Skype adds the ability to blur the background when you make a video call

One of the drawbacks of making video conferences from home is that the people you talk to do not only see your face but also part of your house.

That’s why the popular Skype video call service has announced today a feature that makes the background of the image look blurry and thus preserves your privacy.

According to the Skype ad, the new feature works like Microsoft Teams background blur feature, which was introduced in September. Skype says it relies on artificial intelligence to detect hair, hands and arms and blur everything else, something like the portrait-mode feature found in most modern smartphones.

To activate the function, you can pass the mouse pointer over the Skype video button and select “Blur my background”. In doing so, you should subtly hide the background while your body remains focused.

The background blur is available on desktops and laptops with the latest version of Skype, but the feature is still somewhat experimental.