The Android operating system is full of accessibility features. And among the most interesting features is Live Caption. By relying on artificial intelligence, the operating system is now capable of subtitling any video in English, on any application, since the subtitle generator is directly integrated into the operating system. Live Caption can be very useful for people who are hard of hearing, but the feature can also be used when playing a video in a noisy environment or during a meeting, when you cannot turn up the volume or put in headphones.
Google improves Android’s automatic subtitles
In a recent blog post, Google presents a major update to Live Caption. Currently, the functionality only transcribes the text. But thanks to recent advances in artificial intelligence, Google is improving Live Caption so that it can provide more information to the user. “Expressive captions use your Android device’s artificial intelligence to communicate things like tone, volume, environmental cues, and human noises. These little things make a huge difference in conveying what goes beyond words, especially for live and social content that doesn’t have pre-loaded or high-quality subtitles”explains Google.
Some words will be capitalized to reflect the intensity of the voice. And Live Caption will also be able to identify sounds like sighs, grunts or panting. But, unfortunately, this functionality is not yet available in French. It is only available in the United States, in English, on devices running Android 14 that have access to Live Caption.
A nod to Generation Z
In addition to the fact that this new feature will improve accessibility on Android, Google also seems to want to give a nod to Generation Z. Indeed, in its announcement, the firm relays a study indicating that 70% of Gen Z activate the subtitles almost all the time. But this feature will also improve the experience for users who really need subtitles, when watching videos that don’t have them.
Regarding privacy, Google indicates that Live Caption subtitles are generated in real time by a local AI. Therefore, the smartphone does not need to send data to its servers to generate the transcriptions.
- Android already has a real-time subtitle generator called Live Caption
- Google updates this feature by offering an AI that is capable of transcribing emotions
- But this new feature is not yet available in French
- In addition to the interest of the update in terms of accessibility, Google is giving a nod to generation Z, who uses subtitles a lot
