Google’s new spot for ‘Look to Speak’ shows us the power of a look

A look can say a lot. For some people, it is their only way to communicate. Technology giant Google’s new emotive ad aired during the 94th Academy Awards held in Los Angeles on Sunday (March 27). It shows us how, through its ‘Look to Speak’ app, Google leverages tech to help people, with motor and speech impairments, communicate in a better way.

The app lets people use their eyes to choose pre-written phrases for their phone to speak out loud.

The ad features Antoinette Fernandes, an ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) patient since 2019, using the app to talk to her daughter.

During last year’s (2021) Academy Awards, Google told us the story of Tony, a CODA, or child of deaf adults. It showed how, with the help of assistive technologies like Live Captions and Google Meet, Tony and his family are able to share the moments that matter the most to them.

“Now, conversations can more easily happen, where before, there may have been silence, and I’m excited to hear some of them,” wrote Richard Cave, a speech and language therapist, on Google’s blog in 2020.

Two years later, look where we’ve reached.