Google will soon test its Project Starline cabs in the real world

Google will begin installing sophisticated video conferencing booths from its Starline project. Will there be success?

Google’s sophisticated video conferencing booths will soon be more than just an exercise in smart design. Ars Technica says the tech giant will begin installing prototypes of its Starline project at some of its partners’ premises for “regular”testing before the end of the year. In other words, Google wants to see how its “magic windows”work, outside of campus demos.

Google will begin installing sophisticated video conferencing booths from its Starline project

Program partners include Salesforce, T-Mobile, and WeWork, among others. More than 100 companies in fields as diverse as healthcare, media or sales will take part in these demonstrations in their various premises.

The Starline project is a big gamble, an attempt to create a telepresence system that feels natural. Each participant is installed in a booth with multiple cameras and infrared projectors that create a realistic 3D performance with spatial audio capture to ensure that the voice is actually coming from that digital person’s mouth. Combined with head tracking and a 65-inch 8K display, the system gives the impression that the other person is actually right in front of you. This should, at least in theory, make meetings easier to follow than if you had to sit in front of your computer’s webcam.

Will there be success?

The question, of course, will be whether this early access program will allow us to democratize these cabins and see them flourish in our company offices. Google hasn’t revealed the price of the cockpit of its Starline project, but the technology used here is already expensive and the whole thing takes up a lot of space. It will be difficult for small businesses to justify such an investment when simple computers may be perfectly acceptable.

Timing is also highly questionable. While telecommuting and hybrid work environments are rampant, Starline is coming at a time when people are ready to return to physical interaction. The audience for such technologies is no longer as large as it was a year ago, and should not be expected to expand. The future will show us if this will be a success.