Project Starline

2024: Market Entry

In mid-May 2024, Google launched presence video calling technology. The hardware and software complex was developed as part of the Project Starline initiative.

The goal of the project is to allow friends, relatives and colleagues to "feel together at any distance." This uses advances in artificial intelligence, 3D images and other systems. Google claims that distant interlocutors can speak, gesture and look into the eyes of another person as if they were located in the same room.

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Google

After thousands of hours of testing at Google offices and with corporate partners, we found that meetings in the Starline environment are more like staying in the same room than traditional video calls. This leads to improved mindfulness, memory and a general sense of presence, the company says.

The Starline system includes a large monitor equipped with a camera and all kinds of sensors. The commercialization of the project is supported by HP Inc. In the future, the complex will be integrated with various video conferencing services, including Google Meet and Zoom.

Alex Cho, president of HP's personal systems division, notes that more than half of the meaning of communication and intention is conveyed through body language, not just words. Therefore, the possibility of immersive collaboration plays an important role in creating genuine human connections in modern hybrid environments.

We are proud to partner with Google to bring this technology to market and leverage the power of artificial intelligence to shape the next generation of communication environments, "says Cho.[1]

2021: Announcement of a video chat with the image of the interlocutor to create the illusion of a real meeting

At the end of May 2021, Google introduced the Project Starline video chat with a holographic image of the interlocutor, which allows you to create the illusion of a real meeting. Telepresence technology creates highly realistic 3D models of people by transmitting movement and speech in real time. As a result, there is a feeling that the interlocutors are sitting opposite each other, at arm's length.

Project Starline combined research in computer vision, machine learning, spatial sound and real-time compression. In addition, the creators have developed a revolutionary light field display system that creates a sense of volume and depth without using special glasses or a headset. Key achievements of the team include 3D imaging, real-time compression, and 3D mapping.

Project Starline video chat installed in one of Google's offices

The concept of video communication of the future was demonstrated at the Google I/O 2021 online conference. The system is a "video stick" in which a dozen depth sensors and cameras are installed, as well as a 65-inch screen. The sensors capture photorealistic images of a person, which are first transmitted to Google servers, where they are "stitched" into a 3D model, and then sent to the same huge display on the other end of the "wire" with minimal delay.

Unlike communicating on Zoom or Google Meet, Project Starline "animates" meetings - the interlocutor can be observed from different angles, move around him and even make eye contact.

So far, Project Starline is available in only a few Google offices and relies on custom-made equipment. Over time, however, the company hopes to make the technology more accessible and even move some of these technical advances into a regular suite of communications products.^[2]

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