Google Search Live now supports video input after launching the audio only version last month. Plus, Google added a number of new features to AI Mode including image and PDF upload, Canvas in AI Mode, and Lens in Chrome.
A number of these features are focused on students, “just in time for the back-to-school season,” Robby Stein, VP of Product, Google Search, wrote. “Whether you’re a student, a parent or an educator — or just wrapping up a busy summer — AI Mode can help you explore complex questions and discover high-quality information from across the web,” he added.
Search Live with Video
Search Live with video. A month ago, Google announced Search Live audio only was live and that the video version will be coming. Well, video is now here. Google demonstrated Search Live feature at Google I/O in May.
What is Search Live. Search Live with video input is your real-time, AI-powered companion that can see what you see and provide immediate explanations of diagrams, formulas, or visual materials through a back-and-forth, live conversation, Google explained.
Search Live is within Google Lens, to access it, just open Google Lens in the Google app, tap the Live icon, and ask away. You can have a free-flowing, back-and-forth conversation with Search in AI Mode, aided by all the visual context from your live camera feed, like different angles or objects in motion.
What it looks like. Here is a video of it in action:
Rolling out this week. Google said the video version of Search Live is rolling out this week on mobile in the U.S., for users enrolled in the Al Mode Labs experiment.
Image and PDF uploads
Image and PDF uploads. You can now upload files to Al Mode, including images and PDFs. Then ask Al Mode a question related to your uploads, to get answers specific to what you uploaded.
Al Mode will analyze the contents of your file and cross-reference it with relevant information from the web to provide a helpful Al response, along with prominent links so you can dig deeper,” Google wrote.
What it looks like. Here is a video of it in action:
Rolling out now. Google said the image upload feature is rolling out on desktop in U.S. now. The PDF upload will be available in the coming weeks. Plus in the coming months, Google Al mode will support additional file types beyond PDFs and images, including files from your Google Drive.
Canvas in AI Mode
Canvas in AI Mode. This feature allows searchers to build plans and organize information in a dynamic side panel as you use AI Mode. Google said it is “perfect for studying or any other complex task, like travel planning.”
To use it you tap on the “Create Canvas” button and then a side panel will show up with your plan.
What it looks like. Here is a video of it in action:
Rolling out in coming weeks. Google said this feature will roll out in the coming weeks for those enrolled in the AI Mode labs experiment. You will see it only now in the US, on desktop browsers. Just look for the “Create Canvas” option that appears when you ask for help creating or planning something.
Lens in Chrome
Lens in Chrome. Lens in Chrome lets you search what you see on your desktop browser, we covered it earlier this year. But now you’ll be able to ask follow-up questions through Al Mode, by clicking ‘Al Mode’ at the top of the Lens results or the ‘Dive deeper’ button at the bottom of the Al Overview.
When you click on the Chrome address bar, you’ll see a new option to “Ask Google about this page” in the dropdown suggestions — another easy way to access Lens in Chrome.
How it looks. Here is an image of it action:
Click on “Ask Google about this page” from the address bar and select the diagram. You’ll get an AI Overview with a snapshot of key information directly in the side panel. And this week, you’ll be able to follow up with more questions through AI Mode, by selecting AI Mode at the top of the Lens search results or by clicking the “Dive deeper” button at the bottom of the AI Overview.