These immersive 360-degree Google Meet video backgrounds look amazing

Admittedly, this will be a slow start, but Google is rolling out two insanely cool virtual backgrounds for Google Meet on Android and iOS that allow users to not just change their background graphics, but to be seated in that environment from every angle. When I first read about this, I wasn’t sure why this was a big deal, but that was because I was thinking of using Google Meet from my desk. While that would still be fun, that use case isn’t what this new feature is for; those on the move and using a mobile phone will most definitely be the ones who can fully benefit, here.

With these new 360-degree virtual backgrounds, your background’s perspective changes with your movements the exact same way your real background would if you were not using a computer generated one. While the end effect doesn’t look so real that you’d be convinced that the person on the other end of the call is actually in the temple or beach setting that Google is offering so far (yes, there are only two options for now), it’s still a far more immersive visual look than the standard, non-moving backgrounds.

This isn’t currently available on the desktop and I can see why. For it to work, Meet needs access to the device’s gyroscope to accurately understand where the camera is in space. Most laptops have their cameras in the lid, and many of those lids don’t possess a gyroscope for obvious reasons. Sure, certain Chromebooks and Windows laptops could maybe pull this off down the road, but I’d wager Google won’t enable this across the board. Also, when taking a call on a laptop, you generally leave your device sitting still on the desk and aren’t moving the device around with you.

For mobile, however, this is a great feature that I think will be a fun addition as more and more 3D backgrounds are added. An even more inventive idea would be to allow users to utilize Google’s Photo Sphere images if they have them. I’ve seen some incredible photos (and taken a few of my own) that stitch together perfectly and would for a great option with this new Meet feature. Perhaps down the road we’ll get that option, but for now, these virtual backgrounds are really fun looking and I’m eager to try it out for myself. Google announced them on February 17th with a 15-day rollout window, so everyone should have them soon.