Skype has rolled out a new feature on its desktop apps for PC and Mac that allow you to blur the background during video calls. The new fe...
Skype has rolled out a new feature on its desktop apps for PC and Mac that allow you to blur the background during video calls.
The new feature is available via the app's video and audio settings. It is designed to disguise wherever you happen to be and the background of the room you are in.
While the feature doesn't go as far as completely obliterating the background completely, it does deliver a blurred bokeh effect, similar in style to Apple's Portrait Mode found on the iPhone X, XS, XS Max and XR models.
Skype claims that the background mode uses artificial intelligence-trained human form detection. It keeps you in focus during your video call but masks everything else.
"This technology is also trained to detect your hair, hands and arms, making a call with background blur just as relaxed and easy as a regular video call," it said in a blog post.
We tried the feature and it's surprisingly good. However, as with so-called portrait modes on mobile phones, it does struggle with hair. There are also times where it stopped working with fast movement, suggesting you should not trust it 100 per cent at the moment.
That said, it will certainly be good enough to not only enhance you on screen, but also remove that laundry you might have drying in the back of a shot. Well, most of the time anyway.
The new feature is available via an update to the PC and Mac apps. Skype is also working to bring the feature to other platforms, including your mobile phone.
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