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Show HN: Google Meet Studio Mini – Change your appearance with a browser script

61 points by xingyzt 6y ago

khimaros 6y ago
The source is also available on GitHub https://github.com/FlyOrBoom/mercator https://github.com/FlyOrBoom/mercator
skybrian 6y ago
This looks like pretty clear trademark infringement to me, unless you work for Google and I think that's unlikely. I'm surprised Google lets anyone post a Chrome extension with a title beginning with "Google".
- xingyzt 6y ago
  You’re probably right, but seeing that Google Meet isn’t enforcing its trademark on extensions used by tens thousands of people (“Google Meet Grid View”, “Google Meet Enhancement Suite”, “Google Meet Push to Talk”, etc), I’ll just keep the name.
  - skybrian 6y ago
    Besides trademark confusion, there is also just plain confusion. For someone who hasn't seen it before, things get confusing when when the same product has multiple names. What do I call it? Which name is the important one? You don't want people to have to think about that. Is "Mercator Studio" another name for your product? Why make people remember multiple names? Something like "Mercator Mini Studio for Google Meet" would make sense if you want people to remember "Mercator" and search for that.
    - xingyzt 6y ago
      The code can be readily adapted for other web services that use the MediaDevices API, so I didn’t want to tie the name down to Google Meet. On the other hand, having a unique name is counterproductive to an extension which is dependent on another service. People search for Google Meet; I’d have to try a lot harder to get them to remember Mercator. “Mercator Studio for Google Meet” sounds like a fair compromise though. I’ll think about that.
  - seanwilson 6y ago
    I'd be careful. On August 27, they're getting stricter on spam https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/spam-faq https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/spam-faq so don't be surprised if they start cracking down on this as well. "...for Google Meet" will probably be okay. They have specific examples like that here: https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/branding https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/branding
    - xingyzt 6y ago
      Got it. Thank you both for the warning :]
diiq 6y ago
Neat! This would be pretty useful to me if the settings persisted between sessions -- I don't have the time to fine-tune my camera for each meeting, but if I could tune it once and use it again and again, that'd be worth it.
- xingyzt 6y ago
  Implemented in 1.13.0. Update is pending review from the webstores.
29athrowaway 6y ago
Change the extension name. This is not an official Google product. The name is misleading. e.g.: Mercator for Google Meet
wyxuan 6y ago
OMG I love this. This is like the photobooth application but for google meet. This needs to have the weird lens effects like fish eye.
- xingyzt 6y ago
  feDisplacementMap [1] should work, although I have no idea how to make one, and Google Meet on Firefox is having problems with SVG filters [2]. [1] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/SVG/Element/feDisplacementMap https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/SVG/Element/feD... [2] https://github.com/FlyOrBoom/mercator/issues/2 https://github.com/FlyOrBoom/mercator/issues/2

61 points by xingyzt 6y ago

The source is also available on GitHub https://github.com/FlyOrBoom/mercator https://github.com/FlyOrBoom/mercator

This looks like pretty clear trademark infringement to me, unless you work for Google and I think that's unlikely. I'm surprised Google lets anyone post a Chrome extension with a title beginning with "Google".

xingyzt 6y ago
You’re probably right, but seeing that Google Meet isn’t enforcing its trademark on extensions used by tens thousands of people (“Google Meet Grid View”, “Google Meet Enhancement Suite”, “Google Meet Push to Talk”, etc), I’ll just keep the name.
- skybrian 6y ago
  Besides trademark confusion, there is also just plain confusion. For someone who hasn't seen it before, things get confusing when when the same product has multiple names. What do I call it? Which name is the important one? You don't want people to have to think about that. Is "Mercator Studio" another name for your product? Why make people remember multiple names? Something like "Mercator Mini Studio for Google Meet" would make sense if you want people to remember "Mercator" and search for that.
  - xingyzt 6y ago
    The code can be readily adapted for other web services that use the MediaDevices API, so I didn’t want to tie the name down to Google Meet. On the other hand, having a unique name is counterproductive to an extension which is dependent on another service. People search for Google Meet; I’d have to try a lot harder to get them to remember Mercator. “Mercator Studio for Google Meet” sounds like a fair compromise though. I’ll think about that.
- seanwilson 6y ago
  I'd be careful. On August 27, they're getting stricter on spam https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/spam-faq https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/spam-faq so don't be surprised if they start cracking down on this as well. "...for Google Meet" will probably be okay. They have specific examples like that here: https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/branding https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/branding
  - xingyzt 6y ago
    Got it. Thank you both for the warning :]

diiq 6y ago

Neat! This would be pretty useful to me if the settings persisted between sessions -- I don't have the time to fine-tune my camera for each meeting, but if I could tune it once and use it again and again, that'd be worth it.

xingyzt 6y ago
Implemented in 1.13.0. Update is pending review from the webstores.

29athrowaway 6y ago

Change the extension name. This is not an official Google product. The name is misleading. e.g.: Mercator for Google Meet

wyxuan 6y ago

OMG I love this. This is like the photobooth application but for google meet. This needs to have the weird lens effects like fish eye.

xingyzt 6y ago
feDisplacementMap [1] should work, although I have no idea how to make one, and Google Meet on Firefox is having problems with SVG filters [2]. [1] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/SVG/Element/feDisplacementMap https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/SVG/Element/feD... [2] https://github.com/FlyOrBoom/mercator/issues/2 https://github.com/FlyOrBoom/mercator/issues/2