Google’s Project Starline video conferencing tech is coming to offices

Google is teaming up with HP to bring its futuristic video conferencing technology Project Starline to enterprise consumers. The company first began demoing this service in 2021 and the first iteration involved a 3D video chat booth with a projection of the person you’re talking to. We came away extremely impressed by the holographic technology, remarking on how realistic everything seemed and that the other person seemed to be in the room with you.

However, this technology isn’t quite the same as what we tried a couple of years back. Since then, Google has streamlined and simplified the system a fair amount. There’s no more video chat booth, as the whole thing has been moved to a system that features a large TV and cameras. This scales back some of the wow factor, but makes it much easier to implement.

To that end, Google and HP will be integrating Project Starline with common video conferencing apps like Google Meet and Zoom. There’s no information as to how much it’ll cost for companies to sign on to use this technology, or any details regarding the initial setup. Google says more information will be revealed later this year with actual commercialization beginning in 2025.

HP calls it an “immersive collaboration experience” and it certainly looks to be a better telepresence solution than a tiny smartphone screen. At the end of the day, though, it’s just a big display. The updated Project Starline tech doesn’t include anything resembling holographic projection.

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