in on the fun when it rolls out early next year.
Microsoft’s also got another AI trick up its sleeve, and this one’s called “Voice isolation.” This clever feature will learn how you speak and verify your voice is the star of the show by drowning out the background noise and other voices during your video calls. All you need to do is give the AI a quick voice sample, and it’ll be ready to go. This handy feature will be added to Teams Phone and Teams Meetings in early 2024.
In addition to these decor tweaks, the software giant is also prepping for ourvirtual reality future. The company is integrating its AR/VR platform, Microsoft Mesh, with Teams starting in January. This means you’ll be able to join meetings in a virtual space, even if you don’t have aVR or AR headset. While the added decor upgrades can’t be interacted with just yet, it’s a step in the right direction for making virtual meetings more immersive.
Juggling note-taking, screen-sharing, and keeping track of the discussion during virtual meetings can be a real hassle. That’s where Copilot for Teams comes in. This handy AI-powered assistant will handle all the details for you, so you may focus on the meeting itself. Copilot can take comprehensive notes throughout your call and can even transcribe what specific people say, so you can easily revisit key points later on. And if you need to share the notes with others, Copilot will be able to share them with all the meeting participants with just a click.
If you’re not a fan of keeping meeting transcripts, Copilot’s got your back. You can toss questions at it during the call, and it’ll dig up the information you need. Once the meeting’s done, no transcript or conversation with Copilot gets saved. And if you’re ever stuck for words, the tool can help you out there too. Just open the Copilot compose box in Teams chat or channels, and it will help you write or rewrite your message with ease.
Microsoft Teams is also getting a whole host of new features to jazz up your virtual conversations. Now you can customize emoji reactions, and if you want to share a chat with someone who’s not in the conversation, you can now forward it along with all its context. For those who want to put a face to their group chats, Teams is letting you create a group chat profile picture. Whether you’re a seasoned Teams user or just getting started, there’s something new for everyone in this latest update.
