Google Clips is Now Better at Quietly Capturing Hugs and Kisses

Google Clips is now better at spotting people hugging and kissing in your life and then snapping stealthy photos of the moments. Google says it’s one of the upgrades rolling out to the lifelogging camera this month.

Announced in October 2017 and launched 2 months ago, the Google Clips is a tiny hands-free camera that uses motion detection and AI to recognize moments in your life to shoot and save for your memories.

But even though Clips was trained in photography by professionals, apparently the device wasn’t very good at capturing “little moments and emotions that you can’t stage or coordinate ahead of time.”

So Google is working to fix that.

“To help capture these moments, we’re adding improved functionality to Clips so that it’s better at recognizing hugs, kisses, jumps and dance moves,” the company writes. “All you need to do is find the best vantage point as you go about your day, and turn Clips on.”

If you feel like this improvement is a tad “creepy,” you’re not the only one.

“What […] irks me is the broader idea behind Clips that all our precious moments have to be photographed or saved as videos,” writes Sarah Perez of TechCrunch. “They do not. Some are meant to be ephemeral. Some are meant to be memories.

“In aggregate, our hearts and minds tally up all these little life moments — a hug, a kiss, a smile — and then turn them into feelings. Bonds. Love. It’s okay to miss capturing every single one.”

In addition to having a keener eye for physical displays of affection, Google Clips is also easier for family members to pass among themselves now. While only a single device could be connected in the past, the latest update brings family pairing.

Google Clips is available for $249 from the Google Store, and the update has been pushed out to users through the Clips smartphone app.