At Google I/O 2021 event, Google has presented its new project, called ‘Project Starline.’
Project Starline is a futuristic 3D video calling system with which you can see the other person, who is in a remote location as if they were present in front of you — like life-size 3D holograms.
As Google explains, “Imagine looking through a sort of magic window, and through that window, you see another person, life-size and in three dimensions. You can talk naturally, gesture, and make eye contact.”
As Project Starline’s technology is still under development, it requires specialized components in order to function. This comprises multiple cameras, sensors, and microphones that serve to capture the person from different angles in as much detail as possible.
To make this possible, Google has applied research in computer vision, machine learning, spatial audio, and real-time compression. In addition, they have also developed an innovative light field display system that creates a sense of volume and depth “that can be experienced without the need for additional glasses or headphones.”
In this way, an effect is created that gives the feeling that the other person is sitting “in front of you, as if they were there.”
Google has pointed out that one of the things they are most proud of is that, once the user sits in front of the screen and starts talking, “the technology fades into the background, and you can focus on what’s most important: the person in front of you.”
Project Starline is currently being tested in some Google offices. However, they hope that over time the technology needed to make this video calling system work will become more affordable and accessible.
Although we will not see Project Starline, at least in the near future, in the mass market, Google assures that some of its advances will serve to add innovative features of existing communication products.
