Skype for iOS now has a feature that lets you hide messy rooms

Microsoft is adding a background blur feature to its Skype for iOS app.

The automatic background blurring feature is similar to what exists in the company’s Teams app, allowing iPhone and iPad users to blur the background of a video call.

Microsoft is using artificial intelligence to blur everything in the room making the user the main focus. The blur effect uses bokeh that detects hair, arms, and hands to avoid blurring out key body language during video calls.

Microsoft launches new tool to combat video-conferencing fatigue

Recently, Microsoft launched “Together Mode” for its Teams business software, as part of a new suite of updates in efforts to tackle this exhaustion.

The new mode also uses artificial intelligence to take a cutout of your live video image and place it into a fixed position within a setting, reports MIT Technology Review.

Zoom says added over 100 features as part of 90-day security plan

The idea behind this new update is that when you can see people in a fixed position, nonverbal cues like looking at or pointing at a speaker become clearer and more like what would happen in a natural in-person meeting.

Google is also working to add background blur to its Meet video conferencing service, just as competition rises between video-conferencing apps.

The article was originally published on The Verge.