Google’s Freaky Realistic 3D Video Calling ‘Booth’ Is Finally a Real Product—but You Won’t Be Able to Buy It

Remember Google’s Project Starline, the 3D video conferencing “booth” that supposedly makes it feel like you’re talking to the other person as if they’re standing right in front of you, looking right into your eyes? After several years of trudging along as an impressive research project demo, Google is finally making the technology available as a commercial product. Rebranded at Google I/O 2025, Project Starline is now called Google Beam. The tech giant has stuffed all of the necessary technology—a light field display that creates the visual depth for a person on a call and six cameras built into the three surrounding bezels for head-tracking—into what’s essentially a glasses-free 3D TV. On a video call with media a day before the developer conference, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Beam uses AI to merge multiple 2D video streams of a person into a “3D light field with perfect tracking.” I’ve not tried Project Starline or Google Beam, but from what I’ve gathered from people who have, ... Read full article.