Google recognizes many of us are still working remotely and suffering from the same longstanding issues related to working together while not being physically within the same space. In 2021 the company revealed Project Starline as a possible answer to this dilemma, a concept merging hardware and AI-enhanced software to create a “magic window” where users could “talk, gesture and make eye contact naturally with other people in life-size and in three dimensions.” The premise is sort of like a futuristic phone booth and photo booth, with some shades of the holographic communication technology from the Star Wars universe.
But that first 3D teleconferencing video booth required a room-sized setup. At this year’s Google’s I/O developer conference Google revealed they’ve been able to shrink Project Starline down to a much more manageable size, one comparable to a large computer display or flat screen television.
Like the first iteration, the system uses advanced AI to conjure what is perceived as a photorealistic recreation of the person chatting with you. It does this using a light field display capable of producing perceptible elements of volume and depth that make the person seem “right there.” Instead of looking at a flattened image of a colleague, Project Starline produces a more convincing in-person view retaining the all-important element of eye contact sorely lacking during Zoom, Meet, and other video chat solutions currently available.
Google isn’t the only company making efforts to improve video chats; Logitech’s lounge-like Project Ghost video conferencing booth alsom invites a dimensional window-like gaze with other speakers.
Google says they’ve already gotten these prototypes into the corporate settings within Salesforce, T-Mobile, and WeWork, but the real test will be when they’re able to further simplify this multi-camera setup for home offices for remote workers, sans the necessity for IT expertise, a future that may supplement or supplant AR/VR glasses.
Read all about Project Starline at the Google Blog.
