Project Starline is a Google technology project that combines improvements in hardware and software to enable people to interact in a new way using a life-sized, three-dimensional projection. It’s described as “seeing through a sort of magical window” by Google. People have envisioned being able to communicate with holograms of their friends and family through science-fiction films.
“Imagine, instead of looking at a screen, you’re looking at a magic pane of glass, and through that glass, you’re seeing another person on the other side. And through that glass, you’re seeing another person on the other side.”
Steve Seitsz, Google’s Director of Engineering
Google enabled real-time and surrealistic audio by combining computer vision, machine learning, spatial audio, and real-time compression research. They also created a groundbreaking light field display technology that generates a feeling of dimension and depth that can be felt without the use of extra glasses or headsets.
Starline captures a person’s layout for a video chat using a high-resolution camera and proprietary depth sensor. The size of the picture file is enormous since the camera’s HD image is fused with the layout to produce a 3D model, but Google invented a way of compressing data 100 times or more so that video may be delivered effectively over the Internet. Google is now testing demos with partners in the medical and media industries in order to gather feedback, with intentions to offer an enterprise-type solution later in 2021.
Google acquired Lytro, a start-up that uses Lightfield technology, in order to make video call technology more affordable. Unlike the present 3D display technology of the binocular parallax method, which provides distinct pictures to the left and right eyes of the observation vehicle, light field technology reproduces the dispersion of light produced from an object.
Possible limitations and the future of Project Starline
Project Starline may appear appealing for a variety of reasons, but the photo’s realism, based on the idea that sometimes communicating through screens is the only choice, is what makes it so appealing. Here comes the danger of a substitute: virtual reality.
Google has attempted to create VR headsets for hyperreal connections. People, on the other hand, did not find it particularly intriguing. As you may recall, Google Glass is no longer available and has reached saturation. Because there is a link between AR and VR and Project Starline, the commercial transition to video conferencing may take some time. For the time being, Google will try to scale back Project Starline while it perfects the technology. The screen booth will most likely be offered to companies, rather than to the general public.
The company’s ultimate objective is to make technology more inexpensive and accessible to regular people. This indicates that, at some point in the future, Starline will be incorporated into Google’s existing array of communication tools.
Reference
https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/18/22442336/google-project-starline-3d-video-chat-platform
https://uploadvr.com/google-starline-light-field-display/
https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/18/22442336/google-project-starline-3d-video-chat-platform
