Google announced it’s partnering with HP to commercialize Project Starline, the company’s light-field display for immersive, headset-less video conferences.

Google says it’s partnering with HP to start commercialization of Starline in 2025, which the company says will “focus on connecting distributed teams and individuals in the workplace.”

Additionally, Google says it wants to eventually bring Starline support to video conferencing services such as Google Meet and Zoom—which will be interesting to see given how different livestreaming light-field video is to standard video.

First unveiled in 2021, the telepresence platform was initially a cumbersome, booth-sized unit that Google said would allow for a glasses-free 3D chatting experience thanks to its host of sensors, light-field display, spatial audio, computer vision, and novel compression.

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The HP-built units won’t be the first time Starline has made its way out of Google’s offices though. In 2022, Google began installing prototypes at the offices of Salesforce, WeWork, T-Mobile, and Hackensack Meridian Health. And at last year’s Google I/O developer conference, the company showed off a newer, slimmer Starline unit, which at the time seemed a lot closer to the sort of product you’d expect to see in a company boardroom.

We’re hoping to learn more about the Google/HP Starline partnership and other XR projects at Google I/O developer conference this year, so stay tuned today, May 14th, for more info as it arrives.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Ondrej

    Spending so much more on the devices, losing resolution and requiring bigger bitrate will be worth it if this thing can achieve a natural eye contact, effectively offering a seamless “looking through portal” experience.

    Because if it doesn’t then it’s a pointless overcomplication over traditional 2D video conference.

    • Guest

      Your last sentence perfectly encapsulates my impression of this. For as uncanny as the Apple persona thing is, at least now it has spatial movement support, something already far more capable and useful.

    • ViRGiN

      It will never succeed with Google behind it.
      Plus there are obvious technological challenges with hosting more than 1 person.
      And anyone 1-on-1 will already feel more confident with 2D and live webcam.

      Google stopped innovating years ago, just like Valve.

  • I still think it’s a totally useless product. It’s good for showcases, as an R&D project, but as a product makes no sense at all. It’s super expensive, bulky and you just obtain a stereoscopic Zoom

    • Heathcliff

      While watching the trailer I was waiting for some great product with the way they hyped it up during the first part but at the end it just looks as if you are on a Teams 1-on-1 and someone told you to put on the funny 3D glasses from the 3D cinema at home era haha. It really leaves you with a “that’s it?” kind of feeling in my opinion