Google is testing a way to activate Assistant without wake words

Google is said to be testing a smart display feature that would activate Google Assistant by proximity instead of using the "Hey Google" or "OK Google" wake words. Leaker Jan Boromeusz posted a YouTube video (via Android Central) that shows the feature in an apparent internal Nest Hub Max firmware build. Boromeusz is able to use the voice assistant without first saying one of the wake words. The Assistant UI disappears whenever Boromeusz stays still or stops talking, but you can see it pop back up when he moves a little closer to the smart display. It's unclear whether Google has plans to bring the feature, which is codenamed Blue Steel, to the public version of the firmware. It merely appears to be in testing for now.