Google Meet’s live caption translation feature is now available globally to eligible Google Workspace users. As Google reported, meeting attendees can use the live caption translation feature to translate English meetings into French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.
However, Google has not specified whether the live caption translation tool will translate meetings from these languages into English. However, if taken to the limit, it is easy to imagine that the functionality will be extended in the future to support omnidirectional translation between a variety of different languages.
In the Workspace blog, Google stated that “live translated captions help video call participants communicate better by translating one spoken language into subtitles in another language”.
All meeting participants can use Google Meet live translated captions during a meeting if the meeting host is using Google Workspace Business Plus, Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, and Google Workspace Education Plus. Google also said that customers enrolled in the beta testing program will also be able to access the live caption translation feature over the next few months until the beta testing program ends.
Google Meet live translated captions are available on the web and mobile versions of the Google Meet service. To enable live captions on the web version of Google Meet or the mobile app during a meeting, go to Settings, then Captions. In the Live Captions section, choose Translation Language.
A very useful feature
In September 2021, Google announced the live captioning beta on Google Meet. The idea of this new feature is to increase the efficiency of meetings by ensuring that all meeting participants absorb the information provided in their own language, which will make it more understandable. According to Google, live translated captions will equalize learning and content sharing among all meeting participants.
The live translated captions feature is supposed to be especially useful during closed-door meetings or training sessions between international teams. Besides, live translated subtitles can also be used in schools. The new Google Meet feature would make it easier for teachers and students speaking different languages to communicate with each other. Thus, the learning process will probably be more efficient.
