seungjaeh

5/5 (1)

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

https://blog.google/technology/research/project-starline/

5/5 (1)

One of the world’s largest technology businesses, Microsoft Corporation, provides personal computer devices, cloud systems and services, software, and other goods. Microsoft competes in a wide range of sectors against firms such as Apple, Amazon, IBM, and Oracle, with products aimed at both consumers and enterprises.

Microsoft earned $15.5 billion in net income on $43.1 billion in revenue in the second quarter of its fiscal year 2021, which ended December 31, 2020. In comparison to the same quarter a year earlier, net income increased 32.7 percent and sales increased 16.7 percent. The increase in net income was a considerable acceleration from the previous year’s yearly increase.

What is Microsoft’s revenue coming from?

Productivity and Company Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing are the three primary areas of Microsoft’s business. Productivity and business processes include items related to productivity and communication across many platforms and devices. Personal Computing is concerned with products aimed at end-users, developers, and IT professionals.

Productivity and business products had $14.7 billion in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2021, Intelligent Cloud had $17.4 billion, and personnel computing had $14.1 billion. The rates of increase in all three sectors were 25%, 30%, and 9%, respectively. We could assume that the cloud industry is now a hot potato and has a high potential for growth, but how did productivity and the business product sector show 2-digit growth?

The office application is still in good condition. Especially since the online version of the Microsoft Office program has grown in popularity. Additionally, personnel in businesses and schools that require paperwork choose Microsoft Office products as their preferred tool. Despite the presence of alternative tools, switching was difficult due to familiarity with MS Office products. LinkedIn’s income has increased considerably in tandem with the office tools. Revenue increased by 46 percent as compared to the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2021. Because the majority of firms utilize LinkedIn as their job recruiting tool, Linkedin profits from ads.

The Cloud category is also increasing at a double-digit rate, with a strong return on investment of more than 40%. The rise of the Internet of Things, as well as the shift in how internet users access information, from text to images and videos, has led to a huge increase in data processing and use. As a result, the cloud sector will benefit both today and in the future.

Now that we’ve seen how Microsoft makes money in its current state, let’s take a look at Microsoft’s future.

One of Microsoft’s most important future potentials is cloud-based autonomous driving infrastructure. Despite being ranked second in the industry, Microsoft’s revenue growth may be boosted by the cloud sector’s enormous potential. The bulk of linked gadgets will be cloud-based. One intriguing aspect of Microsoft’s approach is autonomous driving. Microsoft did not enter the market directly but instead chose to circumvent it.

Autonomous driving necessitates the processing of data from all sides of the vehicle with minimal delay. When the automobile becomes self-driving, the driver will be engaged in a variety of activities in the car, such as working, playing games, or watching a movie. Automobiles must handle a massive quantity of data rapidly and in real-time for this, which necessitates the cloud, and MS Cloud is attempting to dominate this industry.

This leads to one of Microsoft’s strategies of “not competing with clients,” which involves developing the infrastructure that autonomous driving requires rather than the technology itself. The advantage of this strategy is that, because they are not directly competing with the autonomous driving industry, they may collaborate with a large number of firms while facing little market rivalry. Companies such as Amazon and Google have entered the autonomous market directly, causing other vehicle manufacturers to favor Microsoft’s cloud technology over their competitors.

What other factors could influence Microsoft’s future?

Resources:

https://microsoft.gcs-web.com/node/27091/html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-bets-bigger-on-driverless-car-space-with-investment-ingms-cruise-11611064940

https://news.microsoft.com/2021/01/19/cruise-and-gm-team-up-with-microsoft-to-commercialize-self-driving-vehicles/

https://microsoft.gcs-web.com/static-files/c43e4da1-16a7-4564-995d-8e2596c767d3