Videoconferencing has never been more in demand as it was in 2020 and continues to be so far in 2021 as organizations begin transitioning to a hybrid work culture, and the industry has rolled out new features designed to make virtual meetings a lot more engaging and immersive.
However, seeing people on a screen only goes so far, and that’s why Google is working on a new immersive 3D video communication system called Project Starline.
First unveiled during Google’s annual I/O conference, Google calls Project Starline a solution that combines advances in hardware and software to enable people to feel like they’re together during a video call.
According to a Google blog penned by Clay Bavor, the company’s vice president, Project Starline is the application of research in computer vision machine learning, spatial audio and real-time compression on top of a new light field display system that creates a sense of volume an depth without the need for headsets or glasses.
Project Starline also utilizes high resolution cameras and custom-built depth sensors to capture the shape and appearance of a person from multiple perspectives, which are then fused together to create a real-time 3D model.
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What results is many gigabits per second, so the company developed a new way of compressing and streaming algorithms to reduce the data by factor of more than 100.
“The effect is the feeling of a person sitting just across from you, like they are right there,” Bavor wrote.
If those words alone aren’t selling you on this innovative technology, check out a video Google put together of the technology being used.
Do you think that would help alleviate some of the videoconferencing fatigue we’ve been experiencing over the last year or so? I personally think so, and I’m looking forward to when this becomes widely available.
The technology is currently being used in some of Google’s offices, where it relies on the company’s custom-built software and special equipment. It’s also is being testing within Google offices in California, New York and Seattle, along with select enterprise partners to get early feedback. Other trails with enterprise partners are scheduled for later this year.
“We believe this is where person-to-person communication technology can and should go, and in time, our goal is to make this technology more affordable and accessible, including bringing some of these technical advancements into our suite of communication products,” Bavor wrote.
