Google Starts Real-World Testing Its Giant Video Chat Booths (arstechnica.com) 20
A year after announcing its "Project Starline" video booth idea, Google says it's expanded enterprise testing with third parties and is working on making Starline "more accessible," reports Ars Technica. From the report: Project Starline basically asks the question, "What if Zoom was a giant, sit-down arcade machine?" While the home console version of video chat just involves a tiny camera above your laptop screen, Starline brings 3D video chat to life in a 7x7-foot sit-down booth, with seemingly no regard given to cost, size, or commercialization. The goal is to make it seem like the other person is in the room with you, and Google categorizes it as a "research project." As for what Starline actually is, a Google Research paper contains a good amount of detail. The display side of the video booth features 14 cameras and 16 IR projectors, which all work to create, capture, and track a real-time, photorealistic 3D avatar of the user. Four microphones and two speakers don't just play back speech; spatialized audio and dynamic beamforming supposedly make the speech sound like it's coming out of the avatar's mouth.
People who have tried Starline seem to like it, but considering you have to be personally invited by Google to try it, that's only a very small handful of people. It's hard to imagine much of a market for what must be a six-figure video booth the size of a small bathroom, but Google is pushing ahead with more testing. A Google statement says: "Today, Project Starline prototypes are found in Google offices across the US, with employees using the technology every day for meetings, employee onboarding and building rapport between colleagues." The company continues: "Beyond Google employees, we've also invited more than 100 enterprise partners in areas like media, healthcare and retail to participate in demos at Google's offices and provide us with feedback on the experience and applications to their businesses. We see many ways Project Starline can add business value across a number of industries, and we remain focused on making it more accessible." Salesforce, WeWork, T-Mobile, and Hackensack Meridian Health have signed up to try it. WeWork, a company based around renting too-expensive-to-own office space, seems particularly enthused with the idea.
People who have tried Starline seem to like it, but considering you have to be personally invited by Google to try it, that's only a very small handful of people. It's hard to imagine much of a market for what must be a six-figure video booth the size of a small bathroom, but Google is pushing ahead with more testing. A Google statement says: "Today, Project Starline prototypes are found in Google offices across the US, with employees using the technology every day for meetings, employee onboarding and building rapport between colleagues." The company continues: "Beyond Google employees, we've also invited more than 100 enterprise partners in areas like media, healthcare and retail to participate in demos at Google's offices and provide us with feedback on the experience and applications to their businesses. We see many ways Project Starline can add business value across a number of industries, and we remain focused on making it more accessible." Salesforce, WeWork, T-Mobile, and Hackensack Meridian Health have signed up to try it. WeWork, a company based around renting too-expensive-to-own office space, seems particularly enthused with the idea.
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It's fine though. Just like HP and IBM they've made enough money and have enough profitable products to carry on for many many years without ever doing anything new or original again.
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just as with VCRs... (Score:3)
Sounds great! (Score:2)
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The homeless can move right in. Thanks Google!
Why? They're already living rent-free in your head.
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replica watches uk trusted deaiers (Score:1)
Project Starline basically asks the question... (Score:2)
Re: good job you invented the payphone (Score:2)
3 years ? You won't have to. It'll be cancelled much sooner unless it gets millions of users.
How long before it is killed by Google ? (Score:1)
Just like the vast majority of great project Google made in the past, this will be Killed within 3 years and will join the Google Cemetery on KilledByGoogle.
Google used to be Good, but Google is not Google anymore, so why should we even care what they do.... even Chrome is going to shit by dropping support for proper AdBlocker, forcing us back to Firefox...
What if... (Score:2)
"What if Zoom was a giant, sit-down arcade machine?"
Well, that would be an expensive waste of space. For the people who like zoom, the fact that it can be used on your hand-held device is one of its best features.
Futurama (Score:2)
Suicide booths would be more useful. How many ads do you have to watch before you can die?
Nobody has ever attempted this before.... (Score:2)
...ask Cisco how many full TelePresence suites it has sold. Oh, wait. The answer is ZERO. It isn't even used in-house any longer.
Wait, haven't I heard of this concept before? (Score:1)
Ray Bradbury will be suing google for intellectual property right violations before you know it!
CAVE on steroids? (Score:1)
Ref: Cave automatic virtual environment from 1992. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]