With its Starline project, Google wants to reinvent videoconferencing. Introduced last year, the technology seems to be more and more on point. In a press release, Google announces that it is using it in its offices and that it has carried out full-scale tests with different companies. Starline’s objective is to give the feeling of having the person in front of you by reproducing a 3D model of it.
In a long document, Google goes into detail about its technology. Installed in a cabin measuring 2 m by 2, Starline includes 14 cameras and 16 infrared sensors to capture images in real time and create a photorealistic 3D avatar of the interlocutor. For the audio part, four microphones capture the sound while two loudspeakers restore it in spatialized form with dynamic beam formation to give the impression that speech is coming from the mouth of the avatar.
The display is a 65-inch, 8K 60Hz autostereoscopic lenticular panel that generates a glasses-free 3D view of a life-size avatar. The cabin even has its own lighting system with diffused visible light to help capture 3D textures and a large infrared backlight for 3D imaging.
The first feedback seems to satisfy Google, since we find the Starline cabins in its various US offices. If we refer to the firm’s studies, this new form of videoconferencing “can increase employee presence, attention and productivity compared to traditional video calling solutions”.
In addition to Google employees, a hundred companies from different sectors, from health to communication, were invited to test the Starline project. The feedback shared by Google seems quite positive, such as that of Scott Morey, president of technology and innovation at WeWork: “The proliferation of hybrid work models creates new opportunities to fundamentally rethink the way we collaborate in the workplace. The Starline project is at the forefront of this change, delivering an incredible user experience that bridges the gap between our physical and virtual worlds.”
While the technology looks promising, it is still in its infancy. It also remains to be seen how the Starline project can be properly established in the daily life of companies, because the very principle reduces videoconferences to an interview between two people, automatically excluding team meetings.