Microsoft will help you make your video calls with its newest feature called "Together Mode." If you're making lots of video calls at home during the ongoing global pandemic, this update will help you save your energy. According to Independent's latest report, a new update to Microsoft Teams was announced by the big tech company, which will put your avatar together with your coworkers' in the same virtual space. 

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Microsoft Teams Together mode makes meetings more engaging using AI segmentation technology - https://t.co/dWY2dykCHz pic.twitter.com/UAEgNktIuF — MSPoweruser (@mspoweruser) July 8, 2020

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The Verge says that ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the software giant has been working on a new feature specifically designed for pandemic-era meetings using advanced AI. Machine learning technology will also be used in Microsoft Teams to detect and cut out a user's image from their background, compiling multiple viewers together in a digital space.

Microsoft said that its users will feel like they are in the same place together since the digital spaces will serve as a meeting room, an auditorium, or even a coffee bar. The company's research suggests that the user will have easier communication since they will be viewing themselves together, rather than divided into the small squares, just like other video communication applications offer.

Here's why "Together Mode" is more effective

As explained by the report, the new update will lessen the tiredness of its users during video calls because human brains are used to being conscious of other people based on their locations, which will interfere with the mirror effect, making it more difficult to notice irregularities.

Microsoft makes Teams video meetings less tiring with its new Together mode https://t.co/ZtbDwg1Oa9 #mrahmedserougi pic.twitter.com/H8nth31tJw — Ahmed Serougi (@ahmed_serougi) July 8, 2020

"If someone's face looms large in your visual sphere in real life, it generally means you're either about to fight or mate. So you're alert, and hyper-aware - reactions that are automatic and subconscious - and your heart rate goes up," said the founding director of Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Jeremy Bailenson.

"And in video calls, there's often a grid with multiple people's faces filling the boxes. It's a lot for your body's nervous system to handle," he added.

Video call apps currently have one problem; the user might find it difficult to tell who is looking at who during a video call with many other people, which can interfere with the natural responses the users have developed. It will be more difficult to express social cues, such as head nods and other body languages, to show that we want to speak, disagree, or agree in a conventional call.

This current issue is what "Together Mode" aims to change."I've seen people lean over and tap each other. I've seen people make eye contact with each other who weren't sitting near each other. So people can now practice some of the social signalings they would do in real life," said a cognitive psychologist at Microsoft, Mary Czerwinski.

Microsoft is currently rolling out "Together Mode," which is expected to be available by August to all users.

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