Google Testing Out New User Interface To Make Smart Displays Easier To Use

In recent years, we’ve seen companies start to transition from creating smart speakers to smart displays. These are essentially smart speakers that comes with a built-in display to allow for users to make video calls, watch videos, use it to see who’s at the door if you have a smart doorbell, and so on.

However, for those who are less tech savvy, smart displays might not be quite as intuitive to use, especially for the older generation who might already be struggling with the concept of smartphones. To help deal with this issue, Google has announced that they will testing out a new user interface with residents at the Merrill Gardens retirement communities in Washington, where they have also handed out 1,000 Nest Hub Max devices.

According to Google, “The teams created a new experience that we’re kicking off with Merrill Gardens residents, where they will have access to a pre-loaded shortlist of contacts, making video calls even easier. There are new “What can you do?” cards, too, that act like shortcuts for showing weather reports, setting alarms or playing relaxing sounds.”

Basically this new interface will make the smart display easier to interact with, where it will feature shortcuts to features instead of it being like a glorified digital photo frame. Judging from what we can tell from the images of the interface, it certainly does seem like it would be easier to use. We’re not sure when these changes will roll out to everyone, but if you plan to get a smart display for your elderly parents or grandparents, then this might be worth keeping an eye out for.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gadgets, Home
Tags: Connected Objects, Google, Google Assistant, IoT (Internet of Things), nest