Google Unveils Project Starline, a Highly Realistic Future Video Call Technology
Most of us may already be fed up with the so-called Zoom meeting. Let us not. Even the zoom CEO himself feels the same way. But video calling sessions won't always be this embossed. A few years from now, a video call session may feel like we're meeting and face-to-face.
If you need evidence, take a look at Google's ambitious project called Project Starline below. Developed over five years, Starline is essentially an amazingly advanced video call technology. The system involves a myriad of cameras and sensors to capture a person's appearance from different perspectives, package it into a 3D model, then pass on the information in real-time.
Lauren Goode, a Wired journalist who had the opportunity to try her technology firsthand, described Starline as a video booth with a wealth of hardware that seemed to cost a fortune. One of the expensive hardware in question is a 65-inch light field display, an advanced display designed to display objects in three dimensions without requiring the user to wear anything.
Unlike Microsoft Mesh which requires us to wear a HoloLens headset to see holograms, Starline can present them directly in front of someone. Suppose you look at the short demonstration video. In that case, the hologram looks so realistic, with real-time movement and minimal latency — the system can even read the signs of babies we know are difficult to predict. In addition to stunning visuals, the experience is further enhanced by the spatial audio effect.
For now, Project Starline is only available in some Google offices, and the development team is still busy testing and improving its technology. Google believes that this is the right direction for the future development of communication technology, and they intend to make its technology more affordable and more accessible.
In addition to testing Project Starline internally, Google also intends to invite many of its partners from the field of health care and media to try Starline and discuss its potential application. In the future, Google will also apply several technologies in Project Starline to the products we already use today. In time Google Meet may come to the arrival of spatial audio support.
