Google has renamed its Project Starline “AI-first 3D videoconferencing platform” as Google Beam. The rebranding was announced by CEO Sundar Pinchai at a Google I/O conference.
Google Beam uses a light field display and six cameras to produce volumetric video which is combined with spatial audio.
“Our state-of-the-art AI volumetric video model is what makes these calls appear fully 3D from any perspective,” said Andrew Nartker, general manager, in a Google Beam blog post.
The platform is powered by Google Cloud and will be integrated with cloud videoconferencing services, including Google Meet and Zoom. There is no mention in the company’s publicity about Microsoft Teams.
The tech giant is also set to integrate speech translation into Google Beam, a feature that was also announced for Google Meet at the Google I/O conference. The feature will translate speech while maintaining voice, tone and expressions.
Project Starline was launched in 2021 and its 3D videoconferencing display prototypes were shrunk to the size of a flatscreen TV in 2023.
HP is building the first of these devices for Google Beam. These will be on show at InfoComm and will be available to select customers later this year.
However,US-based tech magazine The Verge, which had a demo of Google Beam the day before the conference announcement, reports Google Beam’s general manager Nartker, as saying: “The devices aren’t really the point. The point is that we can beam things anywhere we need to with the infrastructure that we built.”
The technology has been on trial at enterprises and Google says organisations like Deloitte, Salesforce, Citadel, NEC, Hackensack Meridian Health, Duolingo and Recruit are ready to offer it to staff.
Google is also working with key channel partners, including AVI-SPL and Diversified, to bring Google Beam to organisations worldwide.
Google has not yet announced pricing for Google Beam. US tech publication Engadget points out that Logitech’s lifesize 2D videoconferencing platform, Project Ghost, has been estimated to cost between $15,000 and $20,000 per booth depending on the configuration.
