Eyes 'speak' in Google's Oscars ad

Last year during the Oscars, Google debuted an ad following the story of how one of its designers, Tony, grew up navigating the world as a CODA, or child of deaf adults. It went on to show how the brand’s tools had helped him communicate with his mom and dad all throughout the pandemic. The brand returns to the Academy Awards this year with yet another spot highlighting its accessibility tools, this time, for users with ALS.

“A Look Can Say a Lot” stars Antoinette Fernandes, an ALS patient with motor and speech impairment. The spot opens with a series of cinematic close-ups of sets of eyes, the narrator explaining how with just a glance, individuals can relay a broad range of sentiments. 

“A look can say a  lot,” the V.O. says. “A look can be honest, true. A look can speak for you, say what’s on your mind.”

The spot then cuts to Fernandes, illustrating even further just how far a look can go. It captures her filled with amazement and joy as she uses Google’s Look to Speak function, using her eyes to select phrases on the screen that her phone then renders in speech. 

“We have a responsibility and opportunity to champion the disability community during one of the biggest nights for film through our spot,” said KR Liu, head of rand accessibility at Google in a statement. “This is not just about highlighting a Google product, it’s about our mission to help people access their world. We continue to be inspired by people like Antoinette and their resilience, which helps drive our work to be more inclusive, compassionate, empathetic, and ultimately accessible.”

The spot was created in-house at Google and directed by Kim Gehrig of Somesuch.  The soundtrack is "The Wisp Sings" by Winter Aid.

Look to Speak is just the latest of Google’s suite of accessibility tools, which also include Live Transcribe, Project Activate, Sound Amplifier, Live Caption, and Project Relate.