Google will expand Project Starline conferencing to Google Meet and Zoom

In 2021, Google introduced Project Starline during its I/O developer conference. It was a video conferencing hardware and software solution developed by Google's labs that let users to view and communicate with one another using powerful 3D video that appeared extremely lifelike.

There hasn't been much news regarding this study effort since its first introduction. That changed today. Google stated that Project Starline will be commercially accessible in 2025, only one day before its Google I/O 2024 conference on May 14.

In a blog post, Google states that since the official revelation in 2021, it has spent thousands of hours testing Project Starline internally and with unnamed industry partners. The company discovered that the "magic window" experience of its realistic 3D video conferencing resulted in "better attentiveness, memory recall, and an overall sense of presence" among its customers.

Google will not launch Project Starline on its own. The company revealed that it will collaborate with HP to manufacture and sell the 3D video conferencing system. The blog article quotes Alex Cho, HP's President of Personal Systems, as saying:

With more than half of meaning and intent communicated through body language versus words alone, an immersive collaboration experience plays an important role in creating authentic human connections in hybrid environments. We are proud to partner with Google to bring this technology to market, harnessing the power of AI to shape the future of collaboration.

The blog post also states that when it does launch, it will support other popular video conference applications. It expressly cites Google Meet and Zoom, but there is no information on whether it will support Microsoft Teams as well.

Google says it will provide additional information about Project Starline's commercial launch in the coming months. Pricing was not announced today, but we expect it will be on the expensive side.