Google rolls out hand-raise gesture detection for Meet: Know details

The hand-raise gesture detection feature will have no admin control and will be set to OFF by default

Google has announced hand-raise gesture detection for Meet. The new Google Workplace feature allows users to physically raise their hands instead of having to click the hand-raise icon to ask a question in Google Meet. The video meeting platform will recognize a raised hand with its gesture detection when the user is not an active speaker. 

The feature has started to roll out from November 22 and will be available to all Google workplace users by November 28.

The gesture detection feature will be set to OFF by default and needs to be enabled from More options > Reactions > Hand Raise Gesture. There will be no admin control available for this feature.

Google says, to ensure the gesture is detected, the user needs to make sure that camera is enabled, and their hand is visible to the camera, away from their face and body.

Recently, Google has been adding new features to Workspace applications. Last week, the American tech giant rolled out design changes for its Drive app in Android and iOS devices, offering a more compact layout for uploaded files in a list format. Google said that the new design will allow users to see more recommended files at once, such as those that have been recently opened, shared or edited.

The Notification log in Drive has been replaced with an Activity view section adjacent to 'Suggested'. Google said that the Activity section will showcase items that need user attention, such as pending access requests, recent comments and awaiting approvals, all in one place.

The new home tab layout is an optional feature, and if the user does not opt-in, the Drive app will open to the last used tab, such as Shared tab or Files tab.