Google’s Workspace apps are excellent for getting work done, especially if you need to get work done between multiple people. It’s completely free to use, and its collaboration features are pretty much unmatched. You can currently see in real time what parts of a document others are looking over or editing, but what if you want to take things a step further? Google Slides, the company’s software for editing presentation slides, is now getting a new addition: live pointers.
Google is introducing a new feature in Google Slides called “live pointers” to enhance collaboration. This feature enables real-time visibility of mouse pointers for both the presenter and their collaborators while looking through or editing a presentation. It’s designed to make communication and interaction easier when working together on slide decks. Basically, it’s something like the existing writing indicator, except instead of just letting users know what part of a document you’re editing, it shows your mouse pointer. The live pointers feature allows co-creators to easily highlight specific text or visual elements within a slide, making it easier to draw attention to important information and content.
The feature is not enabled by default, so if you don’t like it, you can just not turn it on. Live pointers can be turned on by going to the “View” menu and selecting “Live pointers” and then “show my pointer.” Alternatively, you can also use the pointer icon in the toolbar to turn on this feature. Once activated, live pointers will remain visible across all slides until manually turned off. Collaborator pointers can also be hidden during a session by entering presentation mode or selecting the “show collaborator pointers” option in the “View” menu.
This feature will be gradually rolled out to users starting today, but it can take up to 15 days for it to reach everyone. It’s certainly an excellent improvement as far as collaboration goes, and I’d even dare to say that it could also fit very well onto both Google Docs and Google Sheets — right now, it’s only available on Google Slides. Make sure to check it out if you already have it.
Source: Google