Highlights:

  • The technology uses light field 3D displays, and a range of cameras around the player, backed by 3D imaging and compression in real-time.
  • Google says over 100 enterprise partners in media, healthcare, and retail have used Starline in demos at Google’s offices.

Google is devoting more time to testing Project Starline, its experimental 3D telepresence video meeting system.

Soon, other companies’ offices will also have prototypes of Google’s Starlight light field displays used for immersive video meetings.

Google announced project Starline at last year’s IO conference. However, so far, its prototypes have only been used in Google US offices by staff and a few partners from different industries to hold video meetings between two people in other places with the same setup.

Google compares the technology to a “magic window.” It uses light field 3D displays and a range of cameras around the player, backed by 3D imaging and compression in real-time. People can feel the volume and depth without the AR/VR headsets.

Each Starline unit has special lighting, multiple infrareds, color texture, tracking cameras, speakers, microphones, and infrared projectors, in addition to the custom displays on each end. The prototype used in Google’s study on its 3D telepresence system was based on a Lenovo P920 PC with two Nvidia Quadro RTX 6000 GPUs and two Nvidia Titan RTX GPUs. The GPUs would cost more than USD 10,000 if you bought them separately.

So, it’s the best video conferencing equipment for offices. But Google thinks it’s the future of virtual meetings for hybrid work. The tech giant has now extended its early access program with enterprise partners, which will entail it to install Starline prototypes at some partner offices in the future.

Some companies that will get Starline prototypes are Salesforce, WeWork, T-Mobile, and Hackensack Meridian Health.

Andrew Nartker, a director of product management on Project Starline, “As we build the future of hybrid work together with our enterprise partners, we look forward to seeing how Project Starline can help employees form strong ties with one another, doctors form meaningful bonds with their patients and salespeople make deeper connections with their clients and customers.”

“Whether you’re presenting to a colleague or just sitting down for a coffee chat, we want the Project Starline experience to feel natural as if the person is sitting in the same room as you. More broadly, we are eager to enable workforces to feel energized and productive when collaborating from afar.”

Google says over 100 enterprise partners in media, healthcare, and retail have used Starline in demos at Google’s offices.

Nartker said that Google employees have used Project Starline to hire, interview, and meet new teammates, pitch ideas to co-workers, and work one-on-one in the last year.