Google Chrome is already implementing the instant caption feature on its desktop version.
Live Captions was only exclusive to some mobile devices, such as Pixels, but now it is being extended to all users who use Chrome.
How to enable instant captions in Google Chrome
This is an accessibility feature that allows users to have automatic captions when playing audio or video on the web.
To activate them in Chrome 89 you just need to go to Settings >> Advanced settings >> Accessibility >> Instant captioning. Once you activate this option, you will see that it downloads a package of speech recognition files.
Once that process is finished, you can use it almost on any platform with audio or video content, for example, Spotify, YouTube, etc. One detail to keep in mind is that the automatic subtitles function is only available in English, perhaps later, Spanish will be added.
How can you use these subtitles in real time? When you open a video or audio in Google Chrome, you will see that a new icon is added to the browser bar with a mini media player. It is in that same section that you will find the option to activate or deactivate the instant subtitling in each video or audio.
If you have the option activated, then the subtitles will be automatically displayed at the bottom of the page, as you see in the image, in a box that you can minimize and move. You have to be patient, as the subtitles are constantly changing as the sound is played to make sense of the transcription. And no, it is not perfect. You may notice various errors in the subtitling depending on the type of audio or the way the person expresses himself.
You don’t need to have the volume turned on on the computer, so it can be an excellent option to follow a video interview without disturbing others when you do not have the headphones nearby.
