In 2019, Google is presenting a new feature that is handy for the hearing impaired: Live Captions . This, first introduced on the Pixel 4 , offers to automatically subtitle all content with audio on his phone. Videos, podcasts and even calls : Android smartphones, like the Galaxy S20 and OnePlus 8, can now display the sounds and voices they detect in text format.
It was only a matter of time before the Mountain View firm rolled out Live Captions on other platforms. Indeed, it is now available on Chrome 89. To activate it, simply go to Settings> Advanced settings> Accessibility . At the moment, the feature only detects English content. However, it should soon work with other languages.
THE PC VERSION OF CHROME IS EQUIPPED WITH LIVE CAPTIONS
According to initial tests, Live Captions works perfectly well on streaming and podcast sites. The functionality transcribes the dialogues detected in a small window appearing at the bottom of the screen. However, it is necessary to download some recognition files during the first activation. After that, there is nothing more to do than enjoy the automatic subtitles.
It is possible to configure the window size to display more subtitles on the screen. The user can also activate and deactivate Live Captions at will very easily from the button that appears in the taskbar of Chrome. Perhaps most impressive is that the feature continues to caption content even when the sound is turned off .
Although Google is looking to improve Chrome 89, including reducing RAM consumption , Live Captions should be available on all versions of the browser . We can expect that other features aimed at optimizing accessibility will be added soon, the Mountain View firm having announced that an update will be deployed every month from September 2021 .
Source: XDA Developers