4 ms·

Blurring the background is different than putting some other sort of background there. That doesn't bother me nearly as much. Regardless, I am someone who neve

Blurring the background is different than putting some other sort of background there. That doesn't bother me nearly as much. Regardless, I am someone who never pays for a haircut and has very casual clothes. But this is something that, to me, indicates a complete lack of sensitivity to aesthetics, and in a large number of jobs/roles, that's a really bad sign. There's also a bit of the "what is so important to hide?" question. It's great if you can ignore such things, but not everyone can or does. This is almost like someone who has poor hygiene, who has dirty hair or a bit of a smell to them. Anyone would advise such a person to put in a bit of effort if they want career success. Same thing.

chrismorgan 5y ago
Nah, the blurring is just as bad. In the best of cases I find it to be firmly in the uncanny valley, as I also do of what little I’ve seen of software-based depth of field manipulation or artificial blurring in smartphone photography. In the typical case, it suffers from exactly the same issues as background replacement because it’s doing exactly the same thing, estimating a mask for the areas of interest and altering the rest. Half the hair will be blurred one moment, then one shoulder, then half the chair will flicker between being blurred and not blurred—it’s just as disconcerting and unpleasant.
schwartzworld 5y ago
> There's also a bit of the "what is so important to hide?" question. It's a principal thing for me. My space is mine and work doesn't have a right to see into that. They aren't welcome in my home. Maybe I have a good office setup or maybe not. Maybe my home is clean today or not. It wasn't anybody's business pre-covid, and it remains nobody's business today.
- prmoustache 5y ago
  Is it so hard to have just one portion of wall with a neutral color in one's home office setup? I work in different part of my home, but I dedicate one small space for video calls, where I stand, not sit. It is designed to provide a plain background. If I didn't have a wall at my disposal I would have installed a white ikea roller window blind on the ceiling. It is much more effective than any blurring/background replacement algorithm. You choose to work from home, you choose to welcome work in your home. The good thing is you still have the liberty to limit and design the small part of the home you are welcoming your coworker's in.
  - _ph_ 5y ago
    Assuming that you have a home office setup. Me, I have been working for 2 years from my dining table.
    - robbrown451 5y ago
      And people might see that as that you are working from home, but not willing or able to allocate a dedicated space for it so you can actually be as effective as possible. Nor are you willing to purchase or make a simple backdrop. Which seems to be accurate, and in my opinion rightfully creates a negative impression in their minds.

chrismorgan 5y ago

Nah, the blurring is just as bad. In the best of cases I find it to be firmly in the uncanny valley, as I also do of what little I’ve seen of software-based depth of field manipulation or artificial blurring in smartphone photography. In the typical case, it suffers from exactly the same issues as background replacement because it’s doing exactly the same thing, estimating a mask for the areas of interest and altering the rest. Half the hair will be blurred one moment, then one shoulder, then half the chair will flicker between being blurred and not blurred—it’s just as disconcerting and unpleasant.

schwartzworld 5y ago

> There's also a bit of the "what is so important to hide?" question. It's a principal thing for me. My space is mine and work doesn't have a right to see into that. They aren't welcome in my home. Maybe I have a good office setup or maybe not. Maybe my home is clean today or not. It wasn't anybody's business pre-covid, and it remains nobody's business today.

prmoustache 5y ago
Is it so hard to have just one portion of wall with a neutral color in one's home office setup? I work in different part of my home, but I dedicate one small space for video calls, where I stand, not sit. It is designed to provide a plain background. If I didn't have a wall at my disposal I would have installed a white ikea roller window blind on the ceiling. It is much more effective than any blurring/background replacement algorithm. You choose to work from home, you choose to welcome work in your home. The good thing is you still have the liberty to limit and design the small part of the home you are welcoming your coworker's in.
- _ph_ 5y ago
  Assuming that you have a home office setup. Me, I have been working for 2 years from my dining table.
  - robbrown451 5y ago
    And people might see that as that you are working from home, but not willing or able to allocate a dedicated space for it so you can actually be as effective as possible. Nor are you willing to purchase or make a simple backdrop. Which seems to be accurate, and in my opinion rightfully creates a negative impression in their minds.