Google Home update expands person and sound recognition
Google says Home cameras can use clothing and body cues to identify tagged people when faces are obscured, while video summaries add sound details.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
2 min read
Google is updating Google Home so its smart home cameras can identify tagged people even when a face is hard to see. The change matters for households that rely on camera alerts, because Google says the system will use extra visual cues to reduce mistaken identity notices.
According to Google support materials reported by The Verge, the change began June 23 and expands the Familiar Faces feature. People already labeled in a user’s Familiar Faces library may still be recognized when they are turned away from a camera or otherwise not clearly visible.
Google says the system will draw on “additional non-biometric signals,” including a person’s body size and clothing color. The company is also changing the Familiar Faces library so it refreshes automatically with newer images of people in the home, a move Google says should cut down on errors caused by stale examples.
Camera summaries add sound details
Google also says AI-generated descriptions for video events can now include specific sounds captured by the camera system. Examples listed by Google include barking dogs, alarms and footsteps.
The sound may be included in the event note even when the source of the noise is outside the camera’s view, according to Google. That gives users more context in alerts and logs when a camera records audio tied to activity it cannot see.
The Verge said the updates may address issues seen during earlier testing of Google’s updated smart home system. Jennifer Pattison Tuohy of The Verge reported last year that some event logs described people who were not present or actions that did not happen.
Thermostat and Matter updates
The Google Home app is also receiving version 4.20, according to The Verge. That release adds System Health alerts tied to Nest thermostats when the thermostat detects possible HVAC problems, based on Google support information.
The Verge described the thermostat alerts as appearing to be connected to Gemini and related to Google’s existing Nest System Health Monitoring feature. Google support materials also point to improved support for Matter switches in the update.
The changes add to Google’s broader push to use AI inside the Home app and Nest camera system. For users, the practical test will be whether Google Home sends fewer wrong alerts while adding more useful details about people and sounds captured around the house.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.