Google's smaller Home Nest Hub doesn't come with a camera as the company initially wanted to avoid people from believing it would spy on them. Still, with the launch of the camera-equipped Nest Hub Max, it was clear it noticed customers are comfortable with trading their privacy for a plethora of features. Among other things, the Hub Max offers gesture control through its camera, which lets you play and pause media by raising a hand. Now Google is adding a new ultrasonic sensing feature that allow both the smaller and the bigger Hub to react to nearby people without the use of a camera.

The interface when you move farther away from the Nest Hub.

Ultrasonic sensing was first introduced with the Nest Mini and the Nest Wifi satellites. On the Nest Hubs, it sends out high-frequency noises through their speakers, which they listen back to via their microphones (Engadget confirmed with Google that the frequency shouldn't disturb your pets' more sensitive hearing). The displays can detect people up to five feet away and tailor their interface accordingly.

Touch controls and more information exposed when you move closer.

When you're close to the screen, the Hub will automatically expand weather cards and expose touch controls. When you're walking farther away, the Nest Hubs will increase the font size and graphics to make timers, weather reports, media playback information, and commute maps more easily readable while hiding touch controls you can't reach anyway. The smaller Nest Hub also gains the ability to show proactive notifications, just like the Hub Max. Since it doesn't have a face-matching camera, it won't customize the experience towards specific household members and only shows cards available to anyone, without private information.

Ultrasonic sensing on the Nest Mini.

Google tells us the ultrasound technology has started rolling out to both the Hub and Hub Max today. The company doesn't use the camera for these features in either smart display; it solely relies on ultrasound on both.

Image source: Reddit