Google upgrades Gemini for Home cameras with smarter face and pet recognition

Gemini for Home update makes it easier to recognize visitors

Karandeep Singh Oberoi is a Durham College Journalism and Mass Media graduate who joined the Android Police team in April 2024, after serving as a full-time News Writer at Canadian publication MobileSyrup. Prior to joining Android Police, Oberoi worked on feature stories, reviews, evergreen articles, and focused on 'how-to' resources. Additionally, he informed readers about the latest deals and discounts with quick hit pieces and buyer's guides for all occasions. Oberoi lives in Toronto, Canada. When not working on a new story, he likes to hit the gym, play soccer (although he keeps calling it football for some reason🤔) and try out new restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area. 2025 is coming to a close, and Google is wrapping up the year by giving Gemini for Home-enabled cameras a significant brain upgrade. For reference, Gemini for Home started rolling out across devices in early access all the way back in October. It subsequently started landing for more users earlier this month, replacing Google Assistant with Gemini's smarts on existing smart home devices. Late last week, the program expanded beyond the US, and it should reach more users globally in 2026. Related Gemini for Home takes its first step outside the US Early access program expands to Canada Posts 3 By Rajesh Pandey Following the rollout, Google is now acting on the user feedback it has collected over the last several weeks and rolling out a set of updates "for your Gemini for Home enabled cameras from Nest and others." The development was announced by Google Home and Nest's Chief Product Officer Anish Kattukaran on X (via 9to5Google), where he detailed how the company has been tuning "AI models under the hood based on the feedback." Smarter Familiar Face and pet detection is here Compatible cameras' Familiar Face detection algorithm, instead of logging every person who passes by, will now only prioritize high-quality images. "By filtering out blurry or incomplete shots, the system gets better at recognizing the people who matter most," wrote Kattukaran. Similarly, said cameras are also getting better at identifying pets. Your Gemini for Home devices can now more accurately distinguish between cats and dogs with upgraded color accuracy in low light. The update should also help address some of the unknown variables. According to the tech giant, in instances where a face isn't fully visible, Home Briefs will now attempt to provide more descriptive descriptions to help you piece together who might have been at your door. Subscribe to our newsletter for Gemini camera updates Get curated coverage by subscribing to our newsletter, with plain-language context and clear explanations of Gemini for Home and smart camera AI updates, plus concise breakdowns of what changes mean for device behavior and detection accuracy. Subscribe Subscribe to our newsletter for Gemini camera updates Get curated coverage by subscribing to our newsletter, with plain-language context and clear explanations of Gemini for Home and smart camera AI updates, plus concise breakdowns of what changes mean for device behavior and detection accuracy. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. This is paired with the expansion of AI-generated captions for longer videos, allowing "richer, more detailed context for longer events, ensuring nothing gets missed." All the changes mentioned above are rolling out now and should be available on your "Gemini for Home enabled cameras from Nest and others" over the coming days. More tuning and updates are expected as we head into the new year.

Gemini for Home camera updates improve Familiar Face, animal detection, more

The latest Gemini for Home updates are focused on camera improvements for Nest and other compatible devices. Google has used feedback from the Early Access program to tune its AI models around vision. The Familiar Face algorithm will now filter out blurry or incomplete shots of people and prioritize high-quality images in your face library. This should make detection "more accurate." Home Brief is now better at describing people who have not been identified as a Familiar Face, like if their face is not fully visible in the shot. Google is also now better at distinguishing between dogs and cats "from a distance" thanks to improved animal detection. Additionally, the model is better at identifying the color of animals in low-light conditions. Finally, Google will now generate more detailed AI descriptions for longer videos "to make sure events you care about will be included."

Your Nest cameras just got better at identifying faces and pets

Google's plans to level up your smart home experience aren't limited to bringing Gemini to your devices. The company is also upgrading its Google Home app to make your Nest camera footage far more useful. According to a new Nest help forum post, the latest update for the Google Home app brings improvements for the familiar face detection feature, which should help your cameras more accurately identify the people visiting your home. The feature relies on Google's Familiar Face detection algorithm, which uses images stored in the Familiar Face library to recognize people. Recommended Videos Google notes that sometimes the library contains low-quality images with blurry or incomplete faces, which can reduce detection accuracy. With this update, the company has improved the quality of images stored in the library, making familiar face detection more reliable. Your Nest cams are also getting smarter at recognizing pets The update also brings improvements for the animal detection feature, allowing Nest cameras to "better distinguish between cats and dogs from a distance, reducing misidentification." It also enhances animal color handling to "ensure higher color accuracy and minimize incorrect animal colors in poor lighting conditions." Along with upgrades for familiar face and animal identification, the Google Home app update improves how the Home Brief feature describes people in events when a familiar face is not identified. The company has also leveled up AI descriptions on longer videos, which should now offer more detailed context and insights. These improvements should result in fewer false alerts and more accurate notifications, so you won't get a flood of unncessary notifications every time someone walks by your door or when your cat jumps on the couch. For example, if a delivery person shows up, your Nest camera should now correctly identify them without confusing them for a familiar visitor. Similarly, pets wandering into the frame should be recognized more reliably, even in low-light conditions.