Google is adding a nifty feature called “content cameras” to Meet that will enable users to conveniently share a physical whiteboard in a meeting.
It has become increasingly important in this era of hybrid work to have tools that allow you to efficiently communicate and collaborate with people across different physical locations. Apps such as Microsoft Teams and Google Meet are regularly updated in this regard to meet the need of both personal and enterprise consumers. The latter is now receiving support for a useful capability that should make it easier to share content in a hybrid working environment.
Google has added support for whiteboard cameras in Google Meet hardware. This enables customers participating in a brainstorming session on a physical whiteboard to present their work as a digital output in Google Meet so that it’s easier to view for those who have joined the meeting remotely. An updated “touch controller UI” is being offered to customers where they can select the “Present to the meeting” option, followed by the “Whiteboard camera” selection. It’s a pretty nifty capability that should benefit workspaces which are following a hybrid working model.
For now, the Logitech Scribe is the first and only supported camera for this use-case, and has been certified as a “content camera” for Google Meet hardware. Google has emphasized that it will continue to work with its partners to expand support to other hardware manufacturers too. The company is yet to announce the names of the firms it is looking to collaborate with for this initiative.
This particular feature will begin rolling out to all Google Workspace customers starting on June 19, but it may take until early July for it to become available to all eligible users. Google has cautioned that customers require Google Meet hardware kits with touch controller support in order to leverage the functionality once it becomes available, provided that a Logitech Scribe camera is plugged in. There is no admin control for this configuration, but they can set up a default whiteboard camera through the admin console, if desired.